By: Stephanie Drossart

How has God worked in my life? Let me count the ways!

It started back in 1978—I went to a Catholic school. We started each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in church. On this particular week, it must have been “Sanctity of Human Life” Sunday; someone forgot to clean up the pews. My 8-year-old self found a very informative and descriptive abortion pamphlet. I was shocked and couldn’t believe this was a real thing that people did. God used this day to impress on me the value of human life. He gave my little heart the gift of discernment and He taught me His laws, so I would know right from wrong.

In 1988, I had graduated from high school at mid-term and was already working my first real full-time job in a busy dispatch office. My parents had just sold our family home and were leaving for California. I had hoped to go to college, but it just wasn’t working out. There were many roadblocks and I wasn’t getting any help or support. So I took a different route, worked hard at my full-time job, and then waitressed at night at a favorite family diner.

I saved money until I had enough, then bought a brand-new car. I was looking for an apartment and still planning to somehow go to school. In the meantime, my high school sweetheart, whom I was still dating, and I were sexually promiscuous. I probably need to add that I wasn’t following Jesus yet. I believed in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I grew up Catholic in a very religious home, but Jesus wasn’t Lord of my life, and I was living for me.

A Life Changing Moment and God's Protection

And so one summer day, while my boyfriend was in Florida with his family, I was in the bathroom throwing up. When he came home, we went to the only place we knew to go to for a pregnancy test: Planned Parenthood. The amazing thing about this experience is that while we were NOT planning to get an abortion, we had gone to a place who was known for exactly that: birth control, pregnancy tests, and abortions.

But watch how God’s hand protected me in this very vulnerable time… the nurse who had assisted me with my pregnancy test came into my room smiling. Her words: “Congratulations! You're going to be a mom!” She could have said and done so many different things. She could have made me feel incapable of raising a child, or fed into the fears I already had about telling my parents, yet those were her only words.

So as I went to the car to meet my boyfriend, I said nervously, but trying to smile, “Congratulations! You're gonna be a dad!” And now nearly 40 years later, my boyfriend/husband, Steve, said that those very words and the “way” that I had given him such a critical, life-changing, sacrificial piece of news—those words were the reason he knew “we” would be okay.

A Path to Redemption

But hold on, it gets better. My pregnancy saved me. I was really on a path to self-destruction. Yeah, I was working and had goals, but I was also making really poor choices with drugs and alcohol, etc. After I confirmed my pregnancy, it was like God pulled me out of the darkness and showed me His great light. He gave me Brittany. I still call her my “life changer.” Talk about redemption. If you know Brittany, well I could stop here because she is everything good. She has followed Jesus since she was just a little girl and she loves people better than anyone I know.

But, there is more! Soon we had two children and moved to a new place that seemed foreign: Southern Indiana—to be specific, Madison. I knew no one, I lived in a low-income neighborhood, I was a very young but good mom, and my husband was working a lot. It was hard to make friends.

God had already started working in me, though, and Steve. One of the first things I did was to become a trained volunteer for Birthline. This is an emergency phone service for women who have unplanned pregnancies and are considering abortion. I felt like I had a personal testimony to share. If I could do it, so can you—you are strong enough to be a mom. While I was giving God some of the credit, I was still taking most of it. But God taught me so much and started building empathy in me. He allowed me to help save one baby in the three years that I volunteered with Birthline.

Responding to God’s Call

In the meantime, we began looking for a church. This was God calling us. Steve did not grow up in church and really had no basis for faith. We settled at Faith Lutheran for a while. It is there that I helped with “Mom’s Day Out.” I had a heart for moms who needed a break. Again, God taught me about moms (younger and older) and children and the energy needed to raise them.

Throughout my life as a mom, I was able to stay home (working part-time jobs around Steve’s schedule) and be the person to raise our children. At the time, I thought I would drown in dirty diapers and my brain would turn to mush. Looking back, I realize what a blessing it was—such a ministry to be a mom, such a sweet calling. I tried to go to nursing school at one point, even qualified for a complete Pell Grant, but after more thought, my husband’s career and me being able to care for our children was the priority.

