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Ep 10 :: Beverly Jacobson :: Mama Bear Care
54 Plays1 month ago
March is National Trisomy Awareness month and today Megan is joined by Beverly Jacobson with Mama Bear Care to share the beautiful journey of her daughter Verity. From diagnosis to delivery, she shares how God brought purpose through her pain. Beverly’s passion for other mamas eventually birthed the Mama Bear Care organization, which provides support and tender loving care to women who find themselves in a place they never thought they’d be.
You can connect with Beverly on Instagram and learn more about Mama Bear Care on their website and Instagram. We dedicate this episode to beautiful Verity and honor the amazing life God has blessed her with! To many more years sweet Verity!
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The Success by Keys of Moon
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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi friends, welcome to Diggin' In. I'm your host, Megan. This is a place where we discuss the things that really matter in life. We cut through the surface to dive deeper. So pull up a chair because here we're Diggin' In.
Meet Beverly Jacobson from Mama Bear Care
00:00:19
Speaker
All right. Welcome back to Dig It In. So glad that you are joining us today. I've got a very special guest. Ms. Beverly Jacobson with Mama Bear Care is joining us today. Hey, Beverly, how are you?
00:00:30
Speaker
hey I'm doing okay. I'm on the tail end of a cold, so hopefully my voice will hold out, but I'm so excited to finally get to have a chat with you. I know. In the making, right? Yes, indeed. Yeah, I know you poor thing. there has We were just talking before we started recording. There has been some funky junkie going around this season. And so I'm so glad that you're feeling better and joining us now. um We met at Life or Death Con this year in January in D.C. Just so thankful for your organization, for you, for your family, and just the leap of faith that you have taken in continuing to fight for life in all aspects. And um so I just want to
00:01:08
Speaker
allow the audience today to hear your story and to hear more about you, your organization, and how at the end we can support you in the fight for life. So tell us a little bit about yourself and we'll go from there.
Beverly's Family Journey & Youngest Daughter
00:01:20
Speaker
Okay. Well, thanks for having me. It's a joy to always... Always for me to be able to share what God has done in our our family. you know our My husband and I, we joke that God took us on a journey of unplanning our parenthood because we thought we would have two, maybe three kids when we got married. We are... nearing 29 years of marriage now. And as the Lord would have it, our family has ah nine children here on earth. And our journey that I'll tell you about today really is all about our our youngest daughter. So this is some years back. I got a call from the doctor when I was about halfway through our pregnancy with her And we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl yet. I was waiting for that 20-week ultrasound. And I was really stunned when i was hearing words like, you know, elevated risk and Edwards syndrome. And I didn't know really what any of this meant. none Nothing like that had happened to me in any of our other pregnancies. We did have a couple of early miscarriages. So I, you know, always kind of held my breath till we got into the second trimester. um and And we were at this point.
00:02:32
Speaker
And so it was it was very unsettling, to say the least. it Definitely, I could feel that nod of fear in my belly. And so we did schedule the ultrasound. And we went, met with a genetic counselor. And I did go in saying, hey, just, you know, I don't know what what this is all about. But I just want you to know that abortion for us is not an option. And thankfully we had a really wonderful genetic counselor. And she said, absolutely. She said, I'm not here to tell you what to do. i just am here to give you information. And she was very sweet and let us know kind of what would, would, what they would look for on the ultrasound.
00:03:10
Speaker
So then we went and did, you know, what I've done many other times with our other babies. And, and then we just waited And so when the doctor came in, she was very, just very detached, very clinical. There was no warm bedside manner at all. We had just found out that I was carrying a baby girl, but she referred to our baby as it and the fetus.
00:03:36
Speaker
ah She started you know asking us questions about hospice care and quality of life and like throwing all this stuff at us. And we were so overwhelmed. We didn't even really know what was happening.
