PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | Episode 92: THE CHALLENGE OF HAVING A BABY OUT OF WEDLOCK

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS w/ Nancy Campbell

PODCAST 92: THE CHALLENGE OF HAVING A BABY OUT OF WEDLOCK

Rocky Barrett: Welcome to the podcast, From Our Home to Yours, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello ladies! Well, we have another exciting episode for you today. I’m going to introduce to you a lovely friend of mine. Her name is Jennie Ruppel.

Jennie has recently come to live nearby here. In fact, you’re really part of the community now, aren’t you? We live here on the hilltop. You’re kind of just on the side of the hilltop, aren’t you?

Jennie Ruppel: Yes, yes!

NC: It’s so exciting! They’re living here now, and they’ve actually started building on another side of the hilltop. That’s so wonderful!

Jennie and her husband, Will, have eleven children, five who are biological and six who are adopted from Ethiopia. Will, her husband, was in the navy for so many years, ten years doing hospital administration and then ten years working on nuclear reactors on the submarines.

Now they’ve come to Tennessee and Will is the senior manager at Trim Healthy Mama. They’re really part of us all here in Trim Healthy Mama and in the church family.

And in just “family” because now their eldest son, Trae is courting Sam and Serene’s daughter, Chalice. So we’re really getting to be family, aren’t we?

JR: Yes, it’s so exciting!

NC: It is amazing. I was just counting up the other day and counted six courting couples in our family. Can you believe that?

JR: Amazing!

NC: It is so exciting! Anyway, you have lived quite a bit around the whole of the nation, haven’t you?

JR: Yes, yes, we have. It happens with the navy.

NC: Yes, but now I think you’ll be settled, won’t you?

JR: That is what we are hoping and praying. We’ll see what God does.

NC: Well recently, Will and Jennie and their little children went up to Washington D.C. to be part of the March for Life. When they came back and shared about it, it was just so thrilling to hear about it  that I said to Jennie, “You have got to come and share this with all the ladies.”

So tell us about it! Tell us about how you even got to go.

JR: It actually was in a church service here on the hilltop. One of the young men was speaking about us being proactive in the community and reaching people with the Gospel and he said something about the March for Life in January.

Will looked at me and I looked at him and we both just immediately knew that God was asking us to go and be a part of this.

It took a couple of weeks of figuring the logistics with children and what not, but we were able to go with three of our youngest children and spend four or five days.

NC: You actually had a vision to take a busload full, didn’t you?

JR: We did, yes, yes.

NC: But unfortunately it was the time where Serene and Sam and others were in Israel and other family members were everywhere.

But we really would have loved to do that.

JR: Yes, I think it would be very exciting. That was one thing that we saw was that there were thousands and thousands of teenagers and young adults. High schools and colleges were represented.

We would love to come with a group from the hilltop and Above Rubies and just be there and experience that with them.

NC: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if just families everywhere could gather a few families and all the children could get a bus and go for next year? The more people who can be there the more powerful it is.

Tell us just what it was like!

JR: It absolutely surpassed all of our expectations. We really did not know what to expect. We did not know what God had in store for us. As usual, God, of course was far above our thinking and what we were hoping for.

It was just so powerful and life changing to be gathered with thousands and thousands to stand for life.

Of course two days before, the President announces unexpectedly that he’s going to come and speak. That, of course, was another added blessing to be there and hear him speak in person.

It was also a blessing to see so many young people in this generation that are Pro-life, are Pro-family, and watch them speak out in love with courage and boldness.

It was very encouraging to us, as parents, and also very challenging that this needs to be a fight that we’re a part of every day in one form or fashion.

NC: How did you get along with your little children, taking them? Did that work out well?

JR: It did, it did. We actually decided to fly so we flew with our 14 -year-old daughter, Grace, and with our two-year-old son, Cade, and our one-year-old daughter, Hadley.

It was their first time to fly. They absolutely enjoyed the experience and did very, very well.

It was very interesting being in Washington D.C. because, of course, we’re used to being surrounded by children and young people and there seemed to be a void of little people in the city. We oftentimes got smiles and long looks as we walked through D.C. with babies in toe. But it went very, very well to have our children.

I would encourage parents to bring even your smaller children and allow them to experience that in that atmosphere.

NC: Yes, so it was not too difficult to take little ones?

JR: No, no it was fun! It was fun!

NC: I think that’s so great because that’s what it’s all about.

JR: Yes, that’s what we’re there for.

NC: The more children that can be there, that’s more the family thing.

JR: Absolutely. So many of the young people were drawn to our family to talk with the babies and interact with them and experience what it was like to be there with them and that’s so important for that to be there.

