Romans 8:28

I have always confessed Philipians 4:13 because of my mother. On the way to school she would have us say affirmations about how we were "leaders and not followers", "the head and not the tail", "more than conquerers", and that we "could do all things, through Christ, who strengthened us". But today I also confess Romans 8:28 which says:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.

I think that I am definitely living that one.

Pastor Ramsey said a few Sundays ago that people will try and judge you and where you are today, or say that you don't understand their struggle - when, in fact, they do not know your whole story and how God made a way. He said that this person was "walking in on the movie while the credits were rolling...." LOL! I don't feel like anyone is judging me or anything, but I do feel like I brought my readers in during the middle of the movie, so this is an attempt to catch everyone up :-)


I have so many things to be thankful for, but I never want to forget how far God has brought me because it makes me appreciate the present so much more. This blog is intended to help those who find themselves in less-than-ideal circumstances, and show them that if you trust in God, He will make something BEAUTIFUL even out of the messiness that we create in our own lives, so I wanted to share my testimony with the hopes that one day it could help someone else.
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June 2008. It was the summer before my senior year of college at the University of Michigan and I was 20 years old. I was also late. My period had never been late, and I had consistently taken my birth control (for cramps, of course) for four years. So what was wrong? My “boyfriend” at the time was one of my most serious relationships, but by no means were we stable. I decided to buy a pregnancy test – not because I thought I was pregnant, but so I could narrow things down to a more probable diagnosis. I called my partner, Nate, and told him that I would take it and get it over with because I wasn’t pregnant, so it was no big deal.

60 seconds later, my legs gave out beneath me when my eyes saw a very positive reading. I cried in disbelief on the floor. This could not happen to me. I was the medical school bound, over-achieving, God-fearing, and constantly planning daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Ransone. When Nate got home, we really did not know what to say or do. When we tried to talk about it, the conversation was short and ended with me saying, “I cannot be a doctor and have a baby. I can’t.” The next day I made an appointment for us to go to Planned Parenthood to talk about my options.

I could tell Nate wanted the baby from day one. Although he had just graduated from college, he was willing to change his plans. I was not. I was always taught “Career. Marriage. Baby,” in that order. I had neither career nor marriage. I didn’t even have a degree and barely a boyfriend. My mom and I were very close, so I told her right away about the pregnancy, but our relationship took a dramatic turn. I really had nowhere to turn. So I prayed. I had been going and going along in life convincing myself that God was always there, but never calling on Him and never truly reaching my potential. Now that I had been knocked on my feet, I wished I had been talking to Him all along.

Planned Parenthood didn’t really help. They gave me a lot of information on abortion services, somewhat counseled me on what having the baby would mean for my life, and said very little I remember about adoption. I still did not know what to do. I just kept thinking about how convinced I was that I could not have a baby and go to medical school, but how devastated I would be if I didn’t have this baby, and then got to medical school and saw a woman living the very thing I thought was impossible.

I had a number of leadership positions on campus, and now that I was pregnant, my shame convinced me that I would no longer be able to serve in a visible capacity – because a pregnant peer advisor, vice president, or organization member would not be a good image. I met with my boss and tearfully told her the news. And that very moment is when God stepped in. She told me that my decision to resign would be totally up to me. That they did not want to see me go, and I would not be their first peer advisor with a child. In fact, a few years ago one of their peer advisors had a baby as a sophomore, and she was now going into her third year of medical school. I arranged to have breakfast with that same girl that week and that is when I knew I could do it! I still get tearful thinking about it now. Within weeks of making a decision to keep my baby, God aligned me with someone who was living the life I deemed impossible, and succeeding! With God, ALL things are possible.

The other campus organizations I was involved in received the news with the same compassion and love as my job. Throughout my pregnancy, my friends were my angels by keeping my spirits lifted, being there to listen, and helping with anything that I needed. I did not tell anyone else about my pregnancy that wasn’t close to me for about the first five months.

Nate proposed that September, and the rest of the semester I was focused on doing well in school and getting into medical school. My pregnancy was what most doctors would call “textbook” free of complications and my senior year grades ended up being one of my best years academically in college. On January 28th I was induced – because I had two medical school interviews lined up for February – and on January 29th I gave birth to Nathan after pushing for 5 minutes. This is another testament to the greatness of my God. After the baby came, I moved in with my fiancé (40 minutes from campus), went to my two interviews, and was back in school after four weeks. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, but I did not want this to stop me from graduating on time. Once again, the favor of God was on me because my professors were all willing to allow me to do work from home while on maternity leave. When I got back to school, I wasn’t behind, and it was as if I never left.

In May 2009 I graduated. Although I had received 14 rejections and was placed on one waitlist for medical school, I was still further than anyone thought I would go a year before. May was a hard month because after the excitement died down from graduation, I realized that my contingency plan if I didn’t get into medical school did not exist. In their rejection letter, Indiana University recommended me for a graduate program to prepare me for medical school the next year that started two weeks after the date on the letter. Although rushed, I packed up the baby and we moved to Indianapolis – my fiancé was unable to leave his job and had to stay in Michigan.

That school year, I realized that I had not been ready for medical school. If I had been accepted that year, I would not have been able to properly adjust to the workload because I had no idea how much work medical school really was going to be. Someone said, “Rejection is God’s protection.” God was definitely protecting me from something I was not yet ready for. As time went on, I grew in my faith in God and my confidence and I completed the school year alone with my son in Indianapolis not only more prepared for medical school, but also more prepared to be the woman I was born to be. In April of 2010, Nate and I got married. In May, I completed the year with two medical school acceptances. It is such an amazing feeling when you know that God is on your side, when you know that ALL situations can work out for good, all you have to do is trust and obey Him.

Last fall I entered Indiana University School of Medicine with a four-year full tuition scholarship. And now my first year is almost over, my grades have been VERY good, and I am balancing my family and school life better than I ever imagined I would be able to. I know that it was nothing but God and His constant mercy and favor that got me where I am today. I could not have done it myself and when I look back and wonder how I got through certain things, I know that God was my strength. I know I did nothing to deserve it, but I also know that if He can do it for me, He can do it for you. Please be encouraged and stand on the promises of our Father, because if you can take the first step in faith, He will do the rest.

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Because of my own experience, I really have a desire to help young women who may find themselves in a similar place that I was in that life-changing summer. The other day my mom ran into a girl I knew (much younger) that had recently had a baby. Since then, I have been thinking about her every day. This was the end of my devotional yesterday morning - it was talking about Simon's unexpected call to help Jesus carry His cross on the way to Calvary:

"Never discount your ability to impact your family [or friends] with the message of the cross.

The message can break generational curses. It can reconcile broken family relationships. The cross may serve as the bridge you need to close the chasm that has existed in your family for decades. The cross means many things to many people, but there is one word that sums up its message: transformation. Think about how the cross has transformed your life. I challenge you to share that story with someone you’ve never shared it with. In taking up your cross, don’t ever forget about his." (John C. Richards, Jr.)

So, this is my story, and as you can see, I have been transformed.