Preparing for Verity's Uncertain Future
00:03:48
Speaker
Um, we went home to process all of that. And, um, you know, it was, it was clear that every, all the markers that they said, Edwards syndrome, um, you know, would take that form. Our daughter had that. And, and so obviously for us, it was not a matter of, okay, do we continue the pregnancy or not? That was never a question. But how do you move forward? You know, when you're told that your baby is incompatible with life, like mentally and emotionally, that just puts you in a ah really difficult place. um
00:04:21
Speaker
At that time, we had toddlers all the way up through teenagers. And so we were trying to process this diagnosis and what it might mean for our our baby, for our family, and then trying to help our children navigate it It was really, you know, it's hard to describe the fear the anxiety and and really the depression that kind of settled in over the next weeks and months. And it was so bizarre because I could feel our little girl kicking in my belly, doing all these somersaults. And yet we were planning a burial for her. it It just felt very surreal. So it was, well, we decide I'll i'll back up a little bit and say, we did decide on her name when we realized she was a girl. The Lord laid the name Verity on our heart because we knew that Verity means truth. And I just had it on my heart from the beginning, I guess, that no matter what her story was going to be like, God obviously is the author of the story. We don't know how many pages or how many chapters her story has, but I just really felt the strong call to speak truth that her life matters. And however long she lived on earth was going to be a gift. And i I wish I could say that I resolved to cherish every single day of my pregnancy, knowing what would come, but it was a heavy time. And and that was really what, you know, propelled me some years later to really focus on on the ministry as we have it laid out now. um
00:05:51
Speaker
We really just didn't have any other complications through the pregnancy um other than, you know, that knowledge that we didn't know what would happen at birth. I did all kinds of research. I am not medical background at all. My degree is in English education. I homeschooled all of our kids. Like I'm a teacher at heart. And so learning to read medicalese was definitely out of my comfort zone. sure um But as I did, i started to get connected online with other families who had the same diagnosis that we had. And in that process, I realized that actually there are a lot of children living with this condition. So something that I was told was incompatible with life, all of a sudden we started to wonder, okay, maybe instead of preparing for this baby to die, maybe we need to prepare for her to live. That is such a mental shift too. Because on the one hand, hope rises, right? You're you're told that your baby's not going to make it to birth alive. So you're hopeful, Maybe we can hold her. Maybe we can take some photos and make memories. But on the other hand, there's that little voice in the back of my mind that I'm already overwhelmed with eight healthy kids.
00:07:08
Speaker
I don't know how I'm going to do this. I don't know how to take care of a child of significant needs. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want this. And that is a really hard place, you know, to to come to when, especially as someone who pretty much my whole life, ever since I was a little girl, I have named Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have chosen to follow him no matter what. And here I am doubting his good plan and doubting his goodness and doubting, am I going to love this child? You know, I had already fallen in love with her, but there's that fear and that's the enemy coming in.
00:07:45
Speaker
Am I going to be able to be Verity's mom the way I am the mom for these other precious children that God has given us? And so it was such Such a journey. You know, I look back and I see God's fingerprints all over it. But when you are in the middle of the darkness, it is really hard to to see the light of day. You just hold on to the truth. You hold on to the hope that we have in God's word and lean into what I know God's character is. It's unchanging and his goodness and his mercy will never leave us. He is so faithful.
