We had a large group of people praying this morning, including a priest and members of St. Anne Church.  A special little girl who had her first birthday on October 1st was there on the prayer line with her adoptive family. This precious little girl was a save at FPA during the Spring 2013, 40 Days for Life Campaign.

We had a new counselor this morning, who was blessed with a turn-around on her first day:

“There was some down-time in the parking lot so I joined some of the counselors in praying the joyful mysteries. Just after we finished the fifth joyful, a white car pulled into the lot. I didn’t want the people to go up the far elevator, preventing me from ever talking to them before they made it upstairs, so I walked and stood between their car and the building so that they would have to cross my path if they got out of the car.

“The couple  just sat in the car for a while, so I waited to see if they would get out. The girl opened the car door but they did not get out, so I walked up to the car and said hello. I asked if they were going to the clinic and the girl said yes. She was rather quiet and the guy did not say anything until I later asked him his name. I asked the girl her name and introduced myself.

“I told her about the doctor at the clinic, his years of probation, and the cases that were made against him. Then I showed her the flyer about him. She looked at it for a moment. Then I began to tell her about where she could go to get a free ultrasound. I asked her how far along she was and she told me 14 weeks. I asked her why she was there. She explained that she had another kid. She had been in school and had to quit to have the baby. Now she is attending Southwestern College and does not want to quit again.

“I told her about a judge I had met doing an internship who had been in her place several years ago but pointed out how now she is a judge. I showed her the card with the six-week-old baby on it to show her what her baby looked like at week six and explained that her baby’s heart is beating now. I asked her if she had felt her baby move at all inside her. She said no and I told her she would. I tried to talk to her a bit about different options.

“I talked a bit about adoption and how so many nice people can’t have children who want them. She stressed that how she would care for the baby was an issue. She lacked resources. I told her we could help connect her with people who could help her. I told her about Life Choices in Poway and explained that they could help her with everything from diapers to other resources. I told her that I had even seen that people were willing to help girls in her shoes find a job- or even give them a job. I told her I would do anything I could to help her and that I could meet her for lunch or coffee sometime.

“As I was talking to her, I started crying and she started crying too. I could tell she did not want to kill her baby. It seemed she felt like she had no other options. I told the couple that I could go with them to Culture of Life Family Services for a free ultrasound. After talking about how we would get there, they agreed to meet me there. The guy had an iPhone so I asked if he could get directions on his phone and he said yes.

“I went to my car. Their car sat still for a bit, but after a while it pulled out. I left the parking lot and saw they were lined up to leave the parking lot as well. I drove to COLFS, but they did not show up. I sat outside for a long time and waited. Then I went inside and met Mercy. I gave her my name, phone number, and email address to give them in case they did show up.

“The couple did not return to FPA.”