Tag: Conceived in rape

Created For A Purpose

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What is your purpose in life?

Lately, I have been thinking about what it means to be created for a purpose.

The definition of purpose is the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

Our purpose in life is the very meaning of our existence and without knowing this we often suffer ignorant of our own significance. We fall prey to the illusion that our lives don’t matter and we have no connection or impact on the world around us. The Bible offers many insights into man’s purpose on Earth and living within a meaningful mission. ( From biblestudytools.com)

In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says, “ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”

In Jeremiah 29:11 it says. “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “

Proverbs 19:21 says. “ Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose ( the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.) that prevails.

In life, we all plan things that we want to do, but it is always what the Lord intends for our lives that will prevail. God wants to see us prosper, God will not harm us, and God wants to give us a hope and a future.

Each of us was created for a purpose. It takes prayer, fasting, and Bible reading to find out what God’s purpose for our lives is. Sadly, we live in a world where people reject the call of God on their lives, and people want to follow their plans and not the ideas, methods, or plans of God.

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It can take time for us to find out what our purpose is in life. It took years for me to find out what my purpose in life is. For those who don’t know my story, it is I was conceived from rape, saved from an illegal abortion and placed for adoption. Even though I knew my story for a few years knowing God’s purpose for my life did not happen until I heard one of my Pastor’s sons preach a message, “When our mess becomes God’s message.” It was at the beginning of that sermon that God spoke to me and told me I needed to tell the story.  Talk about God’s purpose for my life unfolding. I planned to share my story in church, and that was it, but God had other plans.

Because I have people in my life who have encouraged me to continue sharing my story, my story has gone all over the world; it has been translated into Spanish, it has been published in a couple of magazines, a couple of pro-life news organizations published the story. God’s purpose has led me to volunteer at a Pregnancy Resource Center near my church.  Not that long ago I found out that there is a possibility that my story will be published in a book in Spanish.

The purpose that God has planned for our lives is something that should not be taken lightly. Let me encourage you that sometimes God’s purpose for our lives comes from messy situations that God wants to use for his message to be fulfilled not just in our lives, but in the lives of others who need to hear our stories so they can know about the Love of Jesus Christ.

 

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion, and adopted. She is married to Fred Hensley. Sherry enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith. Fred and Sherry attend Bethel Christian Center in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

 

You’re A Good, Good Father

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As I sit here writing, and the tears are wanting to flow I am reminded how much we have a heavenly father is a good, good father and I am loved by him. Our Heavenly Father is also our creator.

The reason of our conception should not matter, but we live in a world where there is abortion on demand. We live in a world where 64% of abortions are forced abortions. We live in a world where the pre-born baby conceived from rape/incest are aborted (murdered) for a crime that they were not even at the time the crime was committed, and they are also innocent of.

I was conceived from rape, and my biological great-aunt wanted me to be aborted, but my birth mother did not give into the pressure of a family member and did what was right. She did not want to destroy the plans that my heavenly father had for my life. She saw me as a gift from God and a gift to a couple who could not have children.

I have been sharing my rape conception story for over three years now. The more that I share it, the more the enemy tries to discourage me and shut me up. I have some news for the enemy I won’t stop defending the mother’s from rape and their children. I won’t stay quiet.

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The pro-abortion movement likes to devalue the mother’s from rape and their children and will say things like the baby conceived from rape as a product of some rapist work. I was in a discussion not that long ago where a product of some rapist work was mentioned.  After that was mentioned I got sick to my stomach and was mad to where I had to pray God I need you to help me right now because I don’t know how much more of there vile nastiness I can take. The very next night the song “You’re a Good, Good Father” by Chris Tomlin went through my mind. I have been listening to that song ever since.

I have friends who are mother’s from rape and also other’s conceived from rape/incest who will not be silenced when discouragement comes because they know they are doing something right, and they also know their value; they know their children’s value. They know that that value only comes from a Good, Good Father who created them and they know they are loved by their Heavenly Father who loves them unconditionally.

My Heavenly Father is a Good, Good Father because he loves me and his ways are perfect.

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She is married to Fred Hensley. Sherry enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith. Fred and Sherry attend Bethel Christian Center in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

When Does God Ever Make Sense?

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God doesnt make sense

Yesterday sitting in church the Pastor preached about the future, and the message was directed right at me.

A few years ago my husband and I went to the infertility doctor hoping to have a baby. A week later the doctor called me and said, I am sorry I can’t help you. Talk about being devastated. I was so devastated that I could not look at a pregnant woman or even be around a new born baby I would turn my head the other way it was heart breaking.