00:08:22
Speaker
Amen. Indeed. What a rollercoaster of getting a diagnosis and thinking that that was going to be an immediate, you know, death sentence, if you will, to then getting plugged into this community, which I just, when you said that, I, I constantly, I'm always thinking of the ways to redeem the technology because that's been a theme in our lives. It's like, you know, the internet, it's can be used for a whole lot of evil. And like, with anything, we can use it and take it back and use it for good. And so what incredible thing to be able to connect with others that were going through the same, you know, similar things um can be a source of encouragement. And, you know, if it's a Christian community, continuing to point to the truth that you know, you already know, but sometimes you need that reminder um and you need those others to lift your arms, you know, just like Aaron with Moses, right? I mean,
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah, go ahead. And that really planted the seed for later. I didn't know it at the time, but God used that experience and those connections really to to start fostering some ideas of how, you know, we could step into
Verity's Joyful Life Defying Expectations
00:09:29
Speaker
this space. ah So i I'll fast forward to February of 2017 and Verity was absolutely born alive. She was full term and we had a photographer ready to get pictures of our whole family because ah you know, we didn't know. we just didn know much time we're going to have with her. But I will give a spoiler alert and just say that a few weeks ago, we celebrated her ninth birthday. and tells Clearly, she did not get the memo that she's incompatible with life. She is loving her life. And um she just is an amazing little girl. um
00:10:07
Speaker
You know, some people have Miracle stories of, oh, you know, I was told this was this, you know, was wrong with my baby. And then, you know, baby was born and there were no complications, you know, it was it was a misdiagnosis or it it wasn't right. That's not our story. And and that's okay, you know, that that some people have that story. And we rejoice because we know, you know, it's it's great to have a healthy baby. But our story is that God gave us a little girl with profound needs. And she is, she doesn't need 100% care 100% of the time. You know, she is nonverbal. She has a feeding tube, um right? We are working really hard on walking.
00:10:47
Speaker
i don't know if she'll be able to walk by herself or even with a walker without help, but you know what? We're making strides. She's doing things we never thought she would be able to do. And we see God's goodness and that amazing handiwork in her. She is God's workmanship too, just like all of my other kids, just like all of us, every human being is unique. And so now that we've, you know, come so far and let me tell you, it's a steep learning curve to be a medical mama, but sorry I have
00:11:19
Speaker
can honestly say we we wouldn't choose differently, even if we had the chance. if If we had the chance to go in there and take that extra 18th chromosome out of every cell in her body, and she suddenly became quote unquote normal, we wouldn't do it because that's how God made her. And she has been one of our biggest teachers in showing us the heart of the father. so i Yeah, i I just I kind of wish I could go back and talk to my pregnant self back then and say, it's going to be okay. And in fact, it's going more than okay. It's going to be a joyful, amazing ride. And you're going to see the goodness of God in ways that you wouldn't be able to if you didn't have this experience.
00:12:03
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So you mentioned earlier is ah the name of the syndrome, and then you said an extra chromosome. Can you tell us just a little bit about what that diagnosis was? Yeah, so it it it's called two different things. it's Trisomy 18 means that there are three copies of the 18th chromosome instead of the normal two. So most people are familiar with Down syndrome. That is an extra 21st chromosome, trisomy 21. So trisomy 18 is also known as Edwards syndrome. So they're the same thing, just means an extra little chromosome in there. And it is we like to to describe it as a spectrum just because
00:12:44
Speaker
just because you know, one individual has Down syndrome or Edwards syndrome or any, you know, any number of conditions doesn't mean you know everything about that person's capabilities or, or limitations or whatever. It really is a spectrum. And a lot of it also depends on care and interventions and therapies. And, you know, there are all kinds of things that, you If we are able to give that child the support and the interventions that we would maybe offer any other kiddo who maybe is just having a delay in this area and often is offered without question, um,
00:13:22
Speaker
these kiddos can thrive as well. So yeah. That's awesome. And so when you, you, again, you were talking about this a little bit before, when you got this diagnosis, you went online, you found this community. When was it that God kind of birthed the idea of fostering community to be able to really encourage those who have a a diagnosis like yours? So I feel like we, the first couple of years after Verity had joined our family outside my womb was such a huge learning curve. And, you know, it was, it was hard to be pregnant with a child with a diagnosis, but then caring for her was a whole other you know list of things that we had to learn about. So I feel like it was, it it was probably two to three years of just learning and, and,
00:14:15
Speaker
and talking to people. And I found myself going back to those communities that
Inspiration for Mama Bear Care
00:14:19
Speaker
I had found. um and And they weren't specific to helping ah necessarily with the prenatal portion of the diagnosis. Not that they weren't helpful. They were super helpful, but they were set up to help with that specific condition. And so i would often see people like myself, you know, come in and they were devastated. We just got a diagnosis and, you know, I don't know what to do. And I found myself drawn to those people wanting to comment on those mamas posts and say, hey, I know it's overwhelming. I know it's scary, but there's hope. And, you know, this diagnosis doesn't have to be a death sentence. Well, soon I started to think about the fact that um it really almost doesn't matter what the diagnosis is.