NC: What was it like when President Trump spoke? I mean, I heard it; it was unbelievable! What was it like when you were there?

JR: It was so profoundly powerful. We did not know, again, what to expect. We had no idea what he would say but he just unabashedly stood for life, stood for the fact that ALL life is created in the image of God. He spoke about the sanctity of life and the sanctity of family. He spoke about family.

The excitement and the joy that was there was almost palpable. To see the most powerful person in the world, really, stand up for life was such a huge encouragement and blessing.

NC: Isn’t it amazing? This was, I believe, the 47th March for Life and this was the first President that has ever spoken at one. It’s amazing, isn’t it, how this president is standing for life, for righteousness, for the evangelical church, for Israel, for everything that is righteous. I mean we never expected that when he first appeared on the scene as, you know, a real worldly and fleshly man.

But God is doing something. It is God. I think, we as God’s people, have to acknowledge this and keep praying. I know it is the prayers of God’s people and we must keep praying.

Because we couldn’t get to the March for Life, we were all gathered as a family one evening and so we put it up on our big screen. Downstairs we have a big screen and so we put him up there. We could see him, and we listened. It was so powerful. We were all standing up and clapping even if we were only in our own home!

But I thought I would print off some snippets of his speech because maybe you didn’t hear it, or you missed out. I believe we need to hear what he said. I mean, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

NC: To come from the man who is leading our nation, this is unprecedented, and it is so powerful.

Let me read a few little bits from it. He begins:

“It is my profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life. We are here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential.

“. . . All of us here understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life.

“When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God's creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world . . . As the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made.

“. . . Sadly, the far left is working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious leaders from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life. They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice. . . . Together, we are the voice for the voiceless.

“Nearly every top Democrat in congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth. Last year, lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb right up until delivery. . . .  The governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth. Senate Democrats even blocked legislation that would give medical care to babies who survive attempted abortions.

“. . . To all the moms here today, we celebrate you and we declare that mothers are heroes. Your strength, devotion, and drive are what powers our nation. Because of you, our country has been blessed with amazing souls who have changed the course of human history.

“We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create. The discoveries they will make. But we know this: every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting.

“And above all, we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God. Together, we will defend this truth all across our magnificent land. We will set free the dreams of our people. And with determined hope, we look forward to all of the blessings that will come from the beauty, talent, purpose, nobility, and grace of every American child.”

Well, that was just a few snippets from his speech.

All I can say is Amen. I hope you are saying Amen also! It is certainly powerful.

JR: Yes, yes, it was beautiful. It was powerful. It was hard to express the emotion and people’s response back to him as we all just confirmed in unity, all of God’s people, all different denominations represented there.

He was speaking to us all as Americans but there at the rally, everyone just, in such unity, responded with an absolute AMEN.

NC: Praise the Lord!

I think it was especially meaningful to you, too, Jennie, because you have experienced personally what many, many young people experience when they face the fact that they have life in their womb but it’s out of wedlock, it’s not convenient and they don’t know what they can do.

Tell us your story.

JR: Yes, the Pro-life movement is very personal to me. I was 18 years old, just shortly out of high school and I became pregnant unexpectedly and unplanned, even though no baby is unplanned. God has planned every baby and every baby is wanted and of course God desperately wants every baby.

But I became pregnant at 18. My introduction to motherhood was sitting in a family practice office. The doctor walked in and said, “Well, I guess I must say congratulations to you because you’re pregnant.”

Without missing a beat, the next words out of his mouth were, “But if this is not what you had planned, we can take care of that for you.”

Just as quickly as he introduced me to motherhood, he also then introduced me to the idea of taking my child’s life.

NC: Absolute opposites!

JR: Yes, yes, and it was overwhelming and terrifying, and it was only by the grace of God and His mercy to my, at that point, unborn daughter (we now have a beautiful 22-year-old daughter) and myself. It was only by the grace of God that God took me out of that doctor’s office. I never really considered abortion but that was his response to that child in my womb.

NC: That seems to be the response that most young people get today

JR: Yes, absolutely. Going into a Pro-life rally there were many women there who held signs and wore T-shirts that said, “I regret my abortion.”

They were speaking up and saying that all the lies, all the deception that is spoken to young moms and fathers, is absolutely from the enemy. There is so much sadness, loss, and depression that follow abortions.

Many say that they are Pro-choice but in reality, what they say to you is that you have no choice. You can’t carry this baby. You will not be a good mother. You are not ready or equipped. You have no choice but to end or terminate this pregnancy.

