It has been a time of explosive growth and development for Guiding Star and we are so happy to have you along for the ride.
When a young group, like Guiding Star, goes through a period of such rapid growth it can sometimes be very easy to lose sight of the original mission and vision. I want to take this opportunity to again reiterate why we need a group like Guiding Star, in addition to all the wonderful pro-woman/pro-life agencies already serving our communities.
Guiding Star Project founder, Leah Jacobson
Guiding Star is needed because there are so many women in need of so much help. We simply want to better connect and support organizations that serve women in a life-affirming manner so that it is easier for women to reach all the services they need in one convenient location. There are so many fabulous providers of natural, holistic, authentic women’s health services that need our help to reach more women with their messages of hope. We want to bring together all those with empowering services to create centers dedicated to a new definition of “women’s healthcare” in our country. We are creating a strong united voice that says women’s bodies are not broken and that true feminism celebrates women’s bodies being unsuppressed and naturally healthy.
I think we can sometimes forget that “life-affirming” services stretch beyond the crisis pregnancy realm. We have grown accustomed to a reactive approach to the problem of abortion, and oftentimes forget that to prevent a problem in the first place, we need to be proactive.
In order to create a Culture of Life, we need to look at the many challenges women and families face each day in choosing to live in a life-affirming way. We need to remember the young girls first learning about their fertility and forming their ideas about what their bodies are for. And we need to remember the couples who are trying to plan their families naturally and who need the education and support to learn about their shared fertility. We need to remember the families who are just learning that their unborn child will be born with a disability, and be there to give them the encouragement they need to greet their baby lovingly. We need to remember the single parents who are in desperate need of two hours to themselves to recuperate, while their children play safely nearby. We need to remember that supporting life means offering hope and support long before and long after the birth of a child. It means friendships, trust, and being there when someone else is feeling tempted to slide into despair.
There are so many ways that we are called to be life-affirming in our everyday lives. Guiding Star is working to create a place where life-affirming is the norm and the expected approach of everyone working there. We are working to create centers where the truth and love about the beauty of our bodies is proclaimed. We are working to create a place where not only young women in danger of abortion are welcomed, but any woman in danger of forgetting her own worth and purpose is embraced.
I have had the opportunity to speak with many women in the past few years whose journeys to motherhood were less than effortless and at times quite challenging. There was Amy, whose daughter was born with Cerebral Palsy and passed away at 7 months of age. She noted how much she needed to talk and share the story with other mothers, but had no one outside of her mom to talk to about it. Then there was Jen, who found out she was unexpectedly pregnant outside of marriage and while in college. After struggling for months, she reluctantly moved in with her boyfriend so she could afford to give birth to their child. She too talked about needing help with a support system outside of her college friends. Then there was the amazing mama I met in Wisconsin who, at age 25, had 5 children already! She amazed and inspired me by her openness to the gift of more children, but admitted that having someplace she could go with her children for a break, someplace where no one would make rude comments about “them all being hers” would be a welcome refuge. I have heard so many stories from women who have struggled to conceive children and have turned to online forums for support because they just don’t know of any place where they can meet other women in their situation face to face. All of these women have voiced the same desire; community and support from other women.
We need Guiding Star because, quite simply, our world needs a reminder of love and our women deserve a place where they can find it. All women, and their families, will find a home in Guiding Star. We are working to create places of hope, trust, and love. It is my prayer that you will join us in this exciting venture.
Peace be with you,
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