00:15:04
Speaker
A mom who is told something is wrong with her baby is going to go through a very similar range of emotions and this, you know, roller coaster that I was on. And I started to think that I hadn't really seen anything specific for pregnant mamas. And I was hearing more and more that almost every mom who got a diagnosis was immediately pushed towards abortion. didn't want to schedule the termination as if there's not even a decision to be made. Like that's just the next logical thing that we do. And it made me angry, made me really angry that. Righteous anger, sister.
00:15:38
Speaker
Supposedly this is the pro-choice movement. And yet if you choose to carry a child to term who may or may not live very long, or if they do live, they're going to have complications.
00:15:51
Speaker
Well, that's not really choice, is it? We're not telling the other side of the story. We're not telling about, first of all, it is physically and psychologically and physiologically better for mama to carry to turn. And if that child isn't going to live very long, why not just allow nature to take its course? Why not just let your body do what it was created to do? Protect that child as long as possible. And then have that time to birth the baby, hold the baby, take some photographs, make memories. This is healing for women. This is really caring for women. And so when i started to realize that my experience of not having been pushed towards abortion was really an anomaly. Almost every other mom that I was interacting with, that was her story is, oh, well, they're every appointment I go in and they're pushing termination.
00:16:50
Speaker
I was just mad. And i i knew that there was something something we could do. And so Verity was about four years old when we followed and ah wide open door. Save the Storks had advertised for a ah pro-life innovator summit. And it's right here in Colorado Springs where I live. And basically it's kind of a shark tank for pro-life nonprofit ideas. And so I went with the idea of, okay, we've got to help these women who are getting these diagnoses. And, you know, they, they need a village of support. They need so many people to come ah alongside them because you're, you're hearing this from your medical team.
00:17:35
Speaker
And you don't, you feel so isolated. You don't know that there are actually other people who are going through the same thing that you're going through. And then where are the resources? Where's the tangible support? And I knew that I had had a mama bear moment back when I was pregnant, when I actually sat in the office of the the head neonatologist and the first words out of his mouth were, oh, you're here to talk about your retarded daughter.
00:18:02
Speaker
And he went on and talked about... If she were to survive, she would live a futile life and she would be a drain on the family mentally, emotionally and financially. And I was just sitting here listening to all these words from a medical professional and just feeling like deer in the headlights. I didn't know what to do or what to say.
00:18:23
Speaker
And when I finally got home and, you know, of course, I'm driving and thinking of all the things I should have said. yeah I got home and I was so mad. It's like mama bear had woken up. And I would talk about that moment with other, other moms. And I said, that's when mama bear woke up, you know, I'm, I'm ready to fight for my daughter. And that's when I started researching and finding the groups and all the things. And so I started to think, okay, if I felt that ah other mamas,
00:18:52
Speaker
you know, that's a God-given love. we Even if you're not a believer, there is a connection between a mother and her baby and that God-given sense of a fierce love and the desire to protect. and we don't know what that's going to look like, but we're just fighting for our babies, right? So mama bear care came about out of that experience of, okay, how can i care for the mama bears that I'm interacting with? And what could this look like to do this As a ministry that we could actually set up and could be a legacy organization, like not just Beverly, you know, talking on Facebook Messenger to moms here and there, but how could we actually do this? So when I pitched that idea at the summit,
00:19:36
Speaker
Save the Storks agreed with me that this is an area in the pro-life movement that didn't have a whole lot of attention. And they gave us a $10,000 grant. And I took that as a sign from the Lord that, okay, all right, I guess we're doing this. So we incorporated as a 501c3. It's been almost exactly five years ago now. And here we are serving families all across USA and other countries as well. um It has, you know, it has definitely evolved from just Facebook messaging to um care packages. ah
00:20:12
Speaker
We have a faith box, a hope box and a love box. So depending on where they are in the journey, we send them practical supplies and gifts. We have a mama bear care coordinator who is a nurse. She went through this herself with her own baby girl who lived for six weeks. And then, um and then I learned that this mom is a NICU nurse with years and years of training so she can answer medical questions that I'm not going to touch. Right.
