Never Underestimate the Unseen Miracles of Redemption

Sometimes being on the sidewalk urging abortion minded women to choose life seems to bear no fruit. It feels like a lonely, unproductive vigil. People get angry with us, tell us to shut up, ridicule us, tell us it is none of our business if they want their baby dead, or even outright threaten us. But sometimes...something else happens.

Yesterday, a woman was driving down the street and pulled over to talk to our Cities4Life  team. Four years ago, she was driving down that same street on the way to abort her child. As she pulled near, she saw sidewalk counselors on the sidewalk. One held a sign of a baby who was a victim of abortion. It is a baby named Malachi by the pro-life folks that pieced him back together. He was found in an abortion clinic, frozen in a jar with three other aborted babies, all in pieces. A prolife doctor carefully put the little baby together. The tiny aborted baby’s  photograph was taken, and it became one of the most powerful graphic depictions of the horror of abortion.

It is a gruesome sign, and one I cannot bear to look at. I could not look at it four years ago either. I was a brand new counselor back then, just beginning the journey God had clearly set me upon to be a voice for the voiceless and stand for those innocent unborn babies who cannot stand for themselves. Four years ago, I saw a woman driving towards the abortion center and slow down. She glanced at the sign of Malachi. In obvious distress, she covered her face. I watched her, knowing how she felt. 

To my surprise, she drove past the driveway of the abortion center. She did not turn in. She drove down the street and out of sight. I was a brand new counselor, but I wondered if she was a mother who had just decided NOT to abort.

Yesterday, the woman who stopped to talk to us told us that four years ago when she saw the sign of baby Malachi, she decided upon the evidence of the sign alone that she could NOT abort her child. She passed the abortion center driveway and drove on. She told us she was now the happy mother of a daughter she dearly loves. She came back because she wanted to thank us...and she wanted to see Malachi again...the little aborted baby who saved her little girl.

I don’t know if she was the woman I remembered from four years ago. However, I do know that little Malachi has dissuaded other women from aborting their child. I also know that God was reminding us that even when we cannot see the miraculous work He is doing, He is working. We are to keep our eyes on His promises and be obedient to His call. The rest is up to Him.

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baby Malachi

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Malachi 4:5-6 

[5] “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. [6] He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

There is No Middle Ground In Abortion

This is one of our Cities4Life volunteers pleading with a man to get his girlfriend out of the abortion center. She has offered hope, and help, and tangible resources so that neither he, nor anyone, ever has to kill his or her own unborn child. The man hid behind the porch pole.

These are the feet of our faithful Cities4Life volunteers gathering for prayer. We prayed for the two women who chose life yesterday, and for all of those who did not. We prayed for the ‘pro-choice’ escorts who so eagerly walk moms to the building to kill their babies. We prayed for our city and our world.

In contrast, this is a ‘pro-choice’ escort dancing to some happy music, jiggling her behind at us, and singing. In front of her, dozens of babies are being slaughtered in the busiest abortion center in the Southeast. She is celebrating, laughing, and singing.

If you don’t believe me, here is a video of it. Click HERE.

Here are our volunteers again, calling out to the women, offering help.

Offering free ultrasounds, free baby showers, free medical care, free resources and programs to help them.

Here are others offering prayer and support and medical advice, as well as spiritual hope and help through the Gospel to a man devastated by abortion:

Here again, is the 'pro-choice' advocate... dancing and singing as babies are aborted.

Which group do you believe is following the heart of God? Which group do you believe has a proper perspective on the sanctity of human life? Which group do you wish to be a part of?

You know Jesus Himself says in Matthew 12:30  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” This is not one of those fence-sitting issues. You are either against the slaughter of unborn human beings, or you are for it. There is no middle ground, no compromise on this. The baby doesn’t partially die in abortion. 

I have heard self-proclaimed Christians say, “I would not personally abort, but I won’t challenge someone else’s right to choose to do so.”
 

Would they also say, “I would not personally murder a two-year-old, but I won’t challenge someone else’s right to choose to do so” ?

If something is wrong and so repugnant that you know in your gut it is wrong ...say so. Have the courage of your convictions. And if you claim Christ, do not pretend He does not tell us woe to he who sheds innocent blood.

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Psalm 94:21,23 NIV

[21] The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. [23] He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness; the Lord our God will destroy them.

