Seasons of Grace
My fellow Patheos blogger Bristol Palin made a pretty big announcement this morning: She told her readers that she’s pregnant, expecting her second child.
You may recall that during her mother’s political campaign, Bristol was an 18-year-old unwed mother, and she chose not to marry son Tripp’s father Levi Johnson. Soon after giving birth to Tripp in 2008, Bristol launched an abstinence campaign, encouraging young women and men to wait until marriage to engage in sexual activity.
And then it appeared she’d found lifelong love when she announced her engagement to Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer; but that engagement ended just days before the wedding.
As a popular blogger and the daughter of former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Bristol commands a lot of attention. Her announcement, last I checked, had been shared on social media more than 84,000 times; and that number will certainly be higher by the time I finish typing this.
Bristol’s high-profile family and financial resources mean that she won’t experience some of the concerns which are common for single women who find themselves expecting a child. But like ordinary folks, Bristol has had to face embarrassment and public shaming and apprehension, as she faces a future as a single mother. Her own family is disappointed that she has once again succumbed to sexual temptation and conceived a child out of wedlock. “Honestly,” she writes, “I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one.”
What gives her hope, at this time? Her faith in God. Bristol writes,
“At the end of the day there’s nothing I can’t do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace.”
You can read the rest of her open letter here.
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Please let me weigh in here: I want to say “Thank you, Bristol!”
It might have seemed easy to visit her local Planned Parenthood office and have the “problem” solved–except that it wouldn’t have been. Bristol could have followed the course taken each year by more than 1.2 million American women, and chosen abortion.
Fortunately, Bristol Palin knew that each child is a gift, a blessing from God. She knows that inconvenience and uncertainty and fear on the part of a mother are not a reason to snuff out the life of a precious child.
For Bristol’s choice–for choosing Life–I want to say “Thank you.”
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In your own neighborhood, there are women facing the same decision. They may worry about a job, about a stormy relationship with the father of the child, about housing or about financially supporting a child. They may worry that their public image will be damaged by disclosure of a pregnancy.
You can help. Don’t–as so many people did on one website I read–disparage the young woman who has given Life to her child. It’s not the time to criticize or judge; it’s a time to hold her close, to assure the woman that you will walk alongside her, providing consolation and information and help along the way.
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My friend and fellow blogger Rebecca Hamilton wrote a beautiful piece about Bristol Palin, thanking her for her courage. Check it out here.
Image: By Gage Skidmore (Flickr: Bristol Palin) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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