00:20:39
Speaker
We've partnered with ah pastoral counselors who can offer free counseling for our mama bears as well. And it's just, um it's been a joy to see moms be able to walk with them on one of the hardest things that I think a mother could go through. so our our prenatal support group, we call it from diagnosis to delivery. But really, they can stay as long as they want. So diagnosis to delivery and beyond and whatever that's going to look like, you know, the beyond. They might be a medical mama bear like I am or they may end up becoming a bereaved parent. And then we offer support and in that sense as well.
00:21:19
Speaker
You don't just get over something like this, no matter what happens after baby is born. It it changes your life. Absolutely. Yeah. For sure. yeah that's so important. I love, you know, that's what I was curious about exactly what kind of support you guys offer and, you know, the connection and all that good stuff. I know as women in particular, just that heart to heart connection with someone, um you know, obviously we have our husbands, but there's things that are unique to women, the way that we're going to process them and the way that we want to talk about them and, you know, all of that good stuff. So being
00:21:57
Speaker
able to foster a community for women who are experiencing something that is similar. Every story is unique and different, but having that place that they can come together and connect with others and continue to fight for life, especially when you're walking into the doctor's office and it's just like every time asking the same question. i love what you said when you walked in and just laid it out there that, yeah listen, abortion is not an option for us. So what else you got? you know right That's not the road we're going down. so let's pivot right now. And um yeah, and praise God that your medical provider was open to that because yes I know that that's not always the It's true. Yeah, we have worked with moms. In fact, our our care coordinator, Catherine, has helped a number of moms transfer care teams because there have been some who flat out say, I'm not going to, you know,
00:22:53
Speaker
sorry, you know, we don't do this. And again, there's a lot of anger there, but on the other hand, like I'd rather move and go elsewhere to a doctor who's going to honor the life of my child too. Absolutely. But um it's, you know, it's worth raising a fight so that hopefully it will change the the doctor's perspective for the next patient who comes along. We just want people to know that we're here.
00:23:18
Speaker
Yeah. So that, um MFM providers or genetic counselors or OBGYN, whoever, you know, is going to come in contact with the mama who's getting a diagnosis. They can say, oh, there's an organization that's going to provide, you know, we say fierce s love and tender care, but the compassion, because we've walked it and we know just that human element is so important. Just somebody to be an advocate in their corner. So when they're going to these appointments, they have The opportunity to ask, okay, what questions should I be asking? And right what what answers should maybe be red flags? So maybe I should change providers or find a hospital that is willing to provide life-saving interventions upon birth. Not all places are willing to do that. So-
00:24:04
Speaker
um things that I kind of thought I took for granted, thought I knew about our healthcare care system. I've learned a lot. Don't they take an oath that says they will do no harm, right? I mean, it's just, it's amazing to me. now i too, you know, yeah I can feel you holding yourself back every now and again. There's that anger right there with you, sister.
00:24:26
Speaker
Oh, man. Well, and also, too, you struck a chord earlier just talking about like the the rawness of it, you know, receiving that diagnosis and then crying out to God with those questions that you had. Like, am I going to be able to love this child like I love my other children? Will there be a disconnect there? um And I'm sure that that's something that you talk about, too, in your support groups, your community groups, however you do that.
00:24:53
Speaker
Yeah. i feel like all those questions that I was afraid to ask, you know, we've brought them up in our, in our um community groups and in just talking through things, you know, a lot of moms don't want to admit they're, they're a little bit afraid of what is my baby going to look like? Like, is he or she going to be ugly or repulsive? And, as mama, i i know I'm going to love my baby no matter what. And I went through this because I didn't know what she was going to look like. Now, I happen to think Verity is one of the most beautiful people on the planet. ah
00:25:29
Speaker
But I also know that even if there were other you know complications or what the world would look at and say, that's a deformity, that that is it it was a valid fear, but it also was something that's the Lord just fills your heart with love for your, your child. And I've since follow you know followed and seen some beautiful accounts on Instagram that more and more moms are showing off their babies who may have physical, you know, ah characteristics that are very different from sure somebody without the the anomalies that their children have.
