{"id":1741,"date":"2016-09-08T11:09:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T11:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2016-08-21T23:37:14","modified_gmt":"2016-08-21T23:37:14","slug":"a-god-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1741","title":{"rendered":"A God of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"12-30-15<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0 What a beautiful day it is to be outside!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prodigal:\u00a0 Yes, I am just walking and enjoying the day.\u00a0 Why don’t you share a story while we are spending time together?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today’s story comes from the book Voices of the Faithful with Beth Moore<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After feeling rotten for several days, I went to the doctor to learn that I had amoebas again.\u00a0 He prescribed amoeba medicine and hormones and told me to quit nursing my 11-month-old baby.\u00a0 A few weeks went by without much improvement.\u00a0 There was something strangely familiar about my symptoms.\u00a0 Sure enough, the pregnancy test came back positive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I walked into my doctor’s office and said, “Here’s the diagnosis.”\u00a0 He read the lab report and gravely looked up.” You should have an abortion.\u00a0 The amoeba medicine and the hormones you took are contraindicated during pregnancy.\u00a0 They could cause serious birth defects.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I made it home before completely falling apart.\u00a0 I picked up my devotional book, and Romans 15:13 jumped right off the page at me. I prayed, “okay, God,\u00a0 this was a complete surprise, but it wasn’t an accident.\u00a0 You have given us this new life.\u00a0 It was Your idea, and we rejoice in it whether there are birth defects or not.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another voice whispered in my ear, But what will happen to your ministry if you tied down by a child who requires a lot of attention?\u00a0 God’s Spirit so completely overwhelmed me in that moment that I replied, “It isn’t my ministry.\u00a0 It’s God’s.\u00a0 If He wants me to use my time taking care of this child, then that’s what I have to do.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I returned to my doctor to refuse the abortion and to tell him why.\u00a0 Twenty-four years have passed since that time.\u00a0 Today our daughter, Rebecca, is a short-term missionary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen, Middle America and the Caribbean missonary<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit<\/p>\n

Romans 15:13<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jennifer Van Allen<\/p>\n

www.theprodigalpig.com<\/p>\n

www.faitnincounseling.org<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Me:\u00a0 What a beautiful day it is to be outside!   Prodigal:\u00a0 Yes, I am just walking and enjoying the day.\u00a0 Why don’t you share a story while we are spending time together?   Today’s story comes from the book Voices of the Faithful with Beth Moore   After feeling rotten for several days, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA God of Hope - The Prodigal Pig<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theprodigalpig.com\/?p=1741\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A God of Hope - 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