This is my first experience in blogging. I'm looking forward  to communicating with you once or twice a week. Since we're in the middle of the Winter Olympics these days I thought I'd share a story I recently read.

   Derek Redmond was favored to win the four-hundred-meter race in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  About half way through his semifinal heat he experienced exteme pain in his right leg and fell to the floor.  He fought to his feet, pushing away everybody trying to continue the race.

   As he reached the stretch a big man wearing a t-shirt that said, "Have you hugged your kid today?" and a hat that said, "Just do it!" pushed through the crowd to reach Derek.  It was Derek's father Jim Redmond.  

   "You don't have to do this," he told his weeping son.

   "Yes, I do,"  Derek said.

   "Well then," said Jim, "we're going to do this together."

   And that's exactly what they did, finished the race together.  This makes me think of the Life Coaches at LifeCare.   They come alongside young women and many times their unborn baby's father to help them in the midst of very difficult circumstances.  They so often introduce them to Jesus on whom they can build their foundation.  This foundation will help them find hope and a way to finish well as they are counseled through their unplanned pregnancy.  In reality their Heavenly Father shows up and walks through their valleys with them, encouraging them toward a brighter future.  

It was a crisp and clear October Saturday in Tennessee when the phone rang unexpectedly.  My wife and I happened to pick the phone up at the same time. 

We had tried to have children, but as it turned out, my wife was unable to conceive after repeated surgeries.  We had investigated adoption through the state, but we were approaching the cutoff age for adoptive parents.  So, we had just about given up on raising children, something we both desperately wanted to have in our lives.

It was her Ob/Gyn on the line with some world rocking news.  We were both dumbfounded as we listened, and my wife could barely utter a word.  Her doctor had been contacted by another doctor friend whose 13 year old daughter had become pregnant.  Now this young girl's father could have surely made "arrangements," but he insisted that his daughter have the child and give it up for adoption.  We were ecstatic and so thankful for that decision.

We exchanged letters with the mother, each of us content with the arrangement.  With only four months to prepare, we found ourselves in our attorney's living room holding our three day old bundle of joy in late February.  Our little girl was wanted, and now loved by us.  We weren't just lucky.  We were blessed.

We knew this was hard for the mother, but didn't realize how hard until we later learned that she went into a depression for seven years after giving her baby up to us.  If only there had been a LifeCare for her!  That's why we support LifeCare of Brandon, which is a powerful tool for young women who are faced with the challenge of an unplanned pregnancy.  We're so glad that LifeCare is there for those young women who face so many issues and questions about their unborn baby.

Take it from this set of adoptive parents:  your choice for adoption or to keep your baby is an important one and does, in fact, touch thousands of lives.  We hope that you use all of the services you need at LifeCare.  You'll find loving people who truly care about you and your baby.