This Baby Was Saved. You Can Help More.

Apologia Studios

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00:05

Okay, well, guys, we wanted to have you come here, number one, just to celebrate this baby girl here.

00:13

I know that she's 16 months now, which time flies. I know I remember when

00:18

I was able to hold her in your home, and we were able to come see her at the hospital when she was born, and wanted to have you guys come here and tell her story, basically, or the purpose and the reason why we wanted to have you guys come here is to celebrate her life, and also to encourage other families who were in your guys' position where you were that day at Planned Parenthood when we were outside calling out to you guys, and we want to encourage other moms and dads who are in this position, and also other

00:53

Christians, other people that go to these kinds of places, and, you know, they call out, they plead for the lives of children, they offer help, practical help, they preach the gospel.

01:05

We want to hopefully give something that will inspire other people to start doing this, other churches to start rising up and doing the very thing, because this is the proof right here.

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This is what it's all about. This is what's worth laying down somebody's whole life for, is this baby girl that you're holding.

01:23

She is absolutely worth the sacrifice and everything that comes with this. So, if you could, whoever wants to go first, just bring us into, you're nominated,

01:35

Derek. Whoever wants to go first, just bring us into her story, you know, from the beginning through your perspective and in your own words.

01:45

Wow. Alright. So, we had just had this little one for not too long, and we were struggling because I wasn't making a whole lot of money back then.

02:03

Then we had our son, Archer, as well, who was still in diapers, still young, and this one is a baby, and then she found out she was pregnant, and we both kind of freaked out.

02:16

We're going to have five kids and no money, and I think at the time we had just gotten a car repoed in Alaska, and my dad sent us $2 ,500, and we kind of made the decision that that $2 ,500 was going to get us back to Arizona instead of trying to winter in Alaska.

02:39

And then, that's when we come into, she's born, a couple months after she's born, she's pregnant with her, and at this point our life had already fallen apart.

02:54

Archer, I was making, I think, nine bucks an hour at the time. We were living with our parents, trying to get out on our own, and that's when we met you guys.

03:08

Yeah. Yeah. And I know there's circumstances surrounding that. I guess what

03:13

I want to ask you guys is, going to a place like that, Planned Parenthood, I mean, obviously we all know what they do there.

03:20

It's no secret, and the reason that drives us there is ultimately love for mothers and fathers like you, families like you, who go to these places and contemplate doing what you guys were contemplating doing that day.

03:35

Obviously there was a lot going on in your life, right? I mean, financial stuff, there was all this shifting ground in terms of work, and you're adding another mouth to the table to feed.

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All this stuff, I mean, we talk to so many people who are in the exact same position, and they just, they don't know what to do.

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It just doesn't seem like it's possible at this point to take care of another child.

04:04

Right, so you guys find yourself in this position now. How did this transition to you guys contemplating

04:12

Atlas and ending up at Planned Parenthood? At what point did you guys consider this, and what led to that taking place?

04:22

It was me. He didn't want it at all. Like he didn't want to go there at all.

04:28

Yeah, I didn't want to go there at all, but at the same time, like, I don't know. He was going to do what

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I thought I was going to do. I was going to follow her, I didn't really want to, but at the same time

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I was still stressing out about how am I going to feed five kids on nine bucks an hour.

04:45

Right. That's a chore. Yeah, and throughout this process, like, through us getting there, the first visit there was very deceptive.

04:59

How so? Just the ultrasound they show you. We've been through. I asked if I could see it, and they wouldn't show me it.

05:07

Okay, and at this point you were how far along? I think I was five weeks. Five to six weeks.

05:13

Okay. But we had seen several, several ultrasounds of six weeks where if you go to a doctor's office and they show you a six week ultrasound, it takes up the whole ultrasound.

05:24

Right. The one at Planned Parenthood, they zoom out and it's this little dot, and I'm like, see, there's nothing even there. Okay, so they said that to you?

05:30

Yeah, actually. No, they said it to me. They wouldn't let him in the room. Yeah, they wouldn't even let me back there. Okay, so you were completely barred from access.

