and i thought i was just getting my hair done…
I’ve been putting off getting my hair done for a while because it’s hard for me to rationalize spending the money AND spending 2 hours being still. (I know, first world problem!) ☺ But, alas, my roots were quite blond so I scheduled an appointment for today. I’ve been battling the blues for a few days and would probably have stayed in bed had it not been for the appointment.
I walked in and took a seat while I waited for my stylist to come get me. I can’t even make up what happened next.
On the other side of the wall, I heard this conversation:
Girl #1: “Well, I’ve always been pro-choice, especially if there’s something wrong.”
((I look around for candid camera.))
Girl#2: “Yeah I’ve been sick for a month. I just don’t think I can do this if there’s something wrong with the baby.”
((After I get over my shock, I begin to pray. I thought I was here to get my hair colored, but apparently You have other plans, Jesus.))
Girl #1: “I think you did the right thing by making the appointment. It’s harder to talk yourself out of it once you have a time to get it done. Will your husband drive you?”
((HUSBAND??))
Girl #2: “No, he doesn’t know I’ve been thinking about abortion. I think I will just tell him I had a miscarriage.”
((Here we go!))
As I round the corner with my “Pray to end abortion” t-shirt and my LIFE band, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “meekness and kindness, Kelly”, and I thanked Him for the reminder.
Me: “I couldn’t help but overhear what you guys were talking about and I’ve never felt stronger in my life that I was put in this room by God.”
((Their mouths drop open, and they just stare at me. I take a deep breath.))
Me: “I don’t know if you know God, but He knows your baby. He already has his or her life planned out. He gave you that baby and believed that life would be safe in your womb. PLEASE don’t do what I did many years ago. Please don’t kill your baby.”
((30 seconds of silence ensued that felt like an hour…and then they both start to cry.))
Girl #2: “But they think my baby has Down Syndrome. I don’t know how to care for a retarded child.”
Me: “Your child isn’t retarded. Your child may have special needs that will be a challenge. But the joy that child will bring you will overshadow EVERYTHING else.”
((I had the Loux’s and Mattie’s homecoming fresh in my mind. So I took out my phone and started to show her pictures of him.))
Me: “Look at that baby’s smile. He has so much love. If you don’t think you can provide that, please don’t take your baby’s life away. Let someone else love him/her. I would love your baby like my own.”
((She begins to weep and takes my hand.))
Girl #2: “He’s mine. I know he’s mine. I can’t do it. God will help me.”
((I cried and prayed with her.))
I sat for the 2 hours with a grateful heart and didn’t mind it much.
Before Girl #2 left the salon, she came over to thank me and said she was a walk-in. She doesn’t even get her hair cut there.
Honestly, I was terrified to stand up and say something. My heart was almost beating out of my chest, but I did it anyway….and I think me and Jesus (and Mattie) may have saved a baby today.
And THAT’S a good day. #OverwhelmedWithHisKindness
Wow that is so awesome. Right Place Right Time
Isn’t God wonder Kelly…You did the right thing taking that first step, and you have saved a life and a generation. Without any doubt God is very pleased…And I personally want to thank you for doing that… Stay blessed…
Love this Kelly! Keep it up. More grace to you, more fruit of the Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.
Definitely a Divine Appointment. Thank you for sharing your heart. I will be praying for this mom.
Divine appointment!!
You’re awesome, Kelly!
One of your DVDs just might give her the strength to rest in His love through the pregnancy.
Hugs ~
now that’s what i call a divine appointment. they’re all around us ever single day, but we just have to look for them and then follow through. brilliant!
Incredible story! You did amazing work that day
Whoa. Kelly, thanks for reminding me how awesome God is. And especially how cool it is when we actually let him use us to share his love. Good on you, friend!
I don’t even know you, but I want to thank you. Thank you for being so brave, and doing what so many WANT to do, know it’s right to do, but do not have the courage to follow through. One day, in heaven, there will be one who will say thanks too. In person. And me? I’m crying over here in THIS chair.
I am so proud of you! The Lord really does have all of our steps divinely planned! I going to be truly honored to walk with you in BTL. Many blessings to you and your family!
You were so brave, good for you! Courage is not not being afraid, it is acting even though you are afraid. What an amazing thing you did with the help of the Holy spirit today! Praise the Lord who is so good, God Bless you Kelly! Thanks for sharing
so i’ve never been here before. i don’t know you or your story. a random person linked this on facebook and i came. bless you for your obedience to God. i hope that i would have had the same courage in that situation, but ashamedly doubt it. you have honored Him in an amazing way and i thank Christ preparing your heart for His use. this was just beautiful. <3
Just when I needed a story like this. I am in tears. Thank you for having the courage to talk with this ladies and for sharing with us!
Saw this on Christina’s facebook page…This is awesome!! Praise God you were obedient to Him! I can only imagine how the angels and Jesus were in heaven rejoicing because you silenced the lies of the enemy! Thank you for being obedient again. May we all be obedient.
A Divine appointment in every way. Praise Jesus that you spoke in boldness and in truth!! I am so blessed that you decided to get your hair done…truly a ripple effect. Your story is encouraging, edifying and uplifting. Thanks for your obedience and for sharing!
yes! proud of you…thank You Jesus.
God bless your story and life changing ways dear heart!
Through challenges come miracles.
