Meet Mary Hart, a 30-year educator who has answered the call to full-time ministry as an Embrace Grace leader. Her passion for helping single moms find support through the church is inspired by her own story. Mary's life is a testament to how beautifully God redeems.
Mary, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, was raised in a Christian home, with her mother as a Christian school teacher and her father as a Deacon. However, Mary's rebellious heart led to an unexpected turn in her life– an unplanned pregnancy, which she learned about during her high school senior trip. "I just graduated, had a bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and I was like, okay, Lord, if this test is negative, I'll never do this again. God was like sorry, it's positive, you're gonna stop anyway!" Mary exclaimed.
Mary didn't tell her family right away. Instead, she wrote a note about her pregnancy, left it on the stairs, and escaped to her best friend's house in hopes that someone would stumble upon her secret. Her brother, Ben, found the note and told her parents she was pregnant. "My pregnancy rocked my family to the core. Being young, single, and pregnant was a whole different world back then," Mary shared. Her parent's immediate response was to place Mary's baby for adoption. They contacted a friend at an adoption agency to create a plan Mary followed to survive her circumstances. Little did they know, she was set on keeping her baby boy the whole time.
Mary knew adoption to be beautiful and had many friends who experienced it. Still, she had no desire to place her baby for adoption. "I knew in my heart that I would keep my baby," Mary said. So, from May to November 1992, Mary played along with the adoption plan. It was simply the only way to provide for herself and her baby. Her baby's father wanted nothing to do with her; her friends had all gone to college– she was just trying to survive.
The family planning to adopt Mary's baby paid the medical bills, visited, and ensured she had what she needed. "But I knew, even if I had to live on the streets, I was going to keep my baby," Mary emphasized. Around Thanksgiving, she dropped the bomb and told the sweet family the difficult truth—she was keeping her baby. By that point, her parents' hearts had softened. In February 1993, Jacob was born, and a year later, his father came back into the picture on an inconsistent basis. Like any mother, Mary tried to make it work because she wanted her son to have a father. During that time, Mary was met with another pregnancy.
Mary wasn't in school and she didn't have a job. The thought of putting more stress on her family was too much for her to bear. So, she decided to have an abortion because she felt it was the only option. Soon after, Mary and Jacob’s father got married, which lasted two months. By this point, Mary was 19, a new mother, divorced, and full of shame and guilt. This became her identity from then on. As life progressed, the Lord blessed Mary with a great husband and two more beautiful children. For the next 25 years, she would live this routine of church every week while teaching at Calvary Baptist Academy, even though she had no real relationship with Jesus. Mary was simply playing the religious game. "Deep down, I felt that if these people knew the real me, I wouldn't be able to work at that school." Mary shared.
It took the world stopping in 2020 to bring Mary back to her Bible in an attempt to get ready for Jesus' return. "I was thinking this is the end of the world," Mary said. "Jesus is coming back!" At this point, Mary had no relationship with Jesus– she wasn't saved and felt unworthy of knowing God. "I knew deep down if I died, I wasn't going to heaven. I knew that in my heart," Mary stated. "I didn't feel heaven was accessible to me." She searched the Bible for answers but was instead met with Jesus. He met exactly where she was in her faith.
Around that same time, Mary saw an Embrace Grace baby shower post on Facebook. She was intrigued but not ready to get involved, so she wrote Embrace Grace on a piece of paper and tucked it in her Bible. When her daughter got pregnant at 17, the Lord reminded her of Embrace Grace. Around that time, Mary shifted in her career and started working with the Pastor's wife, Gretchan. "It was a totally divine appointment because she actually helped me with Embrace Grace," Mary remarked.
Mary shared a little bit of her dream of leading Embrace Grace with Gretchan while not thinking that she could ever do it because of her abortion. At that time, only her husband knew about it. She believed that she was unqualified to lead. Gretchan set up a meeting for Mary to present her ideas for Embrace Grace at Calvary Baptist Church. Before she walked out of the room, Mary knew she had to tell the Pastor about her abortion. She felt it would change his mind about being on board with Embrace Grace. "I was scared to death!" Mary expressed. "But when the words came out of my mouth, he told me this is what will qualify you. I came out of that room a different person. The Lord has used my abortion story in so many ways."
From that moment on, Mary decided to leave the shadows of shame and guilt. She experienced more and more freedom every time she felt led to share with family, friends, and brave moms in her group. "The Father truly brings beauty from ashes," Mary expressed. "He has used my story to open the door to hope and healing for several of our girls and leaders."
Mary was able to experience the outcome of her faithfulness by staying obedient through a rocky beginning. "Over and over again, I felt like I couldn't do it– that it was just too much. But, of course, that was the enemy," Mary shared. As she pushed through, doors started to open little by little. Mary turned to her church to help spread the word about Embrace Grace. The social media team created graphics, business cards, etc., for Mary to advertise Embrace Grace. "Literally, within 10 minutes, 25 boxes were checked," Mary stated. "I remember walking back to my classroom and saying to Jesus, okay, so you really want me to do this? Because everything I was worried about was totally taken care of!"
Fast-forward to today, Calvary Baptist Church has had five Embrace Grace semesters! Not to mention, the majority of their brave moms graduate from Embrace Grace and join Embrace Life, run by April Heaberlin. They are two semesters in! This is a huge answered prayer for Calvary Baptist Church. Mary and April have big dreams. They have seen the Lord's hand at work and His love for their brave girls! Mary is currently pursuing a certification in grief counseling for women who have had abortions.
We are so thankful to Mary and Calvary Baptist Church Shreveport for their dedication to meeting the needs of single women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. This past semester was their biggest group yet, with roughly 40 women and their families coming to their campus on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings to learn more about Jesus!
If you are or know a single mom in need of support or are interested in how you can partner with us, please visit embracegrace.com
Find a place of belonging in a support group for moms with unexpected pregnancies or single, young moms and dads.
