Wealthy? No way!

An interview with John and Mary Lockwood

John and Mary Lockwood are a post-abortive, married couple living in metro Detroit. They are also active prolife speakers who share the message of forgiveness, healing and mercy in the wake of their personal testimony about abortion. John and Mary humbly agreed to an interview so that others might learn more about how they can support the work of Right to Life of Michigan (RLM) in a significant way and become members of the Heritage Circle.

The Heritage Circle is a special member group established by RLM to honor donors who make a planned gift to RLM, the RLM Educational Fund or the RLM Educational Endowment Fund through their wills, trusts, insurance policies, etc. These future gifts help raise funds to ensure RLM's readiness to protect and defend innocent human life at all stages for many years to come.

How did you come to the decision to include RLM as a beneficiary in your trust?

John: “We don’t consider ourselves to be wealthy - not by any stretch of the imagination. I’m from a family of nine, and Mary grew up in the housing projects of Detroit. Wealthy? No way! What we are, however, is rich in God’s mercy and blessings. That we know first-hand. All we want to do now is share the blessings through the bequest gift we’ve named in our trust for Right to Life of Michigan and two other Christ-centered organizations.”

Mary: “We talked long and hard about leaving a gift to RLM in our trust for about two and one-half years. This was one concrete way I could do something for the babies I aborted many years ago. My heart breaks every time I think about my three unborn children. But thanks be to God, I’ve come to know healing and forgiveness, and I’ve also learned that RLM is the voice of the voiceless. You speak loudly for the unborn in both the political arena and in the community. That is very important to me because I see the fruits of your labor – the work we do together.”

Having the option of three ways to leave your gift to Right to Life of Michigan, how did you make your decision?

John: “RLM is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization which means donations are not tax-deductible. We could have chosen the RLM Educational Fund or the RLM Educational Endowment Fund, both tax-deductible RLM entities, but we won’t need the tax deduction when we’ve passed into eternal life. And we certainly don’t need to tell you how to use the funds -- you’ve been doing an incredible job for almost 40 years.”

Mary: “We know our financial gift will be used well, and that gives us great peace. RLM has always shown us a certain “stick to it” attitude that we like. You’re in the trenches for the long haul and you don’t quit. We have no intention of quitting on Right to Life of Michigan and all the lives you work so hard to protect and defend.”

Why did you decide on a living trust instead of a will?

John: “The hardest part for me wasn’t in deciding to leave a gift to RLM in our trust. The hardest part was in deciding to have a will or trust drawn up. Most people equate wills and trusts with death. I guess we might have thought the same thing deep down inside. Once we learned the differences between a will and a living trust, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each, we opted for a trust. You pay a bit more up-front for a trust, but it’s private and not subject to probate court -- we like that.”

Mary: “We’ve been a part of a couple messy estates over the years, and I promised myself that I would never do that to someone I love. The living trust seemed the best option for us. It’s important to get your things in order - it’s truly an act of love. Leaving those decisions in someone else’s hands means your wishes may well go unfulfilled, and that would be a tragedy.”

What do you want our readers to know about making a planned gift?

John: “Anybody can make a huge difference with whatever they have. Consider making provisions for Right to Life of Michigan in your will or trust and becoming members of the Heritage Circle.”

Mary: “We don’t have a lot of money, and we’re not millionaires, but we have enough to make a difference. The way I see it, all of what we have is on loan from God anyway. It’s not really ours in the first place. We’re just called to be good stewards of His gifts, and He expects us to share and care for all those created in His image and likeness whether we know them or not. We are proud to be our nations’s future, through aborting innocent babies in the womb, will overcome any short term setbacks we may experience.

Now is the time to engage our fellow citizens in our life preserving work. Let’s turn those encouraging poll numbers into active participants working toward a day when babies in the womb will be protected, and the choice of abortion will again be unthinkable. members of Right to Life of Michigan’s Heritage Circle and invite others to join us.”

We thank John and Mary Lockwood for their faithful witness to life, their future bequest gift and their continued support of Right to Life of Michigan.

For more information about wills and trusts, the Heritage Circle and how you can make a make a planned gift, go to www.rtl.org, click on “giving,” then click on “gift planning.”

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