Five women chose life at the abortion center yesterday, and a sixth through a phone call with our counselor, Angela. An exciting day for all of us, though sobering in light of the sixty cars that filled the center's two parking lots.
At one point, my Cities4Life team member, Anna, was on the mobile Monroe HELP ultrasound RV with a mama, when another mama came to me and asked for a pregnancy test and ultrasound. As I brought her on the RV, we were introduced to M, the mama Anna was counseling.
The mama, K, I had brought on the RV asked me, "Do you all try to talk people out of aborting?"
"No," said M, "They don't talk you out of anything. They show you why you don't want to do it."
"I'm getting my sister out of there and bringing her here," K told me.
"Your sister?" I asked.
"She's in the clinic. She's getting an abortion."
I gave K our literature with my name and number. Armed with the material, K hurried back in the center.
A short time later, she returned.
"She wouldn't leave," she told us sadly.
Then M began talking to K. "I had a 9:30 appointment today to abort. I came here, and now I am certain it is wrong, and I want to keep my baby."
"I'm going back in to talk to my sister!" K declared.
Off she went again. This time I walked to the edge of the center parking lot with her. She returned again.
"They took her into the back room already," she told me.
"You can ask to see her," I said.
The 'pro-choice' escort overheard us and pointing to me, asked K, "Is she forcing you to go get someone out of there?"
"She's not forcing me!" K said, "I told her that's what I wanted to do!"
"You have to make a decision now," the pro-choice escort said, "Stay in or stay out. You can't go back in if you are with them."
So much for 'choice.'
K followed me back on the RV. It turns out she wasn't pregnant. We seized the opportunity to share the Gospel and the message of abstinence outside of marriage in obedience to Christ, who she seemed to know. I offered to send her daily Bible verses, which she was grateful for.
As far as I know, her sister went through with the abortion. But she has my name and number if she needs someone to talk to. My prayer is that God will speak to her through her brave sister.
I think I went overboard with the message that it is not loving to support someone making a decision that leads to destruction. We hear this all the time from drivers and friends of the abortion-minded woman. They do not see that they are aiding the woman's ability to abort by driving them there.
Analogies always play in my writer's head. If someone were plotting to murder a two-year-old, would you drive that person there, hoping to talk her out of it on the way, but then letting her kill the toddler in the end? I wouldn't. I don't think that is what God would have us do either. This is not removing love from the one plotting destruction. It is refusing to be an accomplice in an act that defies God. So I shared that with K, since so many women return for repeat abortions. Were her sister, or any friend ever to consider abortion again, I hoped K would not feel the need to support in any way something she believed was wrong. We actually have had mamas end up having the baby because no one would drive them to the abortion center. It gave them time to come to a different conclusion. My passion is to plant seeds that will ultimately bring an end to abortion.
I am not sure she ever got my point. Maybe I stretched to reach it too hard. I have a tendency to do that.
Speaking of stretching, my frozen shoulder is still frozen. I do the stretches every day, which hurt and it takes a long time to do them properly. To my frustration, the shoulder stiffens up again almost immediately. I have to do the stretches several times a day (which doesn't happen most days) and each time it feels like I am starting from square one. When will true healing come??
Sometimes that's exactly what it feels like at the abortion center. We deliver the same message over and over again. Some women choose life, though most go through with the abortion. We pray we have made a dent in this spiritual battle, and the next day, the same battle is there again before us.
It is important for all of us to recognize that many battles God sets before us are not instantaneously won. Sometimes, they appear not be won at all here on earth! We are not commanded to win. We are commanded to endure, and to continue pressing forward towards the goal He has placed before us in Christ Jesus. He never promises ease or comfort, or even relief. All He promises is He is with us.
If we stop stretching, we lose. Muscles tighten till they are useless.
Tuesday Cities4Life team: as you stand at the gates of Hell, I am praying for you. Do not grow weary in speaking the truth of God. He is with you.
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Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and
every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and
hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Amen, mighty warrior of God.
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