UPDATED 5/5/2016 Too often, the pro-life movement is accused of being unconcerned with the lives of pregnant women and “only caring about the baby.” Last July, Care Net was excited to highlight just one of countless stories of women receiving compassion, hope, and help before and after their pregnancy with this story about Ursula.
As Ursula prepares to graduate from Regent University this Saturday, we are excited to repost her inspirational story. Please consider a gift today to support the work of Pregnancy Decision Line and offer critical training and resources to 1,100 Care Net Pregnancy Centers nationwide who daily provide women like Ursula with compassionate care and hope.
Ursula & Ariyelle,
Pregnancy Care Center of MHC, Martinsville, Virginia
This wasn’t supposed to happen to Ursula.
She had been going to church her whole life. She knew God. And yet . . . it happened. Ursula was pregnant. At 21, Ursula had just ended a bad relationship and was hoping to get her life back on the right track. Instead, she returned home in shame.
“I felt like I lost everything I had,” Ursula says. “I lost hope. This was not the way life was supposed to be happening for me.”
The one place Ursula hoped to find grace was at her home church. But even that didn’t turn out the way she thought it would.
“I was scared of being rejected,” Ursula remembers. “I was upset. I was depressed. I was a mess. Going to church just made it worse.”
Too often, women and men facing unplanned pregnancies are making the most crucial decision of their lives—whether or not to choose life for their unborn son or daughter—and they feel utterly alone.
That’s why Ursula turned to Care Net for help.
She called her local Care Net pregnancy center and they welcomed her with open arms.
“They called me back and asked if I would come in and talk,” she remembers. “And I’ve been in love ever since.”
With support from the staff and resources of her local pregnancy center, Ursula chose life. Today, she’s all smiles as she talks about little Ariyelle, who just turned one.
“She has propelled my life into a whole other dimension,” Ursula says.
Investing in the Future
Ursula’s relationship with Care Net’s pregnancy center didn’t end with Ariyelle’s birth.
The team at the Pregnancy Care Center of MHC in Martinsville, VA, led by executive director Janice Gaylean, also helped Ursula apply for and receive a four-year scholarship through Care Net to Regent University to further her education.
The excited mother says she’s never been happier in her church home and cannot wait to begin making a better future for her daughter.
Ursula says, “The scholarship is an amazing blessing! I used to say things like ‘this only happens on television.’ However, now I know that things like this can happen to anyone and God can do even greater things.”
Your prayers and support are critical to reaching mothers and fathers with hope and encouragement to CHOOSE LIFE! Won't you help support this vital work?
