Day 9: Four Words I Will Never Forget!

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Today is Day 9 of 40 Days for Life, and our prayer is especially for parents who hear four words no parent is ever prepared to hear:

“Something may be wrong.”

I know that fear because 24 years ago, I heard those words too.

I was six months pregnant with my youngest daughter when I went in for an ultrasound. I could tell by the sonographer’s face that something was wrong. He kept looking at the screen, then stepped out to bring in the doctor.

I was told I would need more testing.

And then I went home.

That is the part we sometimes forget.

Eventually, that mother has to go home with those words.

She wonders what they mean for her baby, her family, her health, and the future she had already imagined.

I was terrified.

Eventually, we learned what those four unforgettable words meant: our daughter had only one kidney.

But even then, the fear was not over. When she was born, her pediatrician and urologist were there because we still did not know how her body would function on its own.

And now, as I look at my 24-year-old little girl and proofread her medical school essays, I think about the two years she spent with NET Ministries, serving God and helping so many young people grow in their faith.

And I can’t help but think, what if I had allowed fear to make that decision for me?

I could not see the plans God had for her, the lives she would touch, or the people He would place in her path.

I could only see my fear. God could see her whole life.

And this fear is not theoretical.

Last week, we met a couple outside the Santa Teresa abortion center facing that same uncertainty. Thank God they stopped and spoke with one of our interns. Instead of making a decision in fear, they chose to go to Guiding Star for an ultrasound, holding onto the hope that the diagnosis could be wrong and that their baby might be okay.

Sometimes a woman needs time, truth, prayer, and someone willing to walk with her before fear makes the decision for her.

I wish that when I received my daughter’s diagnosis, there had been a place like Guiding Star for me to turn to.

And more than anything, I wish someone had prayed with me.

One of the most powerful things we do at Guiding Star is pray with and for the women we serve. Looking back, I know those prayers would have been medicine for the soul I desperately needed in that moment.

Prayer makes a difference. Trust makes a difference.

This is also why Gimme Shelter is such a fitting movie for us to watch together during these 40 Days for Life.

It reminds us that our prayers cannot end once a mother chooses life. Choosing life does not suddenly remove her fears, struggles, or uncertainty.

We pray for the baby, but we must also surround the mother.

Tomorrow night, I hope you will join us for our 40 Days for Life Midpoint Movie Night as we watch the powerful story of a young pregnant mother who desperately needs someone to believe in her, walk with her, and give her a place to turn.

GIMME SHELTER
Tomorrow Night
Rated PG-13

Until then, please pray for the mothers who may be sitting at home tonight carrying the same fear I carried 24 years ago.

Scripture reminds us:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9

Lord, remain close to families receiving difficult prenatal diagnoses. Quiet their fears, surround them with people who will pray with them and for them, and give them the grace they need for each day ahead. Amen.

For Life. For Love. For Both.

Gratefully in Christ,

Jessica Sifuentes
President & CEO
Southwest Coalition, Inc.