When I served on the board of directors of a small town pregnancy center, I witnessed both the agony of the women (and men, and families) involved in an unplanned pregnancy as well as the amazing stories of healing, redemption, and forgiveness. Some of the people our pregnancy center encountered were devastated by the news of their own, or a child’s or girlfriend’s, pregnancy. Others were dealing with the agony of a past pregnancy, whether last year or ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.
I also witnessed many amazing stories of these same people finding hope because they were finding the help they needed in our pregnancy center. Needs were provided for. Resources were shared. Families were reconciled. Relationships were healed. And perhaps most importantly, people were finding forgiveness from God for past decisions and reconciliation with their Father in Heaven who loves them so incredibly and unconditionally.
These stories needed to be told. They needed to be shared. And so I set about asking women and men to share their stories. It took eight years, but Deliver Me is that collection of stories.
I live in the county in Colorado that has the largest birthrate to unwed mothers. Besides those currently in an unplanned pregnancy, according to current estimates if today’s trends continue, by the time they are 45 years old, 43% of women will have had at least one abortion.[1] That’s nearly half our population of women! And the numbers for men surely are comparable. Regardless of how vocal the prochoice crowd is, privately and silently many women (and men) grieve and agonize over an abortion in their past. Many who shared their stories for DeliverMe told me they thought this was the unforgivable sin, that God would never forgive them for what they had done. But they discovered they were wrong. God does and will forgive—even for this.
America needs to know. Women (and men) the world over need to know that God loves them, that He will forgive them, and that He is right there with them no matter what they have done or what they are facing right now. There are stories in Deliver Me that reveal how women and men have discovered this truth.
Besides the chapters that speak about women who considered abortion and women who experienced abortion, Deliver Me also has whole chapters devoted to stories of women who wanted to keep their child, who gave for adoption, whole families who were affected, an entire chapter of stories from men, and more. Women and men who work in pregnancy centers also share their stories about who they are and how they came to be involved in such work.
Besides the true stories, Deliver Me includes dozens of interesting statistics and valuable resources for practical help.
Deliver Me is available from your favorite bookstore. (Ask for ISBN: 978-0-9831649-0-6.) It is also available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, other online retailers, and direct from the author at www.DeliverMeBook.com and www.SignedByTheAuthor.com. $14.99 (236 pages, released April 2011). Special discounts available for ministries; for more information contact Dianne at dbwrites@juno.com.
www.diannebutts.comwww.diannebutts.comhttp://dianneebutts.com/http://dianneebutts.com/
I'm thrilled for Dianne that this book has released. But even more important is how many people may begin healing through reading the stories in Deliver Me. PTL!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Beth. It will bless many.
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