4 hours ago
Showing posts with label Pro-life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pro-life. Show all posts
In case you somehow missed it, the Supreme Court made the decision today to overturn Roe v. Wade this morning. I was preparing myself for something crazy to happen after that leak a while back, for this decision to somehow not come to fruition. But despite my worries, the Lord was gracious to this country today!
I just feel the need to mark this day, the day Roe c. Wade fell! And Lord willing, the beginning of the end of abortion in this country. We’ve destroyed 60+ million babies in this country over the last 50 years. This country deserves judgement for that, but God has shown mercy to us. I didn’t think I’d see Roe v. Wade overturned in my lifetime, though I’ve prayed for it for years. In a year, there will be human beings alive who wouldn’t have been because of the Supreme Court’s decision today! Praise the Lord!
I'm so thankful for the courage and fortitude of the Supreme Court with all the pressure they must have been feeling after the leak a month ago. I'm so thankful that Trump got those four years to put some of those justices on the court. Some of these people are probably believers, many of them probably are not, but I'm amazed at how the Lord "turns the hearts of kings wherever He wishes" (Proverbs 21:1). God did that, through the actions of unexpected people, through everything that led to this historic decision from the highest court in the land.
I've explained about abortion to my kids. When it came up a few years back, I didn't need to do very much beyond just telling my kids (age appropriately) what abortion is, and they were immediately adamantly pro-life. Sometimes children are wiser than adults.
I told them about the Supreme Court decision today, and we celebrated and cheered! When I explained about what it all would mean, their immediate question was whether abortion would be allowed in our state, and with sorrow I had to tell them yes. Our state is wicked. We need to keep praying, keep voting for the pro-life candidates, keep defending the unborn. Then we prayed for an end to abortion altogether.
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works…The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Psalms 145:3-5, 8-9 NKJV
My hope and prayer now is that I will get to celebrate with my kids again when abortion is banned across the United States. Soon, Lord, please!
Tonight is for celebrating and telling the kids what God has done! Don't let anyone dampen the day for you, friends! Today is a very good day!
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works…The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Psalms 145:3-5, 8-9 NKJV
"This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord."
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord."
Psalm 102:18 NKJV
(My precious Georgie, inside and outside the womb.)
I don't remember ever not being pro-life, but I do remember the day that term came to mean something to me.
In the early 2000's, the deabte was raging about whether partial birth abortion should be allowed. For those who do not know, this is a procedure where a baby is partially delivered and the child is brutally killed in the process of birth, right before the baby is fully delivered. I won't go into any more detail here, you can look it up if you need to know, but the fact that there was even a debate about whether to ban such a barbaric procedure is still shocking to me.
In the early 2000's, I did not know about the debate or the procedure. I was 12 years old, and I knew about abortion but didn't think about it that much.
Around this time, Focus On The Family bought ad space in a newspaper to run comic strip in an attempt to clarify and impact the debate. I'm sure it did have an impact too, because I know how it impacted me.
On the bulletin board at our Bible study, someone had pinned that comic strip. One day, bored as I was waiting for my mom, it caught my eye.
I couldn't find the comic strip online to show you now, but the strip portrayed a baby in his mother's womb, learning new skills, growing and thriving. Finally the time comes for the baby to be born, but right before he's about to enter the world...it's all over. Nothing but darkness.
In the moment I really understood what happens in an abortion. I knew about it before, but I didn't really know. I thought about that comic all the way home and couldn't shake it the rest of the night. And as I thought about it that night laying in my bed, tears ran down the sides of my face.
That was the day I truly became pro-life.
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From that day forward, the abortion issue was something I cared deeply about, but when I finally got pregnant with my first baby, it became all the more poignant. I read the books about each stage of development, looked up pictures on the internet. I felt his first little kicks at 16 weeks. I cried when I thought that other babies the same age as my son, who might have been his friends someday, who were guilty of nothing except existing at the wrong time in the wrong place, who could acceptably be torn apart.
And I know I might be losing some of you with this post. "It's more complicated than that," you might say. "What about what the mother is going through?" And I agree with that, it is rather complicated, but also kind of not. Because a baby is a baby. We, especially the church, need to offer more support to empower mothers to choose life for their children. I love being involved with a pregnancy center that is trying to do just that, while also making sure every woman who comes through their doors hears the Gospel.
Partial birth abortion became illegal nationally in 2003, but Illinois recently re-allowed it in their state. I live in a state that allows a baby in utero to be killed at any time, up until birth, for any reason. This just blows my mind. But I'm encouraged that in other areas of the country, many pro-life laws are being passed. The current generation is more pro-life than the one before it, and I think that's because we can see inside the womb better now than ever before. And it's harder to pretend that abortion is something other than what it is.
When it comes down to it, once you know, you can't not know. That's what happened to me all those years ago.
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There is a church in our area that fills its lawn with small blue and pink flags every October. It looks like there are thousands of them out there.
There are signs as you drive past that say: "These flags represent the babies who have been lost to abortion, and the men and women who mourn that decision. Jesus, Divine Healer."
Jesus, Divine Healer.
I'd just like to finish this post by saying that if any of you have had an abortion that you regret, I'm so sorry. I am not judging you, my heart is just shattered for you. Please know that I am praying for any who might be reading this who have gone through an abortion in the past, that you would know the healing and forgiveness that can be found in Christ.
And for anyone in my state, I'm working on a petition to get a measure on the ballot to limit abortions after 22 weeks, so if you are interested in signing and helping to stop late-term abortion in our state, send me an email!
