When most people think about the day they were born, they imagine their mother and father at the hospital, dad anxiously pacing the floor, mom enduring the agony of labor until finally that glorious moment arrives and their precious baby is placed safely in its mother’s arms. Proud grandparents, aunts, and uncles, gather around to welcome the newest member of the family.

However, when I think about the day I was born, I imagine my birth mother alone and scared as she gave birth to the baby she’d been carrying for nine months that would soon become someone else’s child. My heart breaks for her as I imagine the moment she held me and then handed me over to a social worker, believing she’d never see her child again. I can’t imagine how she must have felt when she left the hospital empty-handed.

I know it was painful, but I am so thankful to my birth mother for making this choice. I learned recently that abortion was legalized in the state where I was born three years before my birth. I realize that an abortion could have offered her a seemingly less complicated alternative, at least, less complicated than carrying and delivering a baby, then trying to get back to life as usual. I know her choice was a difficult one. I know she took the narrow path, and I owe my very existence to her.

I once heard a preacher say that when we are faced with a really difficult decision, Satan often presents us with a seemingly easy alternative. The only catch is that this easy option always requires a moral compromise. Satan sees our indecision as an opportunity to get a foothold, to lead us away from God and down a path that leads to destruction. If you’re facing a tough choice today, pray that God will direct you down the right path, especially if the hard choice is the right one.