American Idol contestant Kimberly Henderson hasn't let three rejections from the show's auditions break her spirit, but a recent story she shared on her Facebook page has gained her more respect from Christians than a win on the show ever could.
"Two years ago today I was sitting in an abortion clinic thinking not having Vaida was best for me," Henderson wrote about her now-two-year-old daughter. "Well this date is forever burned in my brain. ... I think that is God's way of showing me that HIS plan is and will always be greater and bigger than anything and everything I've ever known."
The 26-year-old single mother of four from South Carolina took to Facebook to explain just how important that decision was to her and how much it changed her life for the best. The post immediately went viral, gaining over 700,000 likes since Sunday.
In the post, Kimberly shares another message she originally wrote on the day that she decided not to have the abortion. She describes being upset at her boyfriend at the time for cheating on her, and she made up her mind that she wouldn't have his child.
But a string of events happened on her way to the abortion clinic that worked toward convincing Kimberly that God was trying to speak to her. Her other daughter was sick so she had to find a sitter last-minute, she got lost, and then her car broke down for 15 minutes, making her late for her appointment. But ultimately, it was a card that fell out of her purse as she searched for her driver's license that changed her mind once and for all.
The card was given to her by a Christian couple and on the back was a powerful Bible verse: "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." - Isaiah 41:10.
"I knew God was speaking to me," she said of the verse. "There's a reason God gave you that gift," she recalls one of her friends saying to her.
Kimberly told the nurse that she had changed her mind and turned to walk out. It was then that a young teenage girl in the reception area asked Kimberly if she was going to have the abortion, but she told the girl that she couldn't do it. "I wish I could be brave like you," she recalls the girl saying to her.
"I told her she was brave and she could do the same thing," Kimberly continued. "She said she had to do it because of some serious circumstances.. As I turned around she said..'When you see your baby's face for the first time you're gonna be so glad you walked out of here today.'"
Kimberly continued to describe how this was her testimony against abortion and how happy she is that a miracle saved her daughter. "Most of all I remember the enormous amount of relief and strength I felt when I walked out those doors. No guilt. No shame. No regrets. I remember feeling that this all... This all has to mean something one day. My daughter Vaida Everly has a purpose. Her name means beautiful life. And lord she is just that.. A beautiful life."
On September 12, 2013, Vaida Everly was born at 6lbs 4oz of "pure perfection," Kimberly said. "She gave me a feeling of joy that I can't even explain. A kind of joy that if a war was going on outside I wouldn't even know it. I am so in love."
Perhaps the most magical part of Kimberly's testimony is the overwhelming response in the comments section from others who experienced a similar story. Photographs of young children flood the replies, all showing children who were saved when their mothers realized just how wrong abortion really is.
Check out the video below of Kimberly beautiful rendition of the Sam Smith version of Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" while holding young Vaida in her arms.
