​Dear Doctor,

You probably don’t remember me, but I remember you. I can picture your face, your eyes, the curve of your mouth, the grip of your hand on the door knob. No, dear doctor, you probably don’t remember me. But I can’t forget you. 

You see, thirteen years ago you told me I was pregnant. You looked at me, a young, teenage girl, barely out of highschool, and with coolness in your eyes and a chart in your hand, you sat across from me. You watched me as I cried. You watched as my past, my present and my future all raced through my mind. As my emotions and a child’s life hung in the balance, this is what you said, “You have 2 choices. You can either keep the baby. It will change your life forever. You won’t be able to finish school or go out with your friends.” 

You stopped. I looked up at you. In a decided voice you said, “Or you can terminate it.” 

I looked at you through the fog of my thoughts and the mist of my tears. I shook my head and said, “No, I’m keeping it.” You tried to talk me out of it. You told me my boyfriend wouldn’t support me or stick around. I walked out of your clinic confused, scared and embarrassed. 

That was the last time we spoke. The last time you saw me. But I’ve seen you. I’ve seen you many times, dear Doctor, in my thoughts. I’ve prayed for you and your patients. I wonder how many other mothers you’ve said those things to. I wonder how many took your advice. 

The ‘it’ you suggested I terminate is now 12 years old. She’s a beautiful young lady who’s growing closer to her God and her family everyday. She knows whose she is and she’s learning who she is. She’s made us proud, made us laugh and made us happy. She made us parents. 

I say us because the boyfriend you told me wouldn’t stick around has become my best friend. He was in the waiting room when I was in your office that day, and he’s been at my side ever since. 

No, I didn’t take your advice 13 years ago, but I heard you. And your comments certainly affected me. 

Dear Doctor, you convinced me that it wasn’t worth it for me to finish school. I finished out the semester, but my professors saw a change in me. I lost my effort, I didn’t study, I no longer tried. In their eyes, just as in yours, I was another statistic. Someone who could’ve been something, if only she didn’t get pregnant. 

Your comment about my boyfriend, though I didn’t believe it, stuck with me. Was he just marrying me because I was pregnant? Did he ever really love me? Does he love me now? Or am I just ‘the right thing to do’? 

I can still hear your comments today and I question my worth. My ability to parent. My attractiveness. 

Yes, Doctor, I think about you. I pray you haven’t had many patients like me. Patients who’ve been blessed with a child, yet are scared and confused. Patients that go to their doctor - someone they trust - looking for healing. 

I pray, if you do have any patients like me, you’ve rethought your comments and, instead, fill those patients with positive thoughts about their future as a mother - the joy of having a life growing in them and the abundance of love their heart will feel. I pray, instead of pointing them to the abortion clinic, you point them to the many pregnancy counseling centers in your area. Point them to people that care about their life and the life of their baby. 

I pray for you too, dear Doctor. I pray for your soul. For many years I struggled with anger towards you - both my husband and I did. We wondered what kind of person would suggest ending a life? Does he even know Jesus?

Then God spoke to us. “Be kind and compassionate to one another. Forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) I am a sinner too. Among many things, I committed adultery by having sex before I was married. I, a child of God, mistreated God’s gift of sex. No, I have no right to be angry with you. I sin too.

Dear Doctor, I forgive you. More importantly, Jesus forgives you - He forgives me too. 

God bless you, dear doctor. He sure has blessed me. 

Sincerely, 
NotMerely A. Statistic

Author: Katrina Meinel

Katrina Meinel vividly remembers that day in the doctor's office. She knows she is a forgiven sinner and a child of God. She's happy to be the wife of 1 man and the mother of 4 children. She's convinced that 1 Corinthians 15:10 is true, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” Yes, her life is good, but she knows heaven will be far better!

