Back In It

The other day I was telling Jamy that I ran into one of my birth parents and described her as "my favorite." He just chuckled and pointed out that they're all my favorite. He's right of course. I have a huge passion for birth mamas. 

Since Hannah's Dream closed the end of August, I hadn't been doing much birth parent work. Apart from continuing to care for the sweet birth mamas I was still working with, I haven't had a chance to connect with birth parents for four months. I absolutely love working at Christian Adoption Consultants, but admittedly a huge piece has been missing.  

Just a month out of working at Hannah's Dream a place I love called me. I've had a long partnership with The Women's Clinic of Kansas City, a local pregnancy resource center that provides help to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Over the past few years, I've worked alongside their staff with women contemplating abortions, training them on adoption, and learning how to best serve birth parents. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with their vision for serving families.  

So when they called to see if I could help manage their Alternatives to Abortion program it was one of the easiest answers I've given. My role is to counsel women who are abortion vulnerable and help them with whatever pressures are in their life that will improve their circumstances and their babies lives; everything from healthy relationships and prenatal care to adoption plans and substance use issues. It's a federally funded program that seeks to reduce the number of abortions and improve pregnancy outcomes (this irony isn't lost on me but I'm all in if it means speaking life over these women).  

I began the first of the year and I'm loving it.  Connecting with birth mamas in a hard season with an unplanned pregnancy. Talking, laughing, and crying with them. Offering hope and praying with them. Working with unbelievable staff who don't take it for granted that we are positioned right next to a Planned Parenthood and have an incredible opportunity of offer life to women. I am blessed.

I've got a great gig: I work at The Women's Clinic just a few hours each week. This allows me to still serve my clients as an adoption consultant, help where there's a need at the clinic, and continue to do two things that make my heart come alive. I'm certain working in both arenas helps me serve both birth parents and adoptive families better. I can come to the table having walked through the journey with both of them.  

And I'm assuming in the coming days I'll have a few new favorites...