How Has God Used Your Mouth Today?

Ok, I admit it. I am a wimp. I am TERRIFIED of the dentist. I have good teeth, strong, and in good shape. However, every time I go for a cleaning, it HURTS. I seem to have overactive, jumpy nerves and there are a few spots that send me through the roof when the dental hygienist hits them. I have BEGGED them to chart those spots, and then NOT to go near them. 

So it was with GREAT trepidation I went to my cleaning yesterday. Now, fortunately, right before my appointment I got a call from a desperate abortion minded mother who needed to be talked off the cliff. She totally took my mind off the ordeal I was soon to face. I was talking to her till the moment I had to hop in the car. She had sounded like she was feeling empowered, and believed maybe she could have this baby after all by the time I got off the phone.

Now I needed whatever courage I had managed to impart to her to pour over me. My heart was racing. My hands were clammy. My teeth were clenched.. I settled into the dental chair to await my fate. Ellie asked how my morning had gone. I was too scared to answer. 

Fine. Just fine. Now just get this over with.

She set to her work. First, a new thing at my dentist’s office. She took my blood pressure. 

“A little high.”

Uh huh. Wonder why?????

Not high enough, sadly, to send me to the ER, so Ellie began scraping, and grinding, and polishing, and all the horrible things I can barely bear to list. But GET THIS. Not one second of pain! 

Never in my life have I had a dental cleaning that didn’t hurt.

Now when she asked me a second time how my morning had gone, I told her. First, I praised her to high heaven. And then I told her about how a mom I had counseled who had thought she would have to abort now would not abort. 

Ellie wrote the name of our ministry and my phone number down. Maybe she would like to volunteer in some way with us.

You just never know how God might use your mouth each day to advance His work.

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Click HERE for info on volunteering with Cities4Life

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Psalm 141:3 

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

Jeremiah 1:9 

  

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

A Child’s View of Abortion

The wonderful daughter of a Cities4Life sidewalk counselor gave me this picture she drew. It is of us ministering on the sidewalks of the busiest abortion center in Charlotte. I love the picture and will cherish it always. She told me I am the one holding the megaphone and saying, “We have help for you!” She and her dad are the two people holding hands near me. The building is the abortion center. Notice the lines along the front of the abortion clinic... like a jail cell. I don’t know if the little artist Maddie did that intentionally to resemble a jail cell, but how appropriate!

On the opposite curb are the “pro-choice” women, holding a sign that says “Clinic parking.” The arrows are pointing in opposite directions on their sign, which is a funny detail and actually happens a lot. We often chuckle over that. They are smiling...though one looks a little worried, and clearly they are confused. Which way IS the right way???

Look at the face of the abortion-minded mama across the parking lot from us. She is about to enter the abortion clinic. She is weeping as she clutches her midsection. What a poignant portrayal of what we see, but also especially what we feel in the abortive women.

How observant of this 9 year-old artist, and how eloquently she captured the moods and psychological condition of each member of the little scene. 

I love her picture of me. The everpresent Cities4Life blue megaphone to my mouth, knowing my quiet voice will not carry to the parking lot without it. And my pleading offer of help. I LOVE that Maddie chose to capture me in that moment.

And perhaps the most telling vignette of all, the picture of Maddie and her dad. Facing the evil of abortion together. Holding hands. Showing what the bond of a child and a parent should be.

Ephesians 6:4 

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Proverbs 22:6   

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

1 John 3:1   

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Affecting a Culture One Person, One Church, One City at a Time

I spent the first part of Monday morning on the sidewalks of the abortion center with our skeletal Cities4Life team. Most of our folks were uptown, preparing for the Roe V Wade Memorial. Since I was one of the speakers, I only had time to speak to the abortion-minded women on the sidewalk for about an hour or so, and then dash off to the memorial service.

One of the moms I have worked with for a couple of years now was also speaking. She was already there when I arrived. I asked how she was doing.

“I was really nervous,” she told me, “But my daughter reminded me that God was with me.”

“Amen,” I said, “The Holy Spirit will empower you to say all you need to say!”

“How are you doing?”she asked me.

“Really nervous,” I said.

It  was a beautiful memorial.  You can watch it  in its entirety on Facebook at the Cities4Life Charlotte page. Link: https://www.facebook.com/Cities4LifeCharlotte/videos/1657342454353112/

My speech is HERE.