00:26:07
Speaker
And there is a beauty and a joy and a vibrancy. And yes, you have terrible trolls on the internet who are going to say, you know what they're going to say But, oh, the beauty and the diversity of the children that God has made, I think just brings more glory to the father. And, you know, if the enemy wants to say ugly things that, you know, they will answer to our righteous judge one day. That's right. I do think that that is one of the good aspects of the Internet and social media, that we can find those connections and yes absolutely not feel quite so alone when we're going through something like this.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And then another thing that you touched on too, that I was curious about a little bit more ah of, you said when you got the diagnosis, you know, you went home and you and your husband were processing that. And then also to how to help your children, your other children be able to understand and, you know, just proceed in the pregnancy and then prepare for what may come. Can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah. Yeah. So I i remember it so vivid that that evening when we got the diagnosis and we had a family huddle. um
00:27:19
Speaker
You know, I maybe put my toddler to bed, but all of the kids were there. And um normally the the name of the baby was always a secret until the baby was born. But we we didn't know how long we'd have her and we wanted people to pray for her by name. So we went ahead and shared Verity Irene. So truth and then Irene means peace. And um we said, we don't know. We don't know what God has in store for us. We may not get to hold her here on earth. You know, we we may have to bury her. And I remember so clearly my then 13 year old son. um He is he is so sensitive. He has such a ah ah caring, compassionate heart. And I remember the look on his face and he said, Mom, can God heal her?
00:28:07
Speaker
And um I remember, I feel like I was processing that question out loud, you know, trying to answer him. yeah And I said, well, can God heal her? Absolutely. I believe God can do anything, but a healing, at least, you know, in the sense that we think about would mean that God would go and remove that extra 18th chromosome from every single cell of her body. And i don't know. i I mean, he could do that. He could do anything, but I also think that he has already knit her together in my womb. He has already created her with that extra chromosome, just the way she is. And I think he did that on purpose. Like, I don't think that was an accident. It's not a mistake.
00:28:49
Speaker
And that's actually something that we say over and over to the mamas, the mama bears in our group, that your baby is not a mistake and that it's no accident. You know, the world views this as a mistake and an accident and we should just terminate and move on. But our God doesn't make mistakes. He has a purpose for every single life. So that's what we really try to infuse in all of our materials, all of our conversations, our resources that we share with our mama bears. But ah going back to my conversation with my son, that's kind of where we left it. But I mulled that over for a while. Like, I don't know. And then the other part of that, that for me, came into my brain roughly the same time was well-meaning friends and family who would say, I'm praying for total healing.
00:29:36
Speaker
I'm praying for 100% healing. And i appreciate the heart. And, ah you know, I, I really had to process that. And the the Lord had to work on my heart too, because my mama bear instinct was, what are you talking about? you know um And I, I thought about, well, okay, there is going to be a complete healing in heaven.
00:29:58
Speaker
We are all going to be healed of all of the things that the sin, sinful, broken world has wrought in our, our physical bodies and, and the sins that we struggle with all of that, that's going to be redeemed and made new. And one day Verity will run and dance and sing in heaven. I know that.
00:30:17
Speaker
But I had to wrestle with what does that look like here on earth? And, you know, people praying for a miracle, praying for healing. And again, it came it came from a place of love. i I understand that. You know, I don't want to quash that. I don't want to say don't pray for healing. But I started to really think about what might that look like for us? You know, my miracle could mean that i And given the grace and the strength, as I know many of my friends have had to to do this, to go through labor and delivery, knowing that my child is not alive and has already passed.
00:30:55
Speaker
And that I had to to think about that. that could That was a very real possibility. My miracle might come in learning how to care for a child who is 100% dependent on us for everything.
