Give me a minute. Let me explain myself to you guys.
I am pro-life, with pro-life not being limited to simply saying don’t have an abortion.
I am pro-life, meaning that EVERY life is valuable. Every.single.one.
Many of you know that I work for a pro-life, Christ-centered, crisis pregnancy center. This place has my heart! I love working there. I love serving my community in this capacity.
What do you think of when it comes to a crisis pregnancy center? For some, you may think that we are there to perform abortions. For others, you may think that we are there to shove Jesus down their throats and shun them for being in the situation that they are in. Reality is that we do not perform, nor do we refer out women for, abortions. We do not shove Jesus down women’s throats, nor do we shun them. We are there to meet our clients where they are. If they are there because of an unwanted crisis pregnancy or just to find out they are pregnant, we give them a pregnancy test (for free) and, if they qualify, we give them an ultrasound (for free). If their pregnancy test comes back positive, we go over all options with them. While we do not refer out for abortions, we do inform them of what the procedure is for surgical abortion and the steps that it takes for a chemical abortion. We give them information about adoption should they choose that route. The one step that people really do not realize that we do is that we are there for these women that do choose life and choose to keep their babies. We do not simply tell them they are pregnant, and they need to keep the baby then send them on their way. We offer them support. We connect them with resources in the community that can help better their lives. We have physical items to help them. We stand beside them not just for the first little bit, but we have the ability to walk alongside of them for at least the first two years of life.
What does that support look like? Well, for starters, we give them free maternity clothes. We offer prenatal and parenting classes, which include car seat safety training. At the end of those classes, they are given a baby shower to celebrate them. For some, this is the only baby shower they will have. They are given gifts and a car seat at the shower. They are also offered the chance to be in one of our amazing programs. They can participate in our Mom 2 Mom program or our Earn As You Learn program. Each of these programs are amazing in their own way but both of them reward our ladies with Mommy Money. With the Mommy Money that they earn, they get to shop in our on-site store, Josephine’s Closet.
Our Mom 2 Mom program is an amazing program in which a client from our center is paired up with a seasoned mom from the community that has gone through our training. Then they attend workshops, meet up with one another and simply do life together. This helps our clients to learn how to parent, ask a seasoned mom questions about parenting, and it builds community, all while earning points to go shopping in Josephine’s Closet.
The Earn As You Learn program is a program that rewards moms for doing what they are already doing, such as going to the OB, taking baby to the well-baby check-ups, getting on WIC, going to the prenatal classes at the hospitals, participating in classes offered by local agencies to help better their lives, and by taking online courses about pregnancy, parenting, what to expect, and even fatherhood! We like to connect our clients with others in the community as well, so we share with them about MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and MomLife. We also encourage and offer help for trauma recovery. There is even a free financial workshop that they can attend that helps them with budgeting, raising their credit score, teaching them what it takes to purchase a house, and how to give back with dignity.
So, what is in Josephine’s Closet? Pretty much everything that is needed for baby for the first couple of years. We have formula, baby food, blankets, sheets, diapers, wipes, toiletries, clothes, bottles, socks, hats, burp cloths, sleep sacks, swaddlers, shoes, jackets, holiday and seasonal items. We also have everything a breastfeeding mom needs, such as, breast pumps, coverups, nursing pads, nursing bras and shirts, breast milk storage bags and bottles. All of these items are available to families that participate in our programs.
But we still offer more! We have an on-site counselor that is there for our clients who need a counselor. We have our Hope for Healing program as well. This program covers miscarriage, pregnancy and infant loss, and post-abortion healing. Yes, you read that right, post-abortion healing. We even love on the mothers who have had an abortion in their past.
You see, being pro-life is much more than simply saying “don’t have an abortion”. Being pro-life is loving every single life, fetus to elderly. No matter what race, religion, identity, or sexual orientation. We are to love all! I am much, much more than pro-life.
Not Your Typical Pastors Wife 
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