05:36

It was just her ultrasound zoom out frame in terms of there's nothing there, don't worry about it, and then at that point, correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the same day or a different day?

05:48

No, that was the first visit, and then they did take us both back to talk to a doctor, and the doctor said essentially, we'll give you one pill that starts the process, the second pill gets rid of everything, and since there's nothing in there at all anyway, it's not a big deal.

06:08

The Saturday we came to take the first pill is when you guys were out there. Okay. And that's when we walked in,

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I personally didn't want to get out of the car, I was like, nope, there's people here, I don't want to do this, let's just go, she, no, let's just get inside and then it'll all go away.

06:27

Yeah. I was like, all right, well, hurried up inside, they took her ID, and then in the process of them taking her

06:35

ID and us sitting there, you hear the megaphone, and yeah. If you guys hadn't been there, she wouldn't be here.

06:46

No, and I think right before we walked out, someone had walked out and started yelling at you guys, and then he was on his way back in, and we were on our way out, like, eh.

06:54

Whatever, dude. I think I remember that, honestly, that day, yeah. Once he saw us coming out, that's when he calmed down and stopped yelling at you guys, or something like that,

07:05

I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Then I started crying, she started crying, prayers were said.

07:11

Yeah. It was very emotional. I know for me, and I know for her, after we had left, it was a very emotionally jarring experience.

07:21

Yeah. And that, even for weeks after, it was one of those, like, we almost did that.

07:29

Yeah. Right. Wow. Okay. Okay.

07:34

So, I mean, you guys were in there, you know, on the verge of going through with this.

07:40

What you described for the stage of pregnancy that Courtney was at is so common in terms of the pill, what happens with that, you take the first pill, and then you take the second pill, and that ends the life of your child, essentially, and Atlas wouldn't be here with us right now.

07:59

But as you guys said, you were there. Can you describe to me, I mean, as you were hearing this, and you're exactly right, by the way,

08:07

I remember a man coming out and screaming at us, which is not uncommon out there in the nature of this work, but as you were hearing, you know, the megaphone, the calling out,

08:18

I don't know if it was intelligible, if you could remember what's being said, but, like, during that time, what was it that led you to say, okay, at this moment, we're leaving?

08:31

Can you just describe what was going through your mind, what was going through your heart at that point? I didn't even tell him that.

08:39

I don't want to sound vulgar, but she said, basically, F this, and let's go, and she walked out, and I was like, all right, we're doing this, and we walked out, and then

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I remember talking to you guys, and just, like, I couldn't really see anymore, I was bawling my eyes out, and there was a ton of hands on me, and I just remember people honking as they went past, and yelling at you guys, and I was like, just shut up,

09:03

I'm tired of you guys already, and I couldn't imagine being you guys standing out there and dealing with that the whole time, like, we were out there for maybe 10 minutes of prayer, and just the one guy yelling at you guys, and we walked out into that, and then all the people, just shocking, and I don't know, it really sucked being where we were at, just because what we almost went through with, and then

09:34

I personally felt really, I don't know how to put it, kind of condescending on myself that I'd gone that far with it,

09:47

I'd let her go that far with it, and that now here we were, talking to you guys, and it was definitely an experience that I wouldn't want to go through again.

10:00

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I completely believe that God was kind to you guys on that day, you know,

10:10

He was merciful to you all, and as you said, which always humbles me, because we know that it's not about any one of us,

10:19

I mean, we're out there, and we go, and then God moves, and we see miracles like this happen, we see moms and dads inside, and you know, sometimes when they explain it to us, they say,

10:31

I don't know, I just knew it was wrong, and I knew I had to leave, just like how you described, and we get to be out there and just try to cover you guys with love, and obviously we were preaching the message to you that day that, you know, we'll help you, you know, talking about what

10:50

God does in terms of saving people who find themselves in this position, not just saving them physically, saving the child, saving your baby girl from what was gonna happen to her, but for anyone that is contemplating this, and that turns away from it, changes their mind, literally, and comes to God, that shame and that guilt and that feeling that you're talking about, man, it's that condescension, the way you put it, like, it's almost, it's that, it's that, did you drop that in the hole?