A little over a year ago I felt led to go to the local pregnancy resource center close to the church that my husband and I attend. I had gone in there only to see what our church could do to help them. Talking with the director that day I began to feel much compassion for what they do at the center. I filled out the paperwork to see what I could do to help them, and they called me back in August of last year to see when I could start coming in for training at the center. It has been a long year, and I am just now getting finished with my training.

The miracle in this is that I can now look at a pregnant woman and it brings me much joy when I see a newborn baby. God has taken what was so devastating to me and is turning it around for his glory.

If you are just reading one of my articles for the first time, I would like to share with you the short version of my story. I am an adult adoptee. I grew up knowing that I was adopted. When I was 35 years old, I found my birth mother through a social worker in the state that I was born, and that is when I found out the truth of my conception. I found out that I was conceived from rape, saved from an illegal abortion at a planned parenthood clinic, and placed for adoption. My biological great aunt tried to coerce my birth mother into having an illegal abortion at a planned parenthood clinic, but my birth mother stood her ground and knew that there was life growing inside her womb. She did not want to destroy the plans that God had for my life. For that, I am so grateful.

Not that long ago the director of the pregnancy resource center came to me with a situation and asked me what day I could come in to start counseling women who are in a crisis. I am an extra emotional person, to begin with, and over the last few days, my emotions have been going all over the place. I will admit I am scared, nervous, got fear staring me right in the face. And I have been questioning God can I do this? My husband and I don’t have children, and I never had an abortion.

Going back to this past Sunday at church on the way to church in the evening I started thinking about people in the Bible who God used, and at the time it didn’t make any sense. Abraham is one of them. God told him he would be the father of many nations, and his wife was barren, but God gave them a son 25 years later. God also told Abraham to get up and go, and God didn’t tell him where to go just to go, and God would tell him on the way where to go. Noah is another one. God told Noah to build an Ark. The Bible doesn’t say how many years it took for Noah to build the Ark, but many Bible Scholars say about 120 years it took to build before the flood. So many stories in the Bible where things didn’t make sense to man, but it made sense to God. They had to trust God. In the evening service, I heard to other messages that were for me. After listening to all three sermons if I had a title for all three sermons it would be titled, “When does God ever make sense?”  I know God is going to use me at the center to be a light to many people, but since I do not have any children and never had an abortion does it make sense to me. While it’s not making any sense to me, it makes sense to God, and I just have to trust him, and I know he is with me and will help me.

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She is married to Fred Hensley. Sherry enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith. Fred and Sherry attend Bethel Christian Center in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Why The Rape Exception Is Irrelevant To The Pro-Abortion Movement

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The definition of irrelevant is not relevant; not applicable or pertinent: 

You are probably wondering where I am going with this. This thought came to my mind this morning as I was doing my morning devotions. 

Not that long ago our Assistant Pastor at our church preached a message and used me as an example. He mentioned that because I take a firm stand against abortion that people give me a lot of flack for it, but that doesn’t stop me. What I am given a lot of flack for was how I was conceived. I was conceived from rape. Those that are conceived from rape/incest are given a lot of flack because of how they are/were conceived. 

Not that long ago in one of my discussions, this was said. “The fetus is using the woman’s body without her consent. It is, therefore, doing something wrong. Using someone’s body without consent as a result of a sexual assault is not “innocent.” Did this statement surprise me? No, it did not. This is an example of what the pro-abortion movement likes to say about those conceived from rape/incest. The reason why the rape/incest exception is irrelevant to the pro-abortion movement and to those who claim they are pro-life but are for the exceptions is that the baby was not even around when the crime took place. Their way of thinking makes no logical sense in any way. The baby was conceived after the crime to place. To say that a baby who is conceived from rape is using the woman’s body with out her consent is absolute nonsense. The person who committed the crime is not innocent, but the baby who was not even there at the time of the crime is innocent. 

In 2004, the Guttmacher Institute anonymously surveyed 1,209 post abortive women from nine different abortion clinics across the country. The percentage of abortions for the rape exception was  <.05%. The rape/incest exception needs to be done away with when making pro-life laws.

In the pro-abortion movement and those who say they are pro-life but are for the exceptions only think about the life of the mother and don’t reflect on both of the victims, and that is the Mother and the Baby. If you are just now reading this and don’t know my story the short version of my story is I was conceived from rape, saved from an illegal abortion at a planned parenthood clinic, and placed for adoption. Another reason comes to my mind is that the Rape exception is irrelevant to the pro-abortion movement and those that are for the exceptions is because I am not connected by what they have to say, what they think, or what they believe. My life is relevant because of God. God created me, and I want to be closely connected to Jesus Christ. 

