NOTES FROM A PREGNANCY CENTER: Thought some of you all might be interested in the notes I keep (in my “furry book,” a commonplace book with faux leopard fur cover–I love this so much!) on counseling at the pregnancy center.

1. Christ came for (at least) 2 reasons–a. reparation
b. example
make amends, pay what you owe, but also, His sacrifice is the model for ours. He gave everything for us; we must give everything for Him.

2. Repent and believe in the Gospel–inseparable

3. Virtues-Based Analysis [this is based on something I saw in Hugo Schwyzer‘s comments box, a while ago]:
a. PRUDENCE: What are all the possible outcomes for this act? Do I have the means to support a child? What about the person I’m having sex with–how well do I know him?
b. TEMPERANCE: Am I hurting myself in some way through over-indulgence?
c. JUSTICE: If a child is conceived through this relationship, what is fair to the child? What is fair to the father?
d. FORTITUDE: Do I have the strength to live with this? If I become pregnant and have an abortion, how will I feel? What about adoption? Parenting?
–> This approach is flawed (for example, it makes abortion sound like a test of strength)–but might be modified into an interesting approach.

4. “If you put the milk out there, the cats will come”–and is that what you really want? [Not sure I’d use that language, but I think the idea is sound: How you act affects whom you attract, and I don’t think the women and girls I counsel typically want to attract men like the ones they do in fact end up having sex with.]

5. “What do you have to do to get to Heaven?” –most important question of counseling session–if you only remember one thing, remember that.