With Christmas just around the corner, let’s take a moment to consider how the word “expectation” affected two different women.
The first was a young teenage girl named Mary who was visited by an Angel named Gabriel. He brought her word that she was going to conceive by the Holy Spirit, give birth to a baby boy who was to be named Jesus, and He would grow up and bring salvation to mankind. Imagine Mary’s initial shock at hearing this word from the angel Gabriel. Yet as he spoke, faith sprung up in Mary’s heart, and she accepted this word with gladness. From that faith, an “expectation” blossomed, and she believed the angel’s word would come to pass.
The second woman is also a single, young woman who represents any one of the single, pregnant women residing at Redeeming Life Maternity Home. Unfortunately, the “expectation” this woman has when she passes through the doors of the maternity home is not one born out of faith, but an “expectation” birthed out of abandonment, fear, and loss. She expects that she will have no other choice but to return to the only life she has ever known. Although she is grateful for the opportunity to reside at Redeeming Life during her pregnancy, she sees it only as a short respite before returning to the life of desperation and hopelessness she only recently left behind.
What she does not see in her dark projection of the future is coming into contact with Christian staff who will introduce her to a new way of thinking and living that can help break the cycle of dysfunction that she has become accustomed to. She will learn about Jesus, not only the baby born at Christmas time, but about Jesus the man, who grew up and gave His life, dying on the cross, as a sacrifice for her sins. She will find that by accepting His sacrificial gift, her “expectation” for the future can change. Instead of returning to a life of hopelessness, she can experience a new life in Christ – a life with a future thought out and planned specifically for her and her baby by God.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11
Such a contrast is found in these two young women’s lives, yet they share one major thing in common: both of them are touched by Jesus.
One, because of Him, becomes His mother.
The other, because of Him, receives the opportunity to become a child of God.
No greater gift will ever be given than this – the gift of Jesus.
God Bless You and Merry Christmas!
Redeeming Life is a Christ-centered maternity home that provides a stable environment for single women with unplanned pregnancies. Our structured program provides mentoring, counseling and life skills education to help them become independent and provide for their children as single mothers.