Dear Friends,
Please enjoy this beautiful letter from our nurse manager, Barb Millett.
I pray this finds you all in the midst of a joyous Nativity season, as we await the arrival of our incarnate Lord! I am thankful from our vantage point in the year 2025 when we reflect on Christ’s birth we can see the WHOLE of God’ s salvation story: How the baby born in the manger was the long-awaited Messiah who had come to save mankind through his birth, death, resurrection and ascension.
It can take a long time (sometimes a lifetime) before we get to see the whole of a story. Many times, we never get to see the whole but rather
just a snippet here and there. I always consider it a miracle when God reveals part
of His plans to us – and I would like to continue sharing this miracle with you:
I would like to continue the story I began to tell at the Gala this past fall. I met Ashley, almost 4.5 years ago: she was 19, pregnant, and very distressed.
She was unexpectedly pregnant and didn’t know what to do, especially having already gone through the trauma of a previous abortion.
I told you about how after a month of communication and 3 scans to see her baby grow – she had decided to keep her baby, and she and her boyfriend traveled east together.
I mentioned that this spring she reached out to tell me their daughter had turned 3; she and her boyfriend had rededicated their lives to Christ and were set to be baptized in April; They were to be married in November.
They WERE baptized and ARE married – and are now expecting another baby – glory to God!
In a more recent message, Ashely shared, “the more I have been growing my relationship with God, the more I have felt called to get into the prolife movement somehow. I feel like I went through what I did to inspire and help other women one day.”
What a blessing, to see this story unfold. But suppose we only saw the doubt, we only saw that initial loss of life… Please don’t lose hope!
“Let nothing deprive you of hope” –St. Nektarios of Aegina.
This Christmas season, remember Christ, remember what He has already accomplished out of great love for us. Let us continue to labor for Christ but never despair!
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NKJV
From all of us here at Next Step – we wish you all a blessed Christmas!
In gratitude – Heather M Vasquez