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She is married to Fred Hensley. Sherry enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith. Fred and Sherry attend Bethel Christian Center in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Is A Preborn Child Conceived In Rape Guilty Of Hurting Her Mother?

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The other day while I was having a discussion with some people about abortion and rape this question was brought up. What if she was just so traumatized with her experience that the thought of having her rapist’s child killed her spiritually? This question bothered me so much that I had to take a few days to think about what I want to say. For those that are just reading this and don’t know my story, I was conceived from rape and placed for adoption.

Since I started to share my story almost three years ago I have had many things said to me that are negative since then and never once have I heard the question in regards to the pre-born child conceived in rape kill the mother spiritually, but since we live in a very corrupt world that is just getting worse every day it does not surprise me that this was brought up.

Since getting into many discussions and reading true stories I have found out that many women and young girls say that having their baby has saved their lives, their baby has helped bring them healing, their baby is the joy and the blessing that came from something very traumatic. I know one mother who conceived a child from rape has told me “She made me have joy through the storm”! Also women and young girls who have their babies they see their child as their child not the rapist child, not a reminder, but a child full of life and purpose. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” All the stories that I have read I have never heard of these Mother’s saying that their pre-born child caused them to die spiritually while their baby was in the womb, but what I have heard is that the baby begins to help the mother heal while in the womb. I know this is true because when I got in contact with her she told me that I was the beginning of her healing process.

The child conceived from rape is innocent of any wrongdoing.  It is my opinion that if a woman is struggling spiritually after she has been raped it is because she is going through a lot of emotions and probably feels like God left her, feels like God is far away, feels worthless, and feels helpless. I would in no way condemn her for struggling, but I would love her, support her, and show her the love of Jesus and if she is pregnant I would share with her my story and share other stories of women who have found that having their baby has helped them in many ways.  It is also my belief that the baby conceived in rape is not guilty of causing the mother to die spiritually.

 

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She is married to Fred Hensley. Sherry enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith. Fred and Sherry attend Bethel Christian Center in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

 

 

 

Someone Else

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I know we all have heard the phrase “Someone Else did it or I didn’t do it.” Especially from Children.

As Easter approaches and we remember the price that Christ paid for us on Calvary let us all remember the Resurrection. The Resurrection is about New Life. Life is a precious gift and each time there is life brought into the world it is new and fresh. There is also the celebration when New Life comes into our lives.

Growing up I always felt extra loved, and extra special when Easter would fall on my birthday. I did not understand at the time why I felt that way. I do now. Since finding out that I was conceived from rape I have a much greater appreciation for the term “Life.”

Society will tell you that those conceived in rape should be dead. That truly does not make any sense at all. They would love to have us dead because they do not want us speaking the truth.

Babies Conceived from Rape have an automatic death sentence. The sentence is for paying the price for a crime that they did not commit. That has left an impact on me as I could have paid that very same price. I am so grateful for a mother who was not going to let her daughter pay the punishment for a crime she did not commit, but saw her daughter as a gift, and allowed the precious New Life to be a gift to a couple who could not have children.

As I continued to think about it I could have paid for the crime, but I was given life instead. As I continued to think about all of this I thought about someone else in the picture. While I did not commit the crime, I am far from being perfect. I have done wrong, made mistakes, but guess what Someone else who is innocent paid the price for my wrongs, and he paid the price for the man who did the crime. I didn’t have to pay that price.

The someone else is this story is Jesus Christ while yet innocent he paid the price for all of our wrongs. He didn’t let the price that he paid keep him down, but on the 3rd day he arose from the grave and the resurrection of New Life began.

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Sherry Hensley and her Husband Fred reside in Baltimore, MD. Sherry is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith.

Children Conceived In Rape Have Potential

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As I watched the video from Mia Love giving her speech at the March for Life 2017, I was touched, but at the same time, I had many thoughts going through my mind.

In Mia Love’s speech at the March for Life 2017, she mentioned that “each child born and unborn has the potential to open up our world. She also mentioned that “each child maybe come a lawyer, a doctor, a person who can cure cancer, a person who can cure Alzheimer’s.” She then mentioned that “every time we kill a child through abortion we kill our potential. We can not except what might have been, but focus on what is to come.”

As I thought about what she said, I took her what might have been to what could have been and to what should be. In the pro-life movement, we have had many laws that have protected the unborn, except those conceived from rape, incest, and life of the mother.