We were saying, Pro-life is Pro-women and IS Pro-choice. You have choices: you can care for this child. God will give you the strength.

There is adoption. There are many loving parents who would love to adopt.

NC: Oh there are so many that are desperate!

JR: Yes, they are desperate for a child or a baby.

NC: I am thinking of our dear friend, Erin, who wants to adopt a child. She waited and waited, and she just said, “It’s impossible! I’m on this huge list and when will I ever get a baby?”

Now she is looking after a very special needs child who needs 24-hour care. Her first longing was to have a little baby, but she can’t get one. So many are being terminated.

JR: Which of course is rarely spoken to a young scared mom or dad. There are literally thousands and thousands of parents who would love to bring your child into their home and care for them.

So that was my introduction to motherhood: an offered abortion.

So when I stand beside other women who have made that choice and terminated pregnancies and then to see God healing and redeeming them and standing and saying, “This is not the option. They will tell you that is.”

It was just amazing. It was healing for me to go.

I feel like God is taking me back to that place and healing old wounds, because of course that doctor placed so many doubts and fears in my mind and heart as to whether or not I could mother her and be a good mother.

NC: You chose to keep her and what helped you to make that decision?

JR: Yes, we did. Absolutely God. I was Pro-life. Even sitting in that doctor’s office, I was Pro-life. My family stood with me and stood with my daughter.

I cannot say that the church I was attending stood with me, which was something that God has been speaking to me and impressing upon my heart.

It is actually something I want to talk about this morning to mothers and grandmothers and aunts, to say that the way that we respond to a mistake or a failure in our daughter’s or son’s life has a very profound impact on the decisions that they make.

There were several different speakers at the rally, in particularly at the youth rally, who discussed how many Christian young women are aborting their babies. Not because they want to or not because they believe abortion is the right answer but because they are terrified to go to Christian parents, to Christian pastors, or leadership and face what they are most likely going to receive which could be condemnation, judgment, and shame.

I just really wanted to discuss the idea of love and mercy that God has extended to us and do we extend it to our daughters and our sons when they have fallen?

When they are young people who you often hear, “They should have known better”? And yes, they should have known better, but we live in a fallen world and we sin and make mistakes.

Do we then extend mercy and grace to them in the same way that we would extend to an unbeliever coming to us? Or do we face the situation with judgment, frustration, and condemnation?

At this youth rally, the speaker was just discussing that there are many, many, many babies aborted by Christian young women. They even know pastors who have taken their daughters for abortions because they are scared to face their congregations.

NC: So their fear of man is bigger than their fear of God, and I think, too, their understanding of life.

In Deuteronomy 30 it talks about, “I set before you life and death.”

Every time this happens you have the choice: life or death. But it goes on to say, “But choose life.” We have to always choose life.

Now I have noticed this happens not only with a young person facing a pregnancy unplanned but I have so many mothers coming to me and they tell me they’re expecting their third, fourth, or maybe it’s even getting up to fifth or sixth baby.

They say, “I cannot tell my parents because they’re either going to tell us we’re crazy or get mad, or just want to have nothing to do with us.”

Can you believe this? And this, once again, is amongst Christian families— so called Christian families who, when someone shares that they are going to have another baby, THAT’S LIFE! That’s life, and they have a negative reaction. That is absolutely opposite to the Bible. It’s absolutely opposite to God’s heart because God is a God of life. When there is conception it is life from God no matter what.

I think of even examples in the Bible. I think of that man, he was a judge of Israel, Jephthah. He was ousted from his family. He was born to his father but maybe by a prostitute or someone else. All the other sons growing up in the family didn’t want him. He wasn’t worthy to be part of the family. They just told him to get out and live somewhere else.

He was cast out of the family because, well, the word in the Bible isn’t a very nice word, it is “bastard” and that’s how they looked upon it then.

Anyway, it’s interesting how the time came when Israel was in a dreadful place and enemies were after them and they needed someone. They needed a leader and someone who really could lead them in battle and bring victory to them and that anointing was upon Jephthah.

It wasn’t upon all the sons growing up in the family. It was on the outcast and so they brought him back. He had to say, “Okay, if you’re going to get me to do that will you really receive me?” and of course he led the Israelites in battle.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? God’s hand was on the outcast one. God’s hand is on every child, no matter what the situation is or the circumstances of how they were conceived.

As you were a young unwed mother and you were facing this pregnancy, what helped you to get through it?

JR: Really my family, and then just knowing, like you said, that God loves all life, that He will sustain us, that He will meet every need and just walking through that with Him.

NC: Yes, I think as you said, family. Even though we know that what wasn’t the right thing to happen, but there is life here!

