This is an article from the Living Alternatives Pregnancy Center Newsletter. The Living Alternatives Pregnancy Center is located in Canton Illinois.

"And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth."

"And Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." from Luke 1 and 2

In her series of books encouraging Christian women to reach out to younger women, mentoring them as the Titus 2 mandate requires, author Susan Hunt talks about the relationship that Elisabeth had with Mary.

We know that Mary was a young teen when God called her to become the earthly mother of Jesus. We also know from Scripture that Elisabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist at the time, was "in her old age." A more clear picture of spiritual mothering cannot be found in the Bible. Mrs. Hunt states, "When women do for other women what Elisabeth did for Mary, I believe we will see young women burst forth in lives of praise to God. That is the goal of spiritual mothering."

The vision for this sort of ministry has been on my heart for a number of years and recently the Lord gave me a wonderful opportunity to be involved in such a relationship with a young woman. In her last trimester of pregnancy, Susi (not her real name) came to us in the the midst of a very real crisis. She and her young husband were experiencing many problems, the result of not "leaving and cleaving" as the Bible commands as well as the pressures from an unplanned pregnancy and the fruit of sin in their lives. Susi had come to Christ for salvation just weeks before we met and desired spiritual counsel so she was referred to us.

Our first session involved listening to her story for 3 hours. To the human ear, it was hopeless. We talked about the adoption option but she told me how much she loved her husband and how she wanted them to be a family.

Just as Elisabeth encouraged Mary and challenged her to trust God's Word, we opened the Bible together, along with my dear co-counselor, Stawanna, and Susi began to see God's plan for her life, her marriage, and her family. We showed her that obedience to the Scriptures and holiness rather than happiness is what the Lord requires. Together, the three of us prayed that God would turn the heart of her husband to her and to his soon-to-be-born child.

We spent time studying what it means to be a Godly wife and mother and Stawanna and I began to see incredible changes in Susi. As God poured out His grace to her, we watched as she began to make wise and Godly decisions. Each week we praised God for her faith in spite of circumstances that looked increasingly as though Susi would be a single mother. Not once did she waver in her desire and faith that God would bring her husband back and that they would be a family.

October came and, being uncertain about who would be available to Susi during her baby's delivery, I offered my "expertise" ie. having had 6 babies of my own! In the middle of the night I got a phone call from the OB nurse, telling me that Susi wanted to know if I would come to the hospital and be with her as she gave birth. I cannot tell you of the joy of that moment, my first experience on that end of the delivery table! All I could say is that God is so good. A perfect little girl was born to a young woman who loves the Lord!

But something else happened in that room. God drew the baby's father to Himself through the birth of this child and over the next few days and weeks, the Lord has answered Susi's prayers.

She and her husband are living together, getting to know each other all over again. They have a precious baby, who looks just like her daddy, and they are both beginning to grow in God's grace.

As Stawanna and I continue in Bible study with Susi, sometimes with her young husband joining us at the end to chat with us, we daily thank God for the ministry he has given to us.

I have long said that my personal goal for being involved in pro-life work is to reform our culture, for God's glory, one woman at a time. As Susan Hunt has said "We must not allow the voices of the world to set the agenda for this decade nor must we allow those voices to teach women how to be women." How exciting it is to be used in this way. And what an awesome God we serve, who used the birth of a child , Susi's little one, to accomplish His purposes.

During this holiday season, I pray that you will ponder the wonder of another birth, the birth of another baby 2000 years ago, who came to earth, God in the flesh as man, that we might also know newness of life in Jesus Christ. May you say, as Mary did

"My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. For he hath done to me great things and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree."

Merry Christmas! - Karen Campbell