As I made the bed of the mom who was about to move in, all I could do was pray that the smell of fresh linens made her feel a little more at home. After all, my mom always said that a freshly made bed was one of the most wonderful things on earth.
I watched a video from a cruise ship company just to learn how to fold towels like swans…even though it turns out I totally fail at making swan towels. I raided our donations shed to find some special items that I thought she would enjoy. I picked out a cute onesie to get her excited about the life growing inside her. My goal was to make sure she felt welcomed and loved by those she would soon be living with.
Through all these small tasks, I saw an opportunity to love. To show dignity and worth to a woman who I had never met, and who I did not know if anyone had ever shown that to her before. As I prepared her room, I prayed for her and for her baby, and that we as MissionCorps could give her what she needs during her time here.
When I applied to be a MissionCorps, I came with a pro-life mission: to show the moms and babies dignity by, in some small way, making their lives more beautiful. Because is that not what human life demands? What is true, good, and beautiful. Every human deserves the opportunity to love and be loved, to rejoice and be rejoiced in, to give and to receive.
At Maggie’s Place, we affirm life. We uphold the dignity of the unborn lives in our homes by celebrating pregnancy milestones, supporting moms during the hard and painful moments of pregnancy, and supplying them with resources to be the best mom they can be. But we also affirm life in the way we treat our moms. The way we ask about how their day was, how we make a little extra food so there is always some to share, the way our housing is made to feel like home.
What first attracted me to Maggie’s Place weren’t the cute babies (although they are a huge perk!) It was the way that the organization chose to love women. The life-affirming mission of Maggie’s Place goes far beyond just supporting the unique and special lives growing within our moms. It resounds in the lives of the moms themselves.
I believe that this is what makes Maggie’s Place different. When you walk in the door, you can tell that this is a home of love in all forms…love when it’s hard, love when it’s joyful, love when it’s painful, love when it’s easy. Love that knows your name, respects who you are, and rejoices in you right where you are.
My favorite part of living at Maggie’s Place is the ability to become friends with the moms, to walk with them, and to help them to live a life they are happy to live. That is pro-life, upholding the dignity and worth of every human life.
By Joanne Kersten, a MissionCorps