I have a similar story…I was part of a prayer group in northern Colorado and one Friday a month we would gather to pray for the region from 9pm til 12am. We called it Midnight Oil. Anyway, that night we felt a particular burden to pray for the issue of abortion. For nearly two hours the Holy Spirit struck me with travail for my city. I cried out that God would turn the hearts of the mothers to their children. This night was unlike any other I had experienced. I remember going home and being so exhausted that I fell right to sleep. Next morning I head upstairs to make breakfast. I hear the voice of my roommate calling my name from the upstairs bathroom. I head up there to check out what’s going on and then and there my roommate says, “I think I’m pregnant and I think I want to have an abortion. I can’t have another baby.” See, she was the mother of 3 children already, going through a divorce, and dating a new guy. She wasn’t a believer and so she felt the logical thing to do would be to have an abortion. I couldn’t believe it?! God had led me to travail for this very issue just the night before because He was giving me His heart to prepare me for that moment. I looked her in the eye and I said, “you would never forgive yourself if you took the life of this child…it’s going to be okay, everything will work out.” Then I grabbed her hands and I prayed with her. I asked God to speak to her and to encourage her that everything would work out. After that we spent quite a long time talking. She cried and went through moments of doubt, but in the end she decided that she just couldn’t go through with it. In that moment, she decided she would keep the baby and she would look forward to her birth with joy. Now Meadow, the little baby girl from that day is 3 years old and beautiful, big sister. She is happy and my roommate from that day is still with Meadow’s father and they all live as a big, happy family. I can’t help but feel that God knows exactly how to put us in the right place at the right time.
Amazing story you shared above. Praise God for the miracles he performs through our weak “yes”. Bless you!
Who needs a color when you can save a baby? Glad it worked out.
The world would call that coincidence..I call that Jesus. Thank you for having the courage to show her The Way!
WoW! Big Ups to you, this was a touching story and I could only hope that are more people standinag up for babies like this everyday in situations such as this one. However….I am still laughing at the “Looks around for canded camera” reaction LoL, than you for sharing, because this is something I would do no matter where I was Im glad Im not the only one.
Chills.
Praise God!
Wow! So awesome. I needed a reminder that He is IN this fight! Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic story! Thank you God. May we all have the courage to stand up in this fight.
*Cry* You are a woman of courage!! Oh my goodness I have tears in my eyes! THANK YOU for heeding the prompting of the Holy Spirit!!!!
May God bless you abundantly for your obedience!
Our God is so BIG! Thank you for sharing this, it warms my heart.
Breathless with JOY! Thank you for reflecting the Love of the Father. Thanks you for treading with grace softly. You left his fingerprints all over their lives!
Wow, I just had to comment. What an incredible story! The Lord is moving!
Your story was wonderful ! God was so present there, as HE always is—but you listened to that Holy Spirit nudging and God gave you the words these ladies needed to hear. I praise God for you being exactly where HE needed you to be and for the boldness to speak HIS words of hope and love!!
I have a baby with Down’s and I wouldn’t trade him for anything else. He’s the best baby ever!! Always smiling and hardly ever cries. He puts a smile on everyone and anyone’s face and he has people come to him everywhere just to say hi and to see his smile
Thank you for speaking out for our babies with Down syndrome.
You are an answer to my prayers.
Thank you so much for your kind words on my blog:)
Would you mind if I linked to your blog this month for Down Syndrome Awareness Month? Actually…if you don’t mind I would also love to re-print this on my blog (with a link to yours.) Please let me know at your convenience.
Much love from Lily’s Mama
Thirty years ago, my first wife aborted our unborn fetus over my strong objections and she traveled to the abortion clinic without me, but I still have the guilt that I could have done something more to persuade her to have our child. Three years later, she aborted our second child without my knowledge. Our marriage ended in mistrust after that terrible event. For many years I felt hatred for my first wife and guilt for myself for what had happened, but, now, with forgiveness and scars I have peace of mind. Now, I am 62 and have a wonderful wife and two kids… a girl 21 and a boy 14. After so much passing time, the abortions seem like a foggy dream that could not have happened, and it’s not real to me that our country has allowed abortion for such a long, long time. Does anyone know how many lives have been ruined by legalized abortion? Does anyone know of love, care, and self-sacrifice anymore? When will it ever stop?
I have tears just thinking of what an amazing God we serve – that he providentially put you in just the right place at the right time and gave you the right words to say. Thank you so much for sharing!
What an amazing story! I am so glad that you had the courage to stand up and say what you did. That baby is a blessing and a gift and I am glad that God put you in that place at that time to be able to have a hand in saving that life, but I am also so glad for what you were able to do for that woman who surely would have had regrets that may have lasted a lifetime. I’m sure that she was more receptive to what you had to say because you shared a bit of your own experience so she didn’t feel judgment, only love.
Kelly, thank you for doing this and sharing this. I often struggle to speak up about God in a secular setting. I don’t know if I was there in that moment if I would have been courageous enough to speak up, but I know from now on that now I will be. Thank you for saving a life. And for sharing Christ. And for helping end ignorance about what life with people like my daughter is like.
You can name that baby and consider her or him your own, because you saved that child from death. Thank God you stood up.
I just want to let you know that I’m in awe of your bravery and your obedience to the Holy Spirit. You told this story so well… I could feel the tension and anxiety. Thank you for sharing.
What a moving story! Thank you for all you do! My son is adopted and I’m so thankful that his birthmother choose LIFE!