Before Ben and I got married, we felt God prodding us to go beyond just telling women not to have abortions, and actually helping those who face crisis pregnancies. We started looking for opportunities to get involved in what we assumed would be an active ministry all around us. The solution seemed so simple: when women face unplanned pregnancies, we should join with them to help make having the baby more of a possibility, even if that means sacrifice on our part. We imagined a home that felt like a family and provided more than medical care and basic needs, but also prepared them to raise their baby and pointed them to Christ. Sound familiar? We didn’t know it at the time, but while we were envisioning this and praying for how we could make that happen, Another group of people, a hundred miles away was in the beginning stages of preparing something that was exactly like what God had put on our hearts.
We were a little discouraged to find that none of these ministries were available in the area where we would live after we got married, so we expanded our search a bit further. We found a maternity home that happened to be hiring new house parents. We applied without hesitation and were surprised when they offered us (the not-yet-married-never-had-our-own-children-or-household couple) the position, and as excited as we were for the opportunity, God told us to wait (probably a very wise move for that time in our life). Over the next few years, God did not let up on this prodding in our hearts to do something about this need that we saw in our community. We looked into starting our own non profit, we offered to have individual pregnant women live with us during their pregnancy (and after their baby was born), and we applied to be foster parents, originally intending to specifically house pregnant teens that were in the foster system. Each time we looked into these opportunities, or completed all of the trainings and home studies needed, God ended up telling us to wait… We were so eager to help, and yet God kept closing doors.
Fast forward, to last summer: we were very involved in our church and established in community outreach and discipleship where we were. Yet, when Ben was offered a position in St. Peters, and even though we didn’t want to go, we prayed about leaving anyway and quickly felt very strongly that God was telling us to go. We said goodbye to our dear friends and quickly packed up our house and moved three weeks later. During our move, we researched ministry opportunities in St. Peters, knowing that if God was calling us away from our current home and ministries, He had something else prepared for us. Our first searches found us looking into maternity homes, and from there, we discovered The Sparrow’s Nest website. We were baffled to find out that their model was exactly what we had envisioned. After getting established in a new church, we saw that they were hiring and applied, so excited to get involved in whatever capacity we could.
Here we are, the Assistant House parents and so excited to begin this work that God put into our hearts, over five years ago. It’s crazy how God works, bringing people together who once were strangers, for a similar purpose–all in His timing. He has grown our love for our new co-workers in this ministry and bonded us together. We were praying for The Sparrow’s Nest and our involvement in it long before we knew about its existence. Finally an open door.
Kristin Woods
Assistant House Mom