JR: Yes, and it’s joy.

NC: We always choose life. We don’t have to wonder what to do. God told us what to do. WE CHOOSE LIFE!

JR: Right.

NC: So that’s the answer in any of these situations that we didn’t plan on, or our children didn’t plan them, but we always choose life.

JR: There is always such tremendous blessing to that choice. Whenever we choose life, whenever we stand with life there are things that come to us from God above that we never could have dreamed of, and of course our daughter is a perfect example of that.

NC: Yes, how could you even think of life without her?

JR: Absolutely, absolutely. Whenever we stand with life and choose life there’s so much blessing.

NC: Oh absolutely. Maybe we should read that Scripture in Deuteronomy. Of course there are so many Scriptures in the Word, but I do love this Scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 30.

It says here in verse 15: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.”

We see that if we are walking in God’s commandments, we WILL choose life. God will bless us. It’s interesting how He says that you will live and multiply. Life is always to do with multiplication. God is not in the diminishing of life but in the adding and multiplying of life.

It goes down to verse 19: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: THEREFORE CHOOSE LIFE, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

Yes. It is so amazing. God’s way is life. When we choose life, we choose blessing, don’t we?

We go back to the very beginning when Adam named his wife Eve. He called her Eve, but in the Hebrew that word is chavvah and I’m sure you know what that means. It means: “Life giver.” That was the name of the very first woman. She was the prototype of all women to come.

This is who we are, dear mothers. We are life givers. To us it has been given the privilege to conceive life in our womb. Life that is life in the moment of conception, which grows in our womb by the hand of God Who is creating wondrously, miraculously, and marvelously this life in our womb.

This is who we are, and I think in these situations we’re talking about, because this whole situation of abortion, it’s facing life. Why do we have abortion? It’s because someone has conceived life. People who don’t understand the truth are going to end that life in death when they’re meant to choose life.

As you were saying, you saw so many there with T-shirts saying how they regretted the abortion. Why? It is because they chose the cursing. When we choose life, because that’s who we are as a woman, we choose blessing.

Even if it seems formidable and, “How could this happen,” and “My circumstances are impossible” – no, nothing is impossible!

God always works it out every time because it’s life and therefore because it’s life, it’s blessing, and it’s not only blessing for that baby to live, but it’s blessing for our body.

It’s who we are as a woman. We are a life-giver. It’s all about life. In fact, that word chavvah means: “life giver, life producer, life preserver, life spring.”

That word chavvah comes from some other root words. It’s kind of layered. I found four different root words from which chavvah actually comes. They all relate to chavvah.

The next word is chavvah again (same spelling, different word) and it means: “to live, to declare, to show.” We show. There is something about showing. We show to the world this life. We reveal our maternalness and our mothering anointing as we embrace this life and we are showing it to the world. That’s one of the meanings also.

Chavah is another one,  meaning: “the sustenance, the propagation of life.”

There is another word chava. They are all similar, but they are spelled differently, and this one is actually used in Daniel when he had to show the interpretations, but it is still a root word of chavvah, Eve, life giving. It’s showing but you can’t show anything if you choose death, can you?

But when we choose life, we will eventually show to the world a creation that God has created. Isn’t that amazing?

JR: Yes, yes, it’s beautiful.

NC: Then there is another one:

Chayah. It means: “to live, to enjoy life, to live life anew, to be animated, to preserve.”

It has got a lot of “re” words: “Revive, refresh, rebuild, recover, repair, restore.” This is all in the meaning of “life giving.” In fact, it’s really a picture of what we do as mothers, isn’t it? We always have to revive, refresh, rebuild, recover, repair, and restore. That’s part of mothering.

Mothering isn’t perfect. Things go wrong. Relationships go haywire. We’re always repairing, rebuilding, recovering, and refreshing. It’s all part of our life giving.

In fact, that’s the word that’s used here in Deuteronomy 30: “ . . .Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” That’s that word chayah: That you may live and reveal and show this wonderful life giving to the world.

Isn’t that amazing?

JR: Yes, yes, it’s wonderful.

NC: In fact, that is the same word that is used over in Deuteronomy 8:3 when it is talking about God’s Word.

This is a Scripture we all know. God is speaking to the Israelites and He says to them: ” . . . that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.”

That’s the word chayah again. Of course if you are speaking it in Hebrew you will have that guttural sound, which I cannot pronounce really.

Anyway, that is the word, that life giving word. God is saying that if we live by His Word and His truth this will be life giving to us.