00:31:08
Speaker
And maybe that miracle is going to be wrought day after day after day for decades. I don't know how long she's going to be with us at this point.
00:31:19
Speaker
I think she's going to outlive all of us. And, you know, to be honest, that kind of scares me a little bit too. You know, who's going to make sure she's cared for where we have, you know, a state plan. It's a great motivator to do a estate planning. Let me tell you, and just really think about the hard questions. yeah But
Miracles & Verity's Life Perspective
00:31:39
Speaker
do you know what I mean? Like, and I think I'm living a miracle. He's not healed in the sense of, you know, a physical healing like Jesus did when he was here on earth. But the fact that she is alive and that God has given us the grace and provided in so many ways for us to care for her. And and we don't do it all well. you know My other kids, I'm sure, have felt left out at many times. we
00:32:04
Speaker
you know those those That's one reason this ministry was on my heart was because that was the hardest time in our marriage and in our family unit. you know My teenagers were struggling. We weren't able to be there for them when we wanted and needed to. We were drowning ourselves.
00:32:21
Speaker
But the miracle is God held all of us together. And has grown all of us closer to his heart. So, you know, can God heal her?
00:32:33
Speaker
He could. But I think he's done a greater healing in and through us as is he's using this little girl to reach other families as well. Yes. Absolutely. That's so beautiful. and so appreciate your candor there because those hard questions are ones that you're not alone in wrestling with. And I feel like when we do keep those types of things, not I feel, I know, scripture tells us, when we keep those things in the quietness, in the darkness of our mind, then we're not exposing them to the light where they can become light and they can become light. a story, his testimony, you know, I always go back to the revelation verse that talks about how we overcome, overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. And you're doing that right now by giving your testimony that he's allowed to use to bless others, you know, and now he's using it through this organization that he's given you to run and support others. And he provided a grant to get it started, know, for real and all that. so Yes. It's just so beautiful. Well, thank you so much for joining me today and just sharing so much of your story. um if people want to get in touch with you, if they want to support your organization, how would they do that?
00:33:48
Speaker
Absolutely. Thanks for asking. First, of we would love for you to find us on Instagram, Mama Bear Care. There's some underscores in there somewhere, but follow us so you can see what we're doing and see the mamas that we're serving. you can pray like prayer is so, so important. I really feel that this is, so as as with much of the pro-life movement, it's such a spiritual stronghold, right? Yes. We want to shout the worth of these babies. MamaBearCare.org is our website. So it's M-A-M-A-M-A-BearCare.org. And so you can learn more about what we do there. And we... We'd love it if you would consider joining us as a monthly partner. it really does take a village. We need a lot of mama bear partners to join the movement and help us make this happen. Sending packages, providing the counseling and the care coordination, all that. Join the mama bear movement and you can make a difference for a mama getting a diagnosis and give her some hope.
00:34:43
Speaker
I love it. That's amazing. Thank you so much. We'll link all of that in the show notes so that people can get in touch with you. And again, Beverly, it's just been such a joy. Thank you so much for sharing today. And I hope all of our listeners will go and support you and your organization. And we are just so thankful for Verity and God blessing you with her and the the work that he's doing through her, which is, yeah like you said, that's the miracle because the world would look at that and be like,
00:35:10
Speaker
How would this ever be a good thing? And God, only God, right? Only God. Only God. Yes. Find her. If you follow us on socials, you'll see Verity. She gets the spotlight every so often. And and she's definitely inspired a lot of others, too. So. Yes. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share our testimony. We we just give God all the glory for what he's doing and trust him for what he's planning to do.
00:35:34
Speaker
Amen. That's what I love to say. And it's going to air in March and March is Trisomy Awareness Month, correct? It absolutely is. Yep. Awesome. Like three copies of the chromosome. It's the third month. So yes, Trisomy Awareness Month. Perfect. I love it. Well, you already said it, but I'll say it again to God be the glory in it all. Right.
00:35:53
Speaker
Amen. Yes. Amen. All right. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you again next week.