When Duck Dynasty’s Lisa Robertson was 16 years old, an abortion provider promised her that she was dispensing with a glob of tissue, would leave the clinic that day as good as new, and would never think about that moment again.
None of that was true.
Lisa immediately felt guilt about her decision. She sensed deep inside that something profoundly significant had just happened.
Years later, after she and Al married, she became pregnant with their first child. The baby was a preemie and required heart surgery to correct a heart murmur. All throughout that time, Lisa thought, “This is payback. This is God punishing me for my abortion.”
Six months into their next pregnancy, problems developed. The baby was eventually born healthy, but Lisa agonized for months, thinking, “Here we go again. God is punishing me because I killed my child when I was 16.”
Any time Focus on the Family addresses the topic of abortion, our desire is to be sensitive to both men and women who have experienced an abortion and are struggling with guilt and shame. Our hope is to share with you a message of forgiveness.
Although it is possible for abortion to produce physical problems that can impact a woman’s future pregnancies, the Bible says that God created you because He loves you and because He wants you to enjoy an eternal relationship with Him.
No matter what you’ve done, when you seek God’s forgiveness, you enter into an unbreakable relationship with Him. From that point forward, God will lead you according to His love and will comfort you in ways that may be difficult for you to imagine right now.
It took a few years for Lisa to get to that point. When she laid her guilt and shame at Christ’s feet, He removed her pain and filled her with His peace.
If you’re struggling to forgive yourself because you’ve done something so terrible that you don’t see how God can forgive you, I want to encourage you that your past doesn’t have to rule your future.
We have caring Christian counselors on staff, and it would be their privilege to offer you a free consultation. Call us, leave your name and number, and they’ll get back with you just as soon as possible. The number during business hours is 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
You may also be interested in a free online booklet we’ve written called, “Coming Home: An Invitation to Join God’s Family,” which explains what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Finally, I invite you to listen to a special edition of our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Embracing God’s Grace for a Past Abortion” recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, with Al and Lisa Robertson as our guests. They share their perspective about forgiveness based on their own mistakes and trials and offer encouragement to women who have had abortion in their past to seek hope and healing. You can hear our program on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, via Google Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.
Al and Lisa’s book Desperate Forgiveness: How Mercy Sets You Free is full of terrific stories, biblical wisdom, and practical steps to take as you’re walking the path of healing—trying to forgive others or even yourself. It’s available on our website.
One of the best things you can do to support life is to participate in our Option Ultrasound program. Abortion clinics are interested in abortion. Pregnancy resource centers are interested in the woman, the man, the baby, the family. They minister to everyone involved.
Focus supports these centers through our Option Ultrasound program, which provides grants for sonogram training and technology. To date, more than 800 ultrasound machines have been placed around the country, and nearly 460,000 babies have been saved.
We’re working hard to raise that number to one million babies saved sometime in the near future. With that in mind, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to become a special partner with us through our monthly “Friends of Focus on the Family” program. What’s amazing is that it only takes $60 to save a baby’s life by providing ultrasound machines and additional resources.
You might also be interested in Wait No More, our foster adoption effort here at Focus. Over 3,500 families have started that process, usually adopting more than one child.
In closing, I hope you’ll save May 9th on your calendar to attend one of five locations hosting Focus on the Family’s nationwide pro-life event called ALIVE 2020. These live events will feature musicians, special guest speakers, and live ultrasounds of third-trimester babies broadcast on massive digital screens. I hope you’ll join us to show the whole world that a baby is baby, whether inside or outside the womb. Visit our website for information.
Thank you for touching others with the love of Christ.
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