In 2008, Amy Ford received a vision that changed her life. Amy was enjoying a women’s conference at her church, Gateway, in Texas. During the last session of the conference Amy asked God to show her what she was called to do. During worship she closed her eyes and began to see pictures before her. Amy writes:
“The vision began like snapshots flashing: pictures of me, single and pregnant. I saw the loneliness, shame, guilt and sadness that I felt in that difficult season of my life. Then the snapshots started changing to my life now—happy and fulfilled with my God and my family. Then the snapshots changed again to me throwing baby showers for women.”
After the conference ended Amy shared her vision with her friend Salina. Salina told her during the event she heard God say, “Help the mommies and the babies.”
What began as a vision has become a unique ministry called, “Embrace Grace”. Embrace Grace is a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides emotional, practical and spiritual support for single young girls that find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy.
The Embrace Grace website poses this question: “What if every church in the world reached out and welcomed girls with crisis pregnancies into their church for support and love? This is the vision of this organization. They want every woman with an unplanned pregnancy to have a safe, non-judgmental church to go to for support and for the church at large to extend love to single and pregnant girls.
Having an unplanned or crisis pregnancy can be a scary thing for many women. Amy Ford knows that all too well. At 19 she was pregnant and conflicted about what choice to make. She thought that abortion could be the answer to all of her problems. That choice would allow her to keep the pregnancy a secret from her parents and her boyfriend wouldn’t have to fear his father cutting him off financially.
As Amy sat in a cold, sterile abortion clinic the nurse told her she was over 6 weeks pregnant. The tears came, she tried to take deep breaths but before she knew it the room was spinning and everything went black. Seconds later she heard voices calling her name. She fainted and the nurses were trying to help her. The nurse told her she was too emotionally distraught to have an abortion. She told her she could back and reschedule another time.
Amy never returned. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy with blond hair, blue eyes and a cleft in his chin.
Embrace Grace recently released a powerful video that encompasses many of the emotions Amy dealt with. The woman in this video is struggling to find hope after finding out she’s pregnant.
Interestingly enough the lead character in the short film is Sarah Wuest, an alumni from the first semester of Embrace Grace. Sarah has a little girl Fiona who’s five years old now. Sarah’s story can be found in a beautiful book written by Amy Ford titled, “A Bump in Life- True stories of Hope and Courage during an Unplanned Pregnancy”. The book is compromised of real testimonies from moms who’ve experienced transformation and healing through Embrace Grace groups.
Embrace Grace groups are usually comprised of 10-12 classes per semester with groups that meet weekly. The groups read inspiring books and curriculum. They have groups for singles, pregnant girls, new moms and even fathers. To learn more about “Embrace Grace” groups, check if there’s one in your state or find out how to start one visit their beautiful website at www.iembracegrace.com The blog is regularly updated with encouraging content and the smiling pictures of the ladies on the testimonials page will melt your heart. I have to admit I was chocked up a few times scrolling through the pages. Embrace Grace is an amazing organization that I hope will one day be in every state.