Lakilra’s speech, the mom who spoke, is HERE.

After both Lakilra and I had finished speaking, we hugged each other with relief. We had made it through. A stranger came up to me and told me she had been on her lunch hour. She stopped to see what was happening at that major intersection in Charlotte,  and heard our speeches. She wanted to know how she could get involved with our organization. How could she help women like Lakilra choose life over abortion? I texted her a volunteer form right then and there. 

One person at a time, one church at a time, one city at a time....

Challenge a small portion of your world to promote a culture of life through the power and strength of a life dedicated to God. You just never know where it will lead.

Join us? Click HERE for information.

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Joshua 24:15 

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Do Your Actions Reflect Your Words About Honoring the Sanctity of Life?

Today is “Sanctity of Life Sunday.” I understand why we label days and try to focus on something important that day. But my gut rebels. I don’t rebel against proclaiming life sacred. What I do rebel against is this: for many, this day will be one of prayer for the sanctity of life at both ends of the spectrum, honoring the unborn and the aged and recognizing their sacred value before God,  acknowledging the horror of abortion, and then Monday, they will go back to their regular programming.

Cities4Life won’t have a flood of volunteers emailing to stand alongside us on the sidewalks in front of the abortion centers offering real hope and help to abortion-minded women. Nursing homes won’t have slews of visitors to their elderly residents. Adult children won’t pick up the phone and pledge to call their lonely parents on a regular basis. In short, we will have felt we showed how much we value life by participating in the events of Sanctity of Life Sunday, and feel our duty is done. 

We will pray, we will march, we will sing in church...and then next year on this day, we will remember and honor the sanctity of life once again.

Do we really proclaim the sanctity of life by marching in droves if we go home, lay down our signs, and do NOTHING to actually provide the help and encouragement to women on the verge of abortion so they don’t follow through with it?  I have nothing against the marches, and I know many wonderful folks very active in pro-life work who attended recent pro-life marches.

But I want to issue a challenge to you. Is it enough to pray for the end of abortion...and then do nothing to help in ministries that have success turning women from abortion? Is it enough to say the elderly deserve our respect and are of sacred value and then know that there are so many sitting all alone hour after hour in a nursing home day after day, year after year, without a single visitor? If you truly believe in the sanctity of life, how are you helping to  promote it?

One reader of my blog regarding a post about helping abortion-minded moms commented that he would rather reach people for the Gospel...then deal with abortion. I would say: why would you not do both? 20-30 babies die EVERY day at just the one abortion center in my one city where our group ministers. 

The Bible says: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17)

Jesus Himself tells us that if we see a neighbor in need, we are to meet it...not just pray about it:

““Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:37-46‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What we do for the least of us, we do for Christ. DO pray. Prayer is critical. But don’t JUST pray. DO march to show solidarity for the desire to end the slaughter of the unborn. But don’t JUST march. God is clear that we are to take action.

I am eagerly awaiting the flood of volunteers. Click HERE for information on how to help stem the tide of  babies being led to the slaughter of abortion.

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Understanding Lordship is Crucial In Counseling for Life

These are the feet of a Cities4Life counselor, our RV nurse from HELP Pregnancy Center, and  a mom who came aboard the RV knowing abortion was wrong and yet still saying that if she was pregnant, she would abort. She said she was a Christian. She claimed Jesus was Lord of her life. 

She thought she was miscarrying, but wasn’t sure. Our nurse is not allowed to diagnose, nor do an ultrasound if the pregnancy test is negative. The mom was indeed likely miscarrying, as her test was negative.

However, even if we could not do an ultrasound, God had arranged a divine encounter. The nurse and I spent an hour with this mom, sharing the truth of what it means to claim Jesus as Lord. After going through a quick review of what the Bible says is sin (lying, stealing, taking the Lord’s name in vain, sex outside marriage....) we had convinced this woman she was indeed a sinner. The penalty for sin is death, eternal separation from God. This caused concern for the young woman.

She assured us she had already asked Jesus to be Lord in earlier years.

“Do you know that Jesus Himself says,’Why do you call me lord, and not do what I say?’” I asked her.

“No,” she answered. “I didn’t know that.”

