Every day, we receive calls here at Advice & Aid from women who feel lost, desperate and hopeless. They are reaching out to us, not always expecting us to have the perfect answer for them, but simply needing to know that there is someone on the other end of the line who will listen.
Often, we have the chance to share a small ray of hope with them. We do have options. We provide assistance. We can walk with them on their journey. Rarely is the call easy. It requires a great deal of courage – and even despair – for a young woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy to reach out to a stranger. But time and again, we have the chance to be there at just the right time.
Sometimes, a call comes in after an abortion has occurred. How this breaks our hearts as we hear the pain and despair in the voice on the other end of the line. These calls typically occur after the young woman has realized that the choice she made was permanent. One such call came in to our hotline recently. The Advice & Aid member who took the call shares with us her side of this story . . . one in which there is a great deal of pain, but also hope and restoration.
She called me on the hotline today, immediately sobbing the words “It’s too late” into the phone. Feelings of helplessness wash over me as I struggle to know what to say to make this better. In reality, I know I can’t take away her pain, so I simply listen to her sobs until they subside enough for her to tell me why it was “too late.”
This is the part where I desperately and silently send a prayer to God, knowing only He can help to ease her pain, to see her pain, to know it’s not all in vain.
I gently ask her, “Can I pray for you?” We pray on the phone together, and I am once again amazed at the words that come from my mouth during the prayer. These are not my words, but have been placed in my heart and brought to my mind at just the right moment to speak hope and healing to her heart.
She simply says thank you and hangs up.
What do I want her to continue to know? She’s not alone. I carry her in my heart each day. I talk to God about her on my way, from here and there, whenever she pops into my mind. She’s popped into my mind a lot.
At times, I wonder if I care too much. This is a hard job; answering calls from the desperate and hurting. But I know that deeply caring about her is the very reason I am here to answer these calls. I literally could do no less.
I want her to continue to know that she’s not alone. I would love just one more chance to tell her “We care about you and your hurts” and “We can walk along beside you on your healing path.”
But, she’s not alone. God has her on His mind. I know, because He keeps bringing her to my mind.
Every day, these are the types of calls that we take. This is what we are called to do. This is why we are here.
If you need to talk, simply pick up the phone and call us at 913.962.0200. We answer 24-hours a day because we know that the unexpected can happen at any time. Not ready to make a phone call but still need to talk? We have an online chat. Simply visit any page on our website, and click on the blue chat box at the bottom left.
Want to know more about how to talk to us . . . anytime, from anywhere? Read here:
Needing to Talk – Our Hotline and Online Chat
Additional help if you or someone you know is expecting:
Advice & Aid Pregnancy Center has additional programs to help. To learn more, check out these posts:
Our Bridges Program
Our Journeys Program
Our Labor & Delivery Program
Advice & Aid Pregnancy Centers is a dual-location (Shawnee & Overland Park) crisis pregnancy center. We offer education, options, programs and assistance to those women and families facing an unexpected pregnancy. But most of all, we offer them hope.
Advice & Aid Pregnancy Centers offers truthful information about parenting, adoption and abortion, in a caring, non-judgmental environment. We know that in many cases, an unexpected pregnancy is a very stressful situation, and we exist to offer help, hope and aid.
