Light in the Darkness
Posted on April 2, 2014 in Uncategorized
Darkness by its very definition is the absence of light. It isn’t even a fair fight. Darkness has no chance to win. If there is a tiny glimmer of light, there is no darkness and the light does not struggle to overcome it. It just does.
Everything is different in the dark. Your perspective is different. Your senses are heightened. It is a breeding ground for fear. I don’t have to think hard at all to remember a dark time in my life and I bet the same is true for you, a time when a glimmer of light in the distance would speak hope of being rescued.
So often the people who come through the doors of CareNet are in darkness. Their senses heightened. Fear has set in and their perspective is skewed.
- Parents who would have never thought abortion was an option until it was their teenage daughter facing a pregnancy as a junior in high school.
- A teenage boy who is called to ministry, who 9 times out of 10, stays strong and makes the right decision…but that one time, temptation won and he feels lost in regret and shame.
- A young mom who works 40 hours a week but still can’t seem to make ends meet for her two children and then the baby got sick and she had to miss work. How will she ever catch up on all the bills?
It really doesn’t matter the circumstance that got us there…it’s darkness nonetheless.
CareNet is a candle. We don’t have all the answers and sometimes we don’t have the ability to fully light the room for our clients…but we carry a candle, a spark…that speaks hope.
Over the past 26 years, CareNet has touched over 96,000 clients. Last year alone we served 10,872 clients.
CareNet has grown from one small office to four…our MediPark branch, the Northeast Branch (located just off Amarillo Boulevard on Polk Street), our Canyon Branch and our newest location, the Southeast Branch (located at 34th and Osage).
Our ministry is three-fold, we serve men, women, teens, and families before they find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy, we minister to people in the midst of their crisis, and then we continue to journey with them following that situation. All of our services are free of charge and confidential. We don’t receive any state or federal funding…all of our support comes from churches, private grants, and from individuals like you.
CareNet is a pro-life ministry and we are called and committed to be a light to scared and hurting women and families faced with a pregnancy that has literally thrust them headlong into darkness.
Crazy as it seems, when you sit with a young woman literally making a life or death decision for her sweet baby, you can see the light come across her face when she gets it and darkness flees.
In 2013, 85 pregnant women came through our doors seeking an abortion, and of those, 70 chose life!
“You Lord are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light.” 2 Samuel 22:29
I love that…He turns our darkness into light. The very thing that seemed as though it would destroy our very soul…our God turns it to light and draws others to Himself because of it.
The ministry of CareNet was a light to me and my family. As a senior in high school, I visited CareNet for a pregnancy test and as the 2 lines appeared on that test…darkness descended over our family. As we have already said, darkness changes your perspective…and in a moment of crisis like this one…you think things, feel things and consider things that would have never been an option before.
About a week after finding out about the pregnancy, I went to Lubbock for an abortion. Funny thing is…the choice that was supposed to be the quick and easy fix only forced us further into the darkness.
About two years later, feeling very angry and hopeless…I came back to CareNet to attend the New Dawn post abortion study. This saved my life and illuminated a path on which I could serve that would allow the Lord to gain glory from my sinful past. I began to volunteer and have been involved ever sense.
Psalm 139:12 “…even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you.”
Do we realize that the Lord cannot experience darkness? He is Light. He is the Light of the World. As soon as we allow Him entrance into our darkness…suddenly we rest in His glorious light.
My daughter would have turned 22 this year. There are so many things that I have missed with her. Never taught her how to tie her shoes or fix her hair. Didn’t take her to get her driver’s license or shop for a prom dress. I won’t ever get to watch her walk down the aisle as a beautiful bride…and those are consequences of my choices.
But He is so good to allow me a part in this beautiful ministry. In this first video, you will see people who have been through very difficult situations and some of them made choices they are proud of and others didn’t…but don’t miss His reflection all of them.
He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Check back tomorrow– I will be sharing more from our banquet. Tomorrow’s post will feature our “Lifeguards”, courageous college students who are standing as a light in the darkness.
My love,
