In 1976, my mother made the mistake of telling a judge she was pregnant. In Indiana, at that time, you couldn't get a divorce while pregnant. And my mother desperately wanted out of her marriage to my father. She was so desperate, she and my father concocted a plan to get rid of me. They applied for a credit card to pay for the abortion. They waited and waited. And those familiar with this type of scenario know that there are deadlines involved. The credit card came in the mail one day AFTER the legal deadline for Indiana. So my mother tricked her father into taking her to a neighboring state where the laws were a little more relaxed. Unfortunately for her, he caught on and promptly turned the car around. So my mother did what any woman does when they want a job done, she tried to do it herself. She threw herself down stairs, drank disgusting potions, ran around the track in the dead of summer, even tried a method she heard would surely work involving a coat hanger. But none of it worked. When she was 6 months pregnant with me, her best friend (and my future Godmother) said, 'Karen, it looks like this baby is just stuck to you.' It was then my mother realized the weight of her actions. And she prayed to God, 'Lord, if you make this child healthy, I'll praise you every time I look at her!' I was born September 3, 1976. Healthy and happy.

Raised with love and living with purpose.

 I didn't learn of this story until much later when my mother wanted to emphasize how much purpose my life is destined to have. Upon hearing it, I loved her even more. Because there was not one day of my childhood I felt unwanted or unloved. Today marks my 37th year of destiny. I'm enjoying the precious time God has given me. If God didn't want you here, believe me you wouldn't be. So while you're here seek God's Will for your life. There's a reason He insisted you were born.

 

"I have love you with an everlasting love  and I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." Jeremiah 31:3

 

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