While many blogged, posted and tweeted about the Supreme Court decision...

I met her at the motel she had been staying at. To call it a dump would be overstating its condition. It was deplorable. But it was sleep there, or sleep in the woods. I guess the former was better than the latter. I was honored to be able to get her into a motel down the road that has clean sheets and is really nice. Compared to where she was, it is a palace.

Due to legal and insurance reasons I could not give her a ride to the new location. She would have to take the bus. But I could give her the fare for the bus and take her belongings over in my car, so she wouldn't have to try and carry everything with her on the bus. So here I am, in the parking lot of this ratty place, loading her things into the trunk of my car. I gave her my umbrella for the walk to the bus stop. I watched her walk away and went to close my trunk.

Everything she owned on this earth was in my trunk. Two small bags that had a brush, some shoes and a few other (VERY used) things in them. One tall plastic garbage bag filled with her entire wardrobe and one electric pan she couldn't use because she didn't have a utensil to cook and stir with. There was also one package of cookies and an orange juice container with about one glass worth of orange juice left in it. All her earthly possessions. As the trunk closed, the magnitude of what this meant hit me hard. I got in my car and cried.

This young woman is not simply a product of our failed society. She is a product of choices she made for herself. But before we judge too harshly, she is following in the same footsteps of her mother, and her grandmother. To top it off, she is pregnant. She understands she isn't able to raise a child, she understands abortion is the solution everyone feels is best for her. But she has decided to make an adoption plan for this baby. I am in awe. The 7 months she has to go are going to be long and hard. She knows this. Yet, she is choosing life for her child anyways.

Before going to the new motel to give her the things in my trunk, one of the ladies I work with put together a care package of personal items for her. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. Not very much, but just some things we had at the center.

Because of the life she has led this young woman is "hard". She is street smart and has survived through difficulties most of us can't even watch in a movie. Hugs don't come easy for her. Just making eye contact seems to be out of her comfort zone. At the new motel, we sign some papers at the front desk and then head to her room. I drive the car around and meet her there. The room is wonderful. No stains on the wall, or bugs crawling across the bed. Clean, fresh, equipped with pillows!! I looked at her face and saw no reaction. When I asked, she responded with "It's nice." Then, I learned she hadn't had a meal since the day before and her main focus was how she would stretch a few cookies and some orange juice. So, we (the pregnancy center) took care of that need as well.

Before I left, I gave her the bag with the personal items in it. She took it and immediately smelled the fragrant fresh soap. She held the bag tightly and tried to hold back tears.

When I left, I was thankful she was in a clean, safe place and she was equipped to get food. But the feeling that overwhelmed me when I closed my trunk, back at the first motel, has stayed with me. To say I am rich and blessed beyond measure has new meaning. Over the weekend I have prayed more and harder for her than I can remember praying for anyone else in a very long time. I try to distract myself by catching up on Facebook but most of the posts revolve around the recent Supreme Court decision. I have been asked what I think about it and I can honestly say, I don't think about it.

A lonely, hungry young woman, is temporarily in a safe place. She clings to the hope that her pregnancy will continue. She hopes the baby in her womb survives. A baby she will not raise. A baby she will place in the arms of another woman. I can't even begin to imagine what that feels like. I can't even imagine what it feels like to have everything you own fit in 3 bags. These are the thoughts that fill my mind, the rest will have to wait.