Let me ask Mia Love and the Pro-Live movement? What could have happened if these bills that were passed did not have the exceptions in them? Could it have been possible that abortion would be illegal? Could it have been that these babies that are forgotten bring their mother’s healing or placed with couples who can not have children? Could it be possible that babies conceived from rape/incest or the life of the mother have potential?

The Pro-Life movement has much to learn from Mia Love’s speech. If the Pro-Life movement plans to focus on what is to come, we must not forget the lives of those conceived in rape/incest or the life of the mother are also worthy of the right to life. Children conceived in rape/incest should be allowed to have the right to life and live to their fullest God-given potential. They should be allowed to give their mother healing or allow the mother to place their child in a home where the child is cared for, accepted, and loved.

I was conceived in rape and placed for adoption. Since finding out that I was conceived from rape I have talked with others who were conceived from rape as well, and we are lawyers, firefighters, doctors, ministers, nurses, and so on. Who knows if the child conceived from rape/incest is protected just like anyone else maybe they can be the one to cure cancer, cure Alzheimer’s and become who God created them to be.

To the Pro-Life politicians, I urge you the next time you vote on a pro-life bill don’t exclude the exceptions but include them. After all, we are exceptional people who have potential.

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Sherry Hensley is a  Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland. Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. Sherry is married to a Minister and I enjoy inspiring others by sharing her story and sharing her faith.

Conceived From Rape Saved From An Illegal Abortion At Planned Parenthood

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It was in early 2008 that I found out I was conceived from rape and became very upset, but prayed and chose not to allow anger and bitterness take root, and I opted to forgive my birth father because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins as well as the sins of my birth father.

My birthmother’s aunt wanted her to have an illegal abortion. I am so grateful that my birth mother did not give into the pressure of her aunt. 64% of abortions happen because of family and friends urging the woman to have an abortion. I am grateful that my birth mother chose life, and I was not one of the statistics of the 64%.

Last Summer when the Center for Medical Progress released the videos of exposing Planned Parenthood to very wrong and illegal practices I found out that my life could have ended at a Planned Parenthood facility before abortion became legal in the state that I was born in. When I saw the video of the 19-week baby in what I call the mixing bowl, I cried because it could have been me. I cringe when I talk about Planned Parenthood because I know that had my birthmother given into that pressure my very life would have ended at a Planned Parenthood facility.

Knowing what I know about my beginnings to life gives me a much greater appreciation for life. I am so thankful that my birthmother chose life and made the best decision and placed me for adoption.

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Sherry Hensley is a Pro-Life Speaker in Maryland-Conceived in Rape, saved from an illegal abortion. She is married to a Minister and enjoys inspiring others and sharing her faith.

14 Year Old Rape Victim Has Baby Stolen By DHR In Alabama

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I don’t know where to begin. I am sure by now many of you have read stories or heard about the 14-year-old young lady in Alabama who was raped and had her baby stolen from her by DHR. There is so much that is being done wrong to her. She is a victim, and now DHR is victimizing her again.

As someone who is getting more involved in the Pro-Life movement and also someone who was conceived from rape, when I read stories like the 14-year-old in Alabama it burns me up inside to read these stories. It is absurd when a rape victim is treated more like the criminal instead of the victim.

When I share my story and stand up for life, I don’t like to mention about how society treats the mothers and children from rape. Well, that is going to change. It is high time that I start to bring awareness as to how we are treated.

A lot has been going through my mind about this story about the 14-year-old Girl in Alabama who have her baby illegally taken from her by CPS. There was no reason for DHR to take her child. She did everything that she was supposed to do. The young mother does have her baby back, but she is still in the custody of CPS, and she is in a group home that has bugs and mold. It is not a healthy situation for her and her baby.

rape victimPhoto Credit from Pro-Life Libertarian Party Council

Some recent good news she does now have access to her Lawyer and also has the basic birthing necessities that she needs. She needs to be released with her baby and be back with her grandparents who love her and are willing to help raise her and her baby. Her twin brother was also taken by CPS for no apparent reason. We must get them back to where they belong.

Governor Robert Bentley,

I am writing to you to let you know that I have been reading about the young 14-year-old in your state and was taken unjustly and illegally by Child Protection Services. Let me ask you this what if you had a daughter or granddaughter that you were raising and she was raped and became pregnant because of it and had the baby and the DHR comes in and steals the baby and then takes your daughter or granddaughter would you not fight to get them back?  I am sure you would want them with you.

Please do what is right and let them go back to the grandparents. DHR and CPS should be punishing the rapist not the young mother or her baby.

Thank You,

Sherry Hensley