JR: Which I very much believe our nation is suffering terribly from the fact that we have taken this life-giving sustenance away from so many of our women and from so many of our fathers. There is a huge portion of this generation that is missing. You talk about that life giving where abortion has stolen that life from this generation and society.

I feel like there are just wounds all over that oftentimes we don’t even understand  but there is a void because we have not held this life giving in the sanctity that it is. We are suffering as a nation and as a society because of what abortion is doing to our mothers and our fathers.

NC: Yes and the whole underlying thing is the enemy, Satan, who hates life. Because God is a life giver, Satan hates God because he cannot give life. He’s not capable of giving life and so he does everything to stop the life that God gives because he is always seeking to counteract God Himself.

It is a fight. It’s a fight between the two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness, which is a kingdom of destruction and killing of life, and the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of life.

Now the challenge is: if we belong to the kingdom of God, we will be life choosers. We will be life choosers.

It doesn’t matter whether we have this name “Christian.” That’s not the point.

Are we a life chooser? Unless we’re a life chooser we do not belong to God’s kingdom because it’s a kingdom of life.

JR: Yes, yes, life going forth, life multiplying, life spreading love and hope. Every baby that is born is new hope, not just to that family but to the community as a whole.

I think that’s why the March for Life is so beautiful because it gathers people who are all saying the same thing: that life is from God and that’s why we stand together and fight for life.

NC: Absolutely. When you think that we have had 63 million babies aborted since Roe versus Wade, that’s unbelievable. Many of them were so called Christians. You think of the seed that has been eliminated.

You know, we should not be having this fight that we are having in our nation at the moment, this fight between life and death, and this incredible hatred and wanting destruction of life. We have this fight even amongst so many politicians today who are prepared to accept babies being aborted right up until birth and even after birth.

I mean, what has happened?

This is unbelievable ,and yet imagine if all the Christian people had not only not consented to abortion but who had also not consented to the stopping of the godly seed. Just think how many Christians are saying No to life even in their marriages. They do contraception and everything they can to stop life.

That’s not God. That doesn’t come from the heart of God. That comes from the enemy. The enemy wants to stop life.

God wants to give life and He wants to bring the godly seed into the world and if we had not stopped it, we would have a landslide for righteousness.

We wouldn’t even need a March for Life!

JR: Yes that’s so true.

NC: But Jennie, thank you for sharing your heart. As we close this session is there anything else that you would like to say?

JR: Thank you for having me. Just praying through this morning how we as parents face when our children or grandchildren come to us. I felt like God took me to John chapter four and the story of the Samaritan woman at the well where Jesus comes in contact with an adulteress and He interacts with her with such love and grace.

He reveals Himself as the Messiah to her. That is the first place recorded in Scripture that He reveals Himself as the Messiah. And it is to a woman that He has confronted her sin in love and then He reveals Himself as the Messiah to a woman who is an adulterer and who is a Samaritan.

I felt like it was just God saying, “This is how I respond to sin. I respond in love and then I respond in revelation and restoration.” He met her where she was, and He worked to restore her to Him.

As parents or grandparents, as we’re working with young people and they come to us, I believe God’s heart is to meet them in that same manner with love and working towards restoration. I just felt like God wanted us to hear His heart as the perfect Father and that when we parent that those children know that mercy triumphs over judgment.

That is Who He is. The perfect Father who always loves and forgives and moves toward redemption and restoration.

I feel like we just need to pray into that as our children are facing horrible temptations in society and knowing that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and He has redeemed us and restored us. We partner with our children and walk them toward that redemption and restoration just like He did as well.

He revealed Himself as Messiah for the first time that we know of to a woman that was completely disregarded by society as a throw away sinner. It is just a beautiful representation of Who He is and Who He wants us to be as we love and nurture these young people.

NC: Yes, thank you, thank you, Jennie.

Let’s pray, shall we?

“Father, we thank You that You are the God of life. You are the God, as Jennie was saying, the God of mercy and restoration. Oh Father, You come to us in our need, in our state but You don’t leave us there. You take us on into life and into all that You have for us.

“Father I pray that You would give to each one of us a new understanding of life. Help us to know and to understand life as You see it. Lord God, life is precious to You. Help us to see that preciousness of life from the moment of conception. Lord God, that we would always be those that want to protect life and encourage life and say Yes to life because You have created us to be life givers.

“We thank You once again that we as women have the privilege of being life givers. You have given us this privilege and this anointing to show to the world. Oh God, we pray that You would anoint us in a greater and greater way to manifest this in our lives, to our families, and to the world around us, and to the hurting and the needy, in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”

Transcribed by Morgan Roth. Thank you,, Morgan.