by Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat International

“Time ripens all things; no man is born wise.” – Miguel de Cervantes, author (Don Quixote)

To understand how “time ripens” we need to look no further than our own lives. In fact, one of the most profound perspectives comes from interacting with small children as they grow and mature. One moment they don’t understand something, the next they do. They simply need time to develop, aided by the proper conditions, input, protection, and cultivation.

Cabernets and cathedrals are similar. Most wines ripen with age as the molecular structure actually changes into something richer, fuller, and, as the sommelier will tell you, better. Most red wines take between five and twenty years to age properly, allowing tannins to mellow and aromatics to blend together. Unfortunately, I’ve been known to stand impatiently, complete with arms folded and toes tapping, in front of a microwave cooking (or heating) my dinner in just a matter of moments. I've also marveled when visiting other countries that have invested a significant amount of years curating phenomenal vintage wine. As someone from the modern world, my inherent expectation of instant gratification would mean missing out on the wonder of an aged wine. (If you don’t drink wine, think about cheeses aged for decades. But not American cheese, which is probably not even real cheese.)

Cathedrals also take time, but the time is more active with artisans in stone, wood, and glass working for decades if not centuries. The Gothic Cologne Cathedral in Germany took more than 600 years to complete. The vision to complete this wondrous celebration of God’s power spanned generations of architects and artisans, bishops and barons, as well as patrons and parishioners. The cathedral was completed before the U.S.A.’s Brooklyn Bridge (NY) and Washington Monument (DC). Today, you can visit this testament to tenacity in Cologne, Germany. (I’ve not been there, but I bet the city smells nice, too.)

In our modern world, we often only pursue the quick fix. This is certainly necessary for us when we’re helping a woman navigate the obstacles preventing her—at the moment—from choosing life. Yet, when we are looking at the systemic impact of abortion on our land, laws, and lives, the quick fix has been exceptionally elusive. Too many are spending too much on finding that quick fix—the “silver bullet”—that will establish life as being cherished and chosen everywhere as soon as possible. Of course, we all want that to happen, but the quest for a quick fix can get in the way of playing the long game.

That’s the nature and heart of pregnancy help. Her “quick fix” is abortion. We need her to look beyond the moment and circumstances to see the path ahead, which is led by God.

Similarly, we build one another up in this work, knowing that the pregnancy help part of the pro-life movement has never been about the quick fix or silver bullet. We know that what makes for exceptional pregnancy help is building for the long haul: to be a known and trusted community partner who will work diligently to provide alternatives to abortion regardless of which laws are currently on the books.

For more than five decades, Heartbeat International has had the privilege of journeying with pregnancy help organizations. We were there with the startups in the early 70s. We have helped inspire and nurture networks in other nations. We’ve walked with leaders throughout their lengthy tenure and then had a hand in training their successors to carry the mission forward.

Together, the pregnancy help movement has continued to uphold and advance the sanctity of life, one woman at a time.

The heart of this mission is building relationships with those God has called into the mission field created by abortion. Just as we know our number one tool in interacting with at-risk moms is the relationship, the same is true in building relationships among our own, fellow leaders and missionaries in this work. We come from different places, walk in different environments, and work with varying methods, yet we are all called into the pregnancy help community.

Time does help "ripen" our relationships with trust, experience, and wisdom. “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding…” (Proverbs 3:13). So take heart, as we grow and mature (tannins or otherwise) and blend together in championing life!