11:23

Looks like you did. That, I mean, just that sense of guilt, really,

11:28

I think, and the shame for, this is what we were gonna do, we had it in our minds, and we were going through with this, and our baby girl was almost not here doing this, and the message that we always try to bring out there is that shame that you feel, you know, that shame is put on God's Son, Jesus, on the cross, and if we turn from our sin,

11:52

He takes our shame, and He's ashamed in public on the cross, what

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He did, so that we don't have to be ashamed in secret, because that's what this, that's the nature of what this is, it happens behind closed doors, right, and away from from everything, away from public view, so I just want to encourage you with that, man, personally, is if any part of you still is burdened by that, there is hope, and there is forgiveness in Christ ultimately, and He takes away our shame and our guilt.

12:27

In terms of having the opportunity to be there with you guys in the hospital when she was born, that was an amazing experience, obviously being able to hold her at your house after, can you guys describe,

12:42

I know, Courtney, you were telling my wife that a little bit about her in terms of she's probably the only one of your children that actually looks like you, right, so, right, so I know that that's special, but I mean, tell us a little bit about Alice, what is she like,

13:00

I mean, what is she, what is she drawn to in terms of things that really, babies, she has a baby doll that she carries around, it's adorable, she wraps it in a little blanket,

13:12

I mean, she's already going for the babies over there, so, she likes barbecue, barbecue, yeah, he made ribs, and she loved it, she went to town on ribs, yeah, she loved it, man, well,

13:35

I mean, we know about Alice, we know her story, we know what brought you guys there, we know about God's grace in bringing you guys out of there, but I guess the one other thing

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I'd want to ask you guys is, I mean, what would you say to other families, other mothers and fathers who are in the same position you guys were in, and maybe even say something to other people who are like us, and who just want to sacrifice everything, and go here to do this every day, if that's what it takes to save lives,

14:07

I mean, what would you say? So, the people that are in the position we were in, ask for help, because we spent so much time with just each other not asking anyone else for help, it was just, what are our options, what can we do about this?

14:23

When we walked out, he wasn't gonna go ask you guys for help, but I told him that we were gonna go.

14:29

He was like, if we leave, I'd like to just hop in the car, drive away. Right, just out here. And we needed help.

14:36

Yeah, we definitely needed help, and then members from your church, members from the other churches, that Christmas was probably one of the best

14:44

Christmases we've had. Praise God. Just all the presents, and all the checking up people did, to just kind of, hey, how are you guys doing?

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Do you guys need anything? Is she okay? Does she need anything? How are the kids?

14:57

Just that. And then, what I would say to people that are out there with the church, thank you.

15:08

Don't get disheartened by people yelling at you, because, I mean, I got that.

15:13

You are getting through to people. Yeah, you are. Yeah, I always say, I mean, this is my greatest argument for what we do.

15:22

There's really no speaking against or refuting this right here. This is the ultimate.

15:37

So, I mean, and you know, I want you guys to hear this, as long as you'll allow us to continue to come alongside you and support you guys.

15:45

We want to be here for you, and I'd love to personally just develop more of a relationship with you guys, and hang out, and have dinner, or maybe go shooting.

15:55

So, hopefully we can make that happen. But guys, I want to thank you so much for coming here, and just having the courage to tell her story, and having the courage to inspire other people to continue doing this, and moms and dads who are in this position, that there is hope.

16:12

There's both help and there's hope. Hope in Christ, and then help among the people of God, among His people.

16:20

So, thank you guys so much for coming and talking with us, Derek, Courtney, and Atlas.

16:27

You probably partly answered this question already, but is this right here, this joyful noise that's being raised, is this worth it?

16:36

Is this worth it? All of them together, it's crazy, but yeah, it's worth it.

16:42

It is. We have five kids now. I don't know if that's been expressed, but yes, we have five kids now.

16:49

This one is the fifth, and it's worth it every day. Hard work.

16:56

It's exhausting, but it's awesome. Amen. Children are a blessing.