I really had a great day today for the most part. It started with work and then after leaving work, I headed about 20 miles north of my town to go and visit one of my best friends, who also just happens to do my hair too. We always have the best times laughing and cutting up and the bonus is that I get my hair done by one of the finest hair dressers in the county. Tonight was a little different because I had to stop at Wal Mart on the way home. It was SO busy in there (when isn't it?)! I got there at 6:00, went straight to the pharmacy, talked to my other best friend, who happens to be my pharmacist also, grabbed some groceries from the list that my husband emailed to my Blackberry and headed for the check out.
Up to this point, everything had been great. I'd had a pleasant afternoon and got to see some great friends. I got the things that my husband needed....how bad could the check out be?
So, there I was, third in line. The first couple in line were together, a married couple. They were having a good time together, racked up a few bargains with the price matching by using the sale papers. Then there was a very young girl behind them. She couldn't have been more than about 15 or 16 if she was a day. I could see that she had chosen not to put her item on the belt, but instead, was clutching the item tightly to her chest with her head down. At that point, I had not really paid any more attention to the situation since the first couple was finishing up their couponing. As they smiled and waved to the cashier, the young girl stepped up. With head down, she thrust the item to the cashier as if to tell her to please hurry and put it in the bag. Do you know how your brain will suddenly kick into gear and say "hey you....wake up....pay attention!". Well, that was my brain....as I looked up, I realized what she had thrust at the cashier. It was a pregnancy test. This is one of the busiest Wal Marts around and this evening it was packed. I could see how nervous she was. She was practically shaking. But what came next was so unsettling. As she finished her transaction, she practically grabbed the bag and the receipt from the cashier and took off in a bee-line to the women's restroom! Not only was this girl young, but now I realized that she was young, alone and about to go to a Wal Mart public bathroom to find out what would or would not be happening to her in the next nine months. This made me want to break down and cry, right there at the cash register. I wanted to go and follow her and talk to her about Jesus. I wanted her to know that there is a hope for her and for her unborn child. but, there I was, checking out groceries and this little girl was all alone in the restroom for this life changing moment.
Well, I paid the cashier, signed the little screen and headed for the door. In doing so, I almost bumped straight into the young girl. She had a tear in her eye and a very blank look on her face. As I was getting my keys out of my purse, I noticed her walk up to the curb outside and look both ways. I thought she was just checking to see if a car was coming before going and getting into her car. Nope...that's not why she was looking. I knew it when I heard it. It was the engine to a very big truck. The driver of that truck was (what I am assuming) her boyfriend. Her BOYFRIEND! This child had just walked into the middle of a busy store, bought a pregnancy test, gone to the bathroom to take it and meanwhile, the cowboy coward was riding around the parking lot listening to some tunes on the radio.
Before I knew it, I was so angry. Not angry that I wanted to go and commit a sin, but righteously angry at what I had just seen take place right before my eyes. All I could think about were two verses. The first verse that came to mind was directed towards myself:
4:26-27 (New King James Version)
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”:[a] do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.
And the other scriptures that came to mind were relating to what I knew was probably the inevitable....a new little life that had been created:
Psalm 139:13-17 (New International Version)
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I can't get the pictures out of my mind. I can only pray for this new little life that has been created. I pray that the Lord will put divine appointments in the path of this very young girl that will show her how special this little life is and that it is just that....a life. I pray that this young girl has a godly influence somewhere in her life. I pray that she will confide in them and that they will point her down the right path. I pray for that desperate adoptive couple out there that is anxiously awaiting a baby, possibly this baby.
Dear Lord, thank you for allowing me to witness this tonight. Let it be a continuing reminder to me of all of the children out there who are scared and alone and are finding themselves in the midst of parenthood at too young of an age. I pray that You Lord will place divine appointments in the path of this girl. Lord, most of all, protect that little life that she is carrying. If this child is being prepared for another family, Father I pray that it would be a smooth transition for all involved.
Lord, thank You that You are sovereign. Thank you for salvation through the death of your Son Jesus on the cross.
Amen
