Kids in Crisis

We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1:7)

As my older sister’s confidante, I knew her secret before anyone else did—she was pregnant. Although she was only a senior in high school, Shari and her boyfriend wanted to marry. But when my parents found out, Dad went ballistic. In his usual fashion he yelled, ranted, cursed, and threatened. Teen pregnancy was scandalous in 1964, and Dad was big on not doing anything to embarrass the family—especially him.

We didn’t know the Lord back then, and Dad demanded that Shari get an abortion—never mind that it wasn’t even legal at the time. He said he would find a doctor who would perform the procedure. Fortunately Mom talked him out of it, and a small, hasty wedding was planned.

When classmates began noticing Shari’s expanding waistline, she dropped out of school. Whispers of her swift departure followed me to my first year at the same high school the following year. A month before her due date, Shari went into labor. Due to placenta previa, a condition in which the placenta is close to or covering the cervix, little Jill was stillborn.

Dad stated flatly that it was all for the best, but Shari was heartbroken. All before the age of eighteen, she had grown up in a dysfunctional family, become pregnant out of wedlock, married a man who would later turn out to be unfaithful and abusive, missed her prom and graduation, and buried her firstborn.

When kids are in crisis, families are in crisis. Whether it’s an unplanned pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, or some other tragedy, it affects parents, children, and even extended family and friends. If you have a child in crisis or know of a family who does, pray and don’t give up. God never does.