WELS Lutherans for Life will be hosting a movie screening of Allison's Choice. Multiple dates and locations available. See if there is one in your area:

http://www.alife2.com/alisons-choice-movie-night.html

About the movie:
When young Alison (played by Young Artist Award winner for Best Performance, Chanel Marriott) finds herself pregnant by a dead-beat boyfriend, she turns to abortion. There in the clinic, as she waits for her name to be called, she encounters a cast of comical and quirky characters: a flamboyant counselor, a suburban mom, a hear-weary receptionist, and Lecretia, an inner city girl who speaks her mind like few others. 
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Among this mix, Alison meets a gentle-faced janitor (Bruce Marchiano) with mop "eternally" in hand. The two begin to talk and it quickly becomes clear he is no mere janitor, but the living God manifest and he's come to plead for the life of her baby. With the clock ticking precious minutes away, it is a fight for life or death. Suddenly a nurse appears...What will Alison choose?

My wife and I attended a wedding recently, and we both really liked how the pastor explained true love. Interestingly enough, the dictionary doesn't even have the definition of true love as one of the options under the word love. So the pastor offered up this definition in response to how God describes and demonstrates love.

Love is an action done on behalf of another.

We see the actions of God's love for us:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son... John 3:16

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

He [the Father] will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. John 14

So we reflect that same love back to God and to others:

This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome... 1 John 5:3

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16

May God bless you and all those around you, as you read His word, remember His love for you, and share that love with those you know. You may also seek out new opportunities to share God's love. May you follow the Spirit's promptings, and find true joy, true peace, and true love in Him.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21

Author: Philip Meinel

Discovering ever more depth, height, and breadth of love in the cross of Christ. 

Can I talk to you for a second about porn?  I know we have never met (and I know porn isn’t the most comfortable topic to discuss…), but I thought you would care about stopping porn.

Because you care about life.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after years of leading a purity ministry is that porn kills.  Porn kills intimacy between spouses.  Porn kills healthy expectations about sex.  Porn kills the joy that God wanted to characterize our lives.  Porn kills the confidence we feel in approaching our Father in prayer.  Porn can kill the eternal life Jesus died to give us.  Despite all the pleasure it promises, porn kills.  

Porn is anti-life.

Sadly, porn is killing lots of us.  According to The Porn Phenomenon, a massive study by the Barna Group, 51% of men (13 and older) use porn every single month.  1 in 7 senior pastors confess that porn is a current struggle.  The average kid is now exposed to porn before finishing 5th grade.  Sit in any given pew on any given Sunday, and you’re likely to be sitting next to someone struggling with porn.

So, what do you do if that’s you?  Or your husband?  Or your daughter?  Or your sister-in-law?  Or your best friend?  If porn is taking the life of someone you love, where do you turn?

Answer:  To Life!  To Jesus, who called himself “the Life” (John 14).  To Jesus, who came on an unstoppable mission to give life to those who were dead in sin, yes, even dead in porn.  To Jesus, who left plenty of proof that he loves porn users.  If the way he dealt with prostitutes and women caught in the act of adultery is any clue, Jesus wants to give life to every kind of sexual sinner.  

While Christians who struggle with porn tend to want man-made, effort-driven, white-knuckling plans for moral purity, God has a better plan.  This plan relies on the power of grace given by the Holy Spirit.  Here’s the proof:

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7)

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions.” (Titus 2)

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Cor. 5)

I pray you would meditate on those promises until the Holy Spirit grips your heart, until grace teaches your soul to desire something that lasts longer than porn, until Christ’s love compels you to find pleasure in God and not in porn!

If you or someone you love needs help with porn, visit Conquerors through Christ (www.conquerorsthroughchrist.net).  CtC is a gospel-driven purity ministry that helps people reject, resist, and recover from the wreckage of porn.  You’ll find the 5 Steps to overcoming porn use, wisdom on rebuilding trust in relationships, and gospel truths to breathe life back into weary souls.

If porn has left you lifeless, take heart.  There are Christians we want to help you get your life back.  Far more importantly, there is a Christ who already has.

“In [Christ] was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1)

Guest Author: Pastor Mike Novotny
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Pastor Mike is currently serving as the campus pastor at The CORE in Appleton, WI; and will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming Men of His Word conference in Oshkosh.