As I mentioned in my other book review today, I worked at a pregnancy resource center for two years. My job was to administer pregnancy tests and help answer any questions the women and their families had about local resources. I was also sometimes a shoulder to cry on, a teacher, and a friend.
Sometimes the women I met later chose to end their pregnancy. Sometimes women came in after having had a previous abortion that they didn’t want to repeat. And sometimes women came in hoping against hope to be pregnant again despite secondary infertility after abortion.
One thing all of the women had in common, whether their pregnancy was planned or unplanned, hoped for or against, was that they were all a bit (or a lot) scared. Pregnancy is momentous. Seeing those double lines on the test makes me sweat every time it happens! I can only imagine the intensity of those feelings if they were coupled with feelings like shame, fear for my safety/health/future, or anger at my baby’s father.
Kim Ketola knows those feelings and knows the effects abortion can have in the lives of women and their loved ones. She regularly speaks to women who have chosen abortion, and extends the love and healing she’s experienced through her relationship with Christ.
Her book, Cradle My Heart: Finding God’s Love After Abortion offers comfort, empathy, and encouragement to those touched by abortion. Each chapter ends with practical ways to reflect on the message (with related Scripture), request God’s help in healing (with prayer), and respond in action (with tips like songs to listen to and journal entries to write).
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who has been affected by abortion or to anyone looking for ways to encourage those who have. My copy will be sent to the PRC I used to work for.
You can read more reviews here.
About the Book:
Abortion continues to be a hot topic in politics, women’s rights, and medical practice. But for the eight to ten million American Christian women who have had one, abortion is a spiritual issue as well, raising questions of life and death, heaven and hell, grief and loss.
Writing from her own experience, Kim Ketola sheds light on one of the darkest and most neglected personal issues of our time: the widespread need for healing and spiritual recovery after abortion. “After abortion brought the worst trouble into my life I had ever known,” writes Ketola, “I just couldn’t see my way free to believe in God’s love.”
With a compassionate heart, Ketola offers ten true stories of healing promise from the Bible to help women answer the most common spiritual torments they face: Is abortion a sin? Does God hate me? Where can I turn in my shame and distress? How could I ever tell anyone the truth? And more.
Inspired by Romans 6:4–“just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”–this is a definitive resource to help women see themselves and God anew and–finally–to find spiritual healing.
Meet Kim:
Kim Ketola is a sought-after writer and motivational speaker with the Ruth Graham and Friends conference. After thirty years in the broadcasting industry, she founded a nonprofit organization through which she presents professionally accredited conferences to equip counselors and help individuals recover from the emotional and spiritual wounds of abortion. Kim lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Visit her website: www.cradlemyheart.org
Join Kim Ketola for a live Webcast!
In coordination with the launch of their fall releases, Kregel will be hosting a live webcast event on September 20 at 8 PM EDT featuring authors Kim Ketola (Cradle My Heart), Teske Drake (Hope for Today, Promises for Tomorrow), and Dawn Scott Jones (When a Woman You Love Was Abused). The webcast will allow women to come together to share their struggles and fears in order to move toward healing and hope. Women will able to support one another and discuss shared experiences in a non-threatening, open and loving environment.
Cat Hoort of Kregel says, “”We are seeking to provide safe means for Christian women to be vulnerable with each other, to seek help and guidance from authors and counselors, and to find encouragement from those who have shared similar experiences. Our hope is that the Women Redeemed webcast will become a forum for hurting women as well as for those who can help. Kim, Teske, and Dawn are all survivors and their stories will surely inspire and equip other women to move toward healing and hope.”
To register for the event, just click here. {https://www.facebook.com/
Thanks to LitFuse for connecting me with this author and providing a copy of the book for review.
First, I want to say thank you for your service in the pregnancy help movement–providing women a true choice. The fact that you have seen the need for help firsthand makes me appreciate your review all the more, Anjannete. God bless you.