| The
History of Harbor House
A
Testimony of God's Faithfulness
Preface
 love
history. My wife hates it...that is, if
I call it by that name— “history.”
The amazing
thing is, though, if I sit down to talk to her about
a Longaberger basket from way back in time…let’s
say, a 1991 Christmas Collection (preferably a green
one), it’s funny how history is suddenly interesting
to her.
I have a friend
who, although he may not be able to tell me who
our country fought in the War of 1812, will have
no problem telling me the years the Cleveland Browns
had winning seasons and when they didn’t (and
of course, when they didn’t have a season,
period).
My kids love
to get out the family videos and watch each other
as they grow from hairless infants to toddlers,
and right on up to recent history...all those
toys that came last Christmas but seem to have been
lost or forgotten within a week or so afterwards.
As for me, one of my
favorite TV shows is A&E’s Biography.
Growing up, I used to love to go to the school library
where I could pick up and read The Story of Amelia
Earhart, or Babe Ruth: The Legend of Baseball.
History and the people who have lived it has always
held a fascination for me.
What does all
of this about history have to do with a maternity
home or problem pregnancies? A couple of things.
Sin is the seed
from which a problem pregnancy grows. Solomon recorded
in the book of Ecclesiastes (1:9 NIV) “What
has been will be again, what has been done will
be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Ever since Eve sinned in the garden, both men and
women alike have had to face the consequence of
their sins. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10, speaking
of the sinful actions of the Israelites throughout
the history of the nation, that “these things
happened… and were written down as warnings
for us” and “to keep us from setting our
hearts on evil things as they did.”
There’s
nothing new under the sun and human nature will
never change. God warns us through Paul’s hand
that “if you think you are standing firm, be
careful that you don’t fall! No temptation
has seized you except what is common to man.”
How do we know
what is “common to man”? The Bible (besides
being God’s Word) is wonderful history book.
God has commanded us to be students of history so
that we don’t fall into the same traps that
have ensnared our forebears throughout time.
God also calls
us to be students of history for another reason.
In Psalm 105, David reminds us: “Give thanks
to the Lord, call on his name; make known among
the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing
praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.”
In order to “tell of all his wonderful acts” we need
first to remember them, and to remember them we
need to write them down.
We’ve called
them “God-sightings.”
It’s not
that God just shows up once in a while when he feels
like it. “For since the creation of the world,
God’s invisible qualities—his eternal
power and divine nature—have been clearly seen...” (Romans 1:20 NIV). Sometimes we seem to have a bad
habit of not taking much notice, if at all, when
God declares his presence.
We want to chronicle
some of our God-sightings by beginning to share
with you the history of the ministry of Harbor House.
By doing this, we hope to accurately trace the path
we’ve traveled, but most importantly, to tell
of the Lord’s wonderful acts. After all,
he’s the one who cleared and blazed the path.
©
1998 Karla Eberle/Harbor House Maternity Home, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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