A Lot to Be Thankful For

March 19, 2019

We’ve had a difficult year at Options. We’ve experienced grief and loss and the daily challenges that go with facing life without the presence of Joanne Thomas, Pat O’Neill, and other friends of Options, whom we all love and miss so much. Even so, Options has a lot to be thankful for.

For one, our entire staff and volunteer team have felt the support and prayers of our extended Options family. Your cards and encouraging words, phone calls, emails, visits, financial gifts and genuine loyalty to the ministry have kept us afloat.

Did I mention prayer? I do so again because it’s worth mentioning twice for this ministry would be useless without your prayers connecting us to the Holy Spirit, who guides us and sustains us.

Throughout these difficult months we are thankful for the clarity and peace that comes in knowing that Options is God’s ministry, and in our loss we are ever more aware that we need to be dependent upon Him for everything, “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28

Just as a baby lives in its mother’s womb and is dependent upon her for his/her very existence, we are dependent upon God’s grace in every act of our ministry to our clients and the community; and just as a baby is never quite alone in its existence in the womb, we know we never labor alone at Options for we are connected to all of you who join us in this work, united by our faith and our commitment to protecting life.

I heard from a client a few weeks ago after a long absence of communication. The last time we spoke she was on the brink of an abortion decision. When she missed her ultrasound appointment and let my calls go unanswered, I was certain that she had an abortion. Without forcing unwanted contact, I was resigned to prayer. What did I know? I left her texts and sent her an email expressing concern..no response. It seemed rational to give up.

Two weeks ago she called me, one month away from her delivery date. She had chosen life after all. Even though we never spoke after our initial meeting, she was thankful that I never gave up on her. She heard my calls and read my texts and emails even though she didn’t respond. What she didn’t know is that in my mind, I had given up on her. My prayers and the prayers of others never gave up and it was through the power of prayer that I reached out – and hoped.

So as we approach Thanksgiving perhaps the thing for which we are most grateful is that God never gives up on us. Even when we can’t see Him working, He is. Even when we are disappointed, He is. Even when we are grieving, He is.

Thank you God for everything!

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.