As I was about to go to bed, I see trending on Facebook a story about a 17-year-old girl in Racine, Wisconsin, giving birth into a toilet. Poor girl thought she was having a bowel movement and to her absolute shock, a baby is born!
The new mom explains that she lied at first and said the baby had been abandoned, but her mother saw blood and called an ambulance. She named the baby and decided to keep him.
Tons of backlash on social media.
“How could she NOT KNOW she was pregnant?”
“How did her parents NOT KNOW?”
Well, I remember a young lady in my hometown who found herself expecting a wee one and surprised all of us when suddenly she was a mama. It happens. And what’s more important is what happens afterward in the community.
No baby is a mistake. No life is an accident. Every human is precious and has a purpose from God. Everyone in the community and in the virtual world needs to stop acting incredulous and start realizing that this new reality for the family is something that is not up for condemnation but a reality that finger pointing and blaming surely doesn’t help.
Imagine you’re this teenager.
Imagine you’re this mother.
And then thank God for two things:
That this baby was not aborted.
That this shocked new mother did the right thing.
I contacted a church in Racine, just in case this news story flew under their radar. What an incredible opportunity for a church to reach out to this family if they are not already part of a church body. I’m hoping this child, who’s entrance into the world may have caught his mother by surprise, will grow up knowing that he was no surprise to God and be loved on by a community of believers. In a season where new life is what we are celebrating, I surely hope my brothers and sisters in Christ would think before they join in a loud social media voice of condemnation.
If you have found this post encouraging or uplifting, please take the time to hit SHARE on the social media buttons below. You never know what one little click could do to bring hope and help to a mom or family desperately in need of an encouraging read.
Michelle Wiginton says
Bravo Lyette! Another “practical” post that should pull at everyone’s heart strings. I am daily amazed at the toxic waves online…and I daily keep putting out my positive, Godly and uplifting posts. We can be afraid to step out for God, others and even ourselves. We are the children of the Most High God…not street urchins! I am learning to step out in authority, compassion and practical ways that anyone else can do, too! Thank you for helping me to become a stronger tower for God and anyone He sends my way!
Lyette Reback says
Michelle, you are an example of perseverance if I have ever known one. Bless you!