Testimonies

Right around my 19th birthday, I became pregnant. Of course this was a shock and I had no idea what the future was going to hold for me. The questions going through my head were: What would my boyfriend do? Would he reject me? Would I ever get to go to college? Would I give the baby up for adoption or would I try to raise him?

Upon hearing the news, my boyfriend’s Aunt and Mother sat me down and told me that I couldn’t handle being a mother and that I should abort the baby. I think they may have persuaded me if it weren’t for the fact that I was blessed to have parents that I knew would be understanding and I knew my parents wouldn’t want me to have an abortion.

I made up my mind to go through with the pregnancy, but I wasn’t sure I was going to keep the baby and raise him. After my decision to go through with the pregnancy, my boyfriend became very violent. He was physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive to me. During my pregnancy, I would try to imagine what my life would be like if I tried to raise my baby. I hadn’t been to college yet and the only job experience I’d had was waiting tables. I pictured myself in a diner waiting tables for the next 18 years, being poor, living in a little apartment and having a son with no daddy. It was a pretty bleak picture.

I didn’t make up my mind to keep my baby until my ninth month of pregnancy. I wanted my baby to have a father, so I stayed with my boyfriend for two years until I realized that I wasn’t doing my son any good by staying with his father who was abusive. I was as scared to leave my boyfriend as I had been to find out I was pregnant to begin with because I was all on my own with my baby now.

My parents had little to offer in the way of help so, at the age of 21, I began my life with my 2 year old son. I went on welfare and waited tables to provide him a home. It was a very difficult time in my life. What I didn’t know then, was that God was watching me the whole time.

I believe that God had mercy on me and He sent a man to me who loved me and loved my son, too. We were married when I was 23 and my husband adopted my son a year later. Since then, I feel like I’ve been living the “happily ever after” part of life. Life here on earth will never be without its bumps and bruises, but I feel that with God’s help, I survived a situation that, at the time it was happening, seemed like the world was coming to an end.

The truth is, I was not a perfect Mommy and I made mistakes. But, I’m so grateful to have had the privilege of being his Mom. My son is now 18 years old, and despite my imperfections as a mother, he has turned out to be an intelligent, caring person.

Please be encouraged, no matter what difficulties you are facing, God sees and He is there for you.

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. ~ Matthew 6:31-33

~Ruth