She Had A Dream

She was nineteen, pregnant, and scared. Single and unable to support herself and a baby, the thought of having to tell her parents was more than she could bear. The baby's father had given an ultimatum; either the baby goes or he does. So she scheduled an appointment to "have it taken care of."

But as she drifted off to sleep on the night before her scheduled abortion, she had a dream.

Dreams are peculiar things. In the Scriptures, there are many instances where God used dreams to communicate with people concerning events that were going to take place. For example, in Genesis 41, the Pharaoh had a significant dream, symbolically denoting that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven devastating years of famine in Egypt. Sure enough, it came to pass that the dream was fulfilled. Thankfully, God had extraordinarily arranged for Joseph to be in Egypt to interpret the dream and act in light of it "that many people should be kept alive"(Gen. 50:20). But without an interpreter, how can you know which dreams are significant and which ones are only dreams?

In this young ladies dream, was the image, as vivid today as it was 32 years ago, of her lying stone cold dead on the table at the abortion clinic. She awoke, frightened and sobbing at what she had seen, and in that moment decided that she would not go through with the procedure and would instead fling herself upon the mercy of her parents. The next day, instead of reporting to the clinic, she showed up at her parent's house.

In a perfect world, the story would end with her parents lovingly taking her in and, while heartbroken over their daughter's sin, resolving to love and support her in spite of it. Of course in a perfect world, she would not have been in this predicament in the first place. But our world is far from perfect. Her parents did agree that she should come home and have the baby but instead of treating her with loving affection, she was given the silent treatment instead. Her father didn’t speak to her at all and her mother only spoke when there were chores to be done. So each day she worked and completed chores, enduring loneliness and shame until the baby was delivered.

My mom sat on our couch on a Sunday night and shared her story. My story. As she spoke, I couldn't help but be moved at the thought of how close I had come to never getting to hold my four precious children who were in their rooms asleep. I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I looked across the room at my wife, my best friend, and thought of the love and memories I would have missed out on had my life been terminated on schedule. And I was compelled to praise God for my mother and the courage He gave her to face her parents, endure the guilt and shame and trust Him to carry her down this hard road of uncertainty - all because she had a dream. While she had no way of knowing then the significance of that dream, today its significance cannot be overstated. My life was spared and I give God all the glory. I want to spend this gift of life He has given me proclaiming His excellent greatness, His extravagant grace, and His enduring love.

In God's impeccable timing, today is the opening night of October Baby, a movie about a girl who survived an abortion attempt. According to the website,

"The producers of OCTOBER BABY have assigned 10% of the profits of the movie to the Every Life is Beautiful Fund, which will distribute funds to frontline organizations helping women facing crisis pregnancies, life-affirming adoption agencies, and those caring for orphans."

Please go out and enjoy this movie all while supporting an organization that is working hard to help save lives. And take the time to praise the God of all creation for the gift of yours. Soli Deo Gloria!