It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon about two weeks ago – I was actually sitting at our table with my Bible open. My cell phone rang – it was a number I didn’t recognize. Usually, I would not answer, but the Spirit nudged me – “pick up the phone” – with a tingling in my stomach.
I could barely make out what the young girl was saying to me – I didn’t even know who it was at first. Sobbing on the phone, I heard the most gut-wrenching words – “I need help, can you come and get me?” She told me she was with the police and couldn’t go home alone.
As only the Lord could do, she happened to be a young girl I had met several months earlier as her youth cabin counselor. This is the same girl we received a call about 4 weeks earlier. The school had called to see if Love and SONshine Ministries had a placement for her. However, since the SONshine Home is not yet operational, our only option was for me to bring her into my own home (there was no way I was going to leave her in her current situation).
Heartbroken
This sweet girl was 8 months pregnant and had just been assaulted by someone close to her. It had been an unsafe environment for a while now, but the situation had escalated. The drive to get her took me about 20 minutes, and while driving, she called again just to make sure I was coming. All she had ever really known was rejection! When I got there, I first spoke to the police as she was with another officer gathering some of her things. The very moment our eyes met – I could see a fear and sadness in her eyes that spoke louder than any word I could have ever heard. Quite simply put – she was terrified! It tore my heart in two.
From Rejected to Accepted
Driving to my home, she didn’t say very much – mostly just cried, and I put my hand on her arm. At my home, I showed her the room she would be staying in and gave her a tour of my home. I was trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible in a home she had never been to, around people she’d never met, having just been assaulted – I could see it was uncharted territory for her. She was used to taking care of herself and putting up walls to protect herself from anyone getting in, rather than being on the receiving end of kindness and compassion. Yet, deep down inside, she was still a young girl about to become a mother. What she needed most was love… the love of a family. I took her to her ultrasound.Her baby was so precious – kicking like crazy and waving his hands. The technician even pointed out all of his hair. After her appointment, I took her to see the SONshine Home – where we will house mothers just like her.
When I asked her how she felt being in the home, she said – “I felt just like when I got to your house – I felt love”. As tears filled my eyes – I thought, she is our “why”!