It was a little over a year ago now that I sat down and actually watched one of the videos from the Center For Medical Progress. Up to that point I had just read articles about the videos, describing the callous behavior and illegal actions of Planned Parenthood officials.
But for some reason, that day I decided to click open the video and watch myself. I watched an interview with an abortion worker. Then the video changed, and they were walking into a lab. And I put my hand over my eyes and peeked through every now and then. I saw a bloody tray. I saw the backs of Planned Parenthood employees as they worked.
And I peeked through my fingers and felt my baby kick right under my heart as one of them proclaimed "it's a boy!".
That baby boy would have been born a couple weeks after Clarice.
The tears started then, rolling down my cheeks as my girl rolled over in my womb. I cried for that baby boy, whom some have named Emmett, who never had a chance to kick his mama, or cry, or laugh, or have a first birthday, or start kindergarten. I cried for that mother, who will never know the joy he might have brought into her life.
I still want to throw up just thinking about it, and even though I have been pro-life as long as I've known about such things, I knew it was time to stop pretending this wasn't happening. It was time to stop forgetting about it unless it was an election year.
So a few months later, on New Year's Eve, I made a secret resolution. This was the year I'd get involved. This was the year I'd do something.
You'll see me talking a bit more about my pro-life beliefs on here as I get my thoughts together. I have a post with ideas on different things you can do, including telling you a little bit more about the shirt I'm wearing (hint: donate here), but today I wanted to share one way I've tried to get involved in stopping abortion - volunteering with a pregnancy resource center. It hasn't looked like I thought it would, and I have a bit of advice for those of you who have considered volunteering yourselves.
Head over to the Save The Storks blog to read about the one thing you should know before you offer to volunteer at your local pregnancy center!
Head over to the Save The Storks blog to read about the one thing you should know before you offer to volunteer at your local pregnancy center!
“So are you done?”
I was a bit taken aback, not by her question, but by the tone. We have been asked many times since having Clarice if we think we will have any more. I know people are curious, because it is unusual to have four kids these days (even though really, it’s not that many, people!). But this seemed more in-your-face than the normal questioning.
I gave my standard answer. “Yeah, probably.”
I knew as soon as I uttered that second word that it was a mistake this time.
“Probably?”
Yes. Derek and I are very happy with four kids, and that’s all we ever really talked about having. We are done.
Probably.
I guess when you already have four kids people expect you to know 100% whether you are having any more. But lately, every time I am asked, I can’t quite make myself drop the “probably” from my answer.
When I saw the book Abolishing Abortion: How You Can Play A Part In Ending The Greatest Evil Of Our Day by Rev. Frank Pavone, I knew I had to read it, especially in light of everything that has happened with the pro-life movement this year. It is my biggest prayer for this country that abortion will come to an end, and I of course want to play a part!
When I was about 14 weeks pregnant with Wyatt, I remember going to my doctor's office for my first 2nd trimester checkup. I laugh when I think back on it, because those visits seem so routine now, but I was so excited and happy to be pregnant, and I couldn't wait to hear the swish, swish of my baby's heartbeat.
That day my doctor talked to me about some of the screening tests that we could do to make sure everything was okay with the baby, including one that should be done before 16 weeks to check for a possibility of Down's syndrome or birth defects. I had already kind of decided that I didn't want to bother with the screenings, especially when my doctor told me that they could usually tell on the 20 week ultrasound if there were any problems.
But knowing so little about the process at the time, I asked if there was any reason it would be good to know earlier. I know these days they can correct some problems while the baby is still in utero, and I was thinking they might want to know earlier for some things to make sure everything went smoothly the rest of the pregnancy.
My doctor kind of paused and then stuttered over her words, saying that some women would want to know earlier so they could terminate . . . (imagine a lot of "ums" and "uhs" in there) . . .
She must have seen the look on my face, because after I said "Oh, no . . ." while shaking my head, she immediately assured me that most women they see don't choose to do that even if the test is positive for abnormalities.
But in that instant, the life issue became more real to me than it ever had before. Because here I was, pregnant with my first child, enjoying every little symptom and examining my belly daily for growth . . . and I couldn't imagine that sweet life that was already so real to me being snuffed out.
And it could have been, with just a word.
I was pro-life before. But in that moment my heart broke like it never had before for all those babies who never had a chance.
(Wyatt when I was 15 weeks pregnant.)
I am not bringing this up to cast judgement on women who have had abortions. I've never walked in their shoes, but goodness knows they've already been through enough. They've lost something precious that they can never get back, and I think deep down most of those women know that. My heart breaks for them. And if that's you, I pray that you've found healing and hope.
I wanted to mention this because right now 40 Days for Life is happening across the country (and even internationally). 40 Days for Life is a peaceful prayer vigil, where Christians gather in front of abortion clinics to just pray for an end to abortion and for babies to be saved during the campaign. It's something I'd love to participate in some year, but for now, with two kiddos at home, I have to be satisfied with following their blog and praying right where I am.
For those of you who are also pro-life, definitely check out their blog, and I'd encourage you to pray too. Pray for an end to abortion in this country. Pray for many babies to be saved over these 40 days, for wisdom for the volunteers as they try to reach these women who feel they have no other choice. And pray for the women that go through with their abortions over the next 40 days, that they would find the forgiveness, and healing, and hope that only comes with knowing Jesus.
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P.S. If you are curious to know why I believe in the pro-life movement, I think this podcast explains it very well, and especially if you are pro-life I'd encourage you to listen to it. It's important to know why you believe the way you do on issues like this.
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