God had instilled a desire in me to help people. After our third child, I worked at KDH in pediatrics. And even though I only worked a year, because the 7p-7a shift was an unrealistic life for us, it was here God fed my desire and gave me hope that someday I would work in the medical field. Around this time, I gave my life to Christ. Even though I had always believed He was my Saviour, I finally understood. I finally let Him have His way in me.

For 7 years, I worked with the youth at Pathways Youth Shelter and saw how kids just wanted their mom and their mom’s love. No matter how sick or lost or “bad” a mom was, it was her love that mattered most to these kids. So with encouragement from my mother-in-law and support from my church (I started attending FBC in 2000—that’s a whole other God story!), we started The Caring People. This was a group of dedicated women like Dorothy Swanson, Windy Inskeep, Marguie Fisher, and Shelly Williams, who devoted their time to mentoring other moms. God showed me what it means to love thy neighbor.

The Journey to Nursing

Then, I finally went to nursing school and in 2017, with four children, I became a nurse. My first job was in Labor and Delivery!! I wasn’t even looking for this position. It came to me. And while it didn’t go as I had planned, God allowed me an opportunity to learn nursing in the real world, gain invaluable experience, and be a blessing to a few people.

Fast forward a few years: as my last child was getting ready to graduate, I started looking for a full-time nursing position at a big hospital in the city, where I would experience the full benefits. I was finally going to be able to live my life on my own schedule, not work PRN, etc. I didn't have to worry about missing soccer games or kids' events anymore.

So I prayed a lot for guidance. An opportunity came up to work with a friend NP that I had met working in primary care. She was not a believer. I had tried several times to witness to her, but her heart was hardened. I wasn’t sure if God wanted me there. It would be spiritually dark. It could be a mission field or it could be a battleground. I prayed that God would let me know without a doubt… and the door was shut. Ovarian cancer delayed this opportunity and the position was immediately filled.

The Blessing of Life Choices

It is 2023. When it was time for my new job search, I prayed a lot and looked at several different options. Here is the timeline:

• 1 year prior: Brittany, my daughter, suggested I look into working at a crisis pregnancy clinic. She told me I’d be good at that and shared info about the one in Columbus. I never pursued it.
• 9 months prior: A friend (Sandy) told me about a possible job opening as a nurse manager at Life Choices. She asked if I would be interested and I said no.
• 1 month prior: Sandy again mentions this possible opportunity. She tells me I should pray about it. I don’t respond.
• 2 weeks prior: My running buddy, Katie, mentions the same position just in conversation. I’m thinking “not my thing.”

This was not what I was looking for, but the more I looked, the more I became overwhelmed, not sure where God really wanted me. I remember asking God to show me and I heard Him say, “If you want me to show you, then quit looking.” And so I did.

I turned off all my app notifications and didn’t look for a job for about three days, and then I saw a little notification on FB messenger from Lisa Perry at Life Choices, asking if I would be interested in the Nurse Manager position. Just for the record, I don’t use FB messenger. I just happened to see the blue dot on my phone app. Also, Lisa told me she had been trying to get the board to approve this position for 9 months. She thought they forgot about it, but then out of the blue, about the same time my name appeared on her desk, the board approved the position.

Full Circle

The moment I walked in the door, I knew it was where I belonged. Here’s another important little tidbit—the Life Choices clinic was located in an old Planned Parenthood building.

So, for the last 2 years, I have been the Nurse Manager at Life Choices clinic. I have been trained to perform ultrasounds and often, I am the first person to introduce a mother to her baby. God has given me a window to His miracle of life. And He has brought me full circle.

Redemption: rescued, recovered, and restored—my crisis pregnancy, a life-changing gift, where God uses all things for good; a pregnancy, an old Planned Parenthood building, a new purpose for my gifts and experience, the reason I am a nurse… God had better plans! A life-changing gift!