“Does the Bible say ‘do not murder’?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Is the baby in the womb human?”

“Yes.”

“If you abort it, have you murdered?”

“Yes...I guess so.”

“Is Jesus really Lord of your life if you abort your child?”

She looked down. “No. I guess He is not Lord of my life if I abort.”

When she truly understood that her claims of Jesus as Lord were NOT validated by her actions, she told us she wanted to get right with God now. She prayed and asked God for forgiveness. She asked Him to truly be her Lord from this point forward. When we finished praying, she thanked us, and asked if she could hug us. She told us that now that Jesus was Lord, she would never return to a place like this again. She was grateful that we had taken the time and effort to help her understand.

That is the power of God. How deeply He must love her to have sent her to us, and have opened her heart to a true examination of who she was before God.

Join us? Click HERE to be a part of this life-affirming ministry.

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Matthew 7:21-23 

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Giving All You Have to the Journey God has Ordained for You

I braved the somewhat icy roads for a two mile drive to the golf course, praying there would be enough snow to ski. Not only was there enough snow, but for the first four miles of my five-mile round cross-country skiing  eighteen holes, the snow was perfect. It was fluffy and soft and not at all melting. The skis glided perfectly across its surface.

HERE. Is the YouTube video of skiing one section and delighting in the glory of God’s creation.

I knew this was likely the ONLY chance I would get this year to cross-country ski. It doesn’t snow much in Charlotte and there is no cross country skiing anywhere nearby...ever. So I decided I would stay out and ski the entire course. When God gives you an open door, walk through it.

It was so beautiful with the cloudless sky, sparkling snow, and huge expanses of empty white fields. Not a soul in sight. I saw several hawks, and a herd of deer gallop across the snow. For the first 90 minutes,  it was effortless. Then, the sun began to warm the snow and my skis started to drag as the clumpy snow pulled at them.

Oh oh.

I was also lost. I ended up in a dead end ringed by homes when I thought I was on the last leg of my journey to the lodge.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. Robert Frost

I wearily retraced my steps and found the turn off I had missed for the lodge, aka Golf Club. That last half mile or so of skiing was not easy. I was still having fun, but not easy fun. Hard fought fun. The kind of fun you have when you are in the midst of a battle and you think you have the strength to see it through, though you are not sure ... but at least the land is gorgeous where the fight is raging.

This is a little like the way I feel each day as I head off to the sidewalk of the abortion center. I know I am entering a battle zone, a spiritual battle where good and evil clash, and life or death hangs in the balance. When the Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of those abortion-minded women and our team, it is like gliding effortlessly on skis. The women come to us when we call; scales of deception from the enemy of their souls fall from their eyes. They smile at the image of their child on the ultrasound. Our team labored hard to help bring that miracle about, but when God sends the ‘perfect snow’, gliding across it is work, but a blessing and a joyful work.

On the other hand, there are times when, metaphorically, the snow has melted beneath our skis. Hearts are hard. Nasty words are tossed at us like spears, and no matter how desperately we plead and offer help, babies are exterminated. 

The image of perfect snow I will hold in my heart as I head to the sidewalk this morning.

With weary satisfaction, I reached the parking lot of the golf club. I removed my skis and walked with muscles already beginning to stiffen. I was completely spent. I had given every ounce of energy I had to that glorious journey on the golf course.

May I say the same each day when I finish the course God has prepared for me.

Join us on the sidewalks if you wish to expend yourself on behalf of the innocent unborn. Click HERE for information.

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Acts 20:35 

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Philippians 4:13 

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Luke 6:38 

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

I Cannot, But God Will

‘I cannot… but God will.’ (Genesis 41:16)

How eagerly our Cities4Life teams pray and labor on the sidewalks of the abortion center that it would close. We know God must move hearts in a big way to bring about this miracle. In the meantime, He sent a respite. 

Snow!

The snow shut down the abortion center. No babies died Wednesday. 

Instead, our southern, sun-drenched city was blanketed with a beautiful white covering. Magical transformation that made everything look pure, fresh, and clean. All my friends were posting pictures of the snow.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: 

though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 

though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool...

Isaiah 1:18

Every mother that was going to abort at that center Wednesday had time to ponder this tragic choice. God gave her a period of reflection, and a powerful symbol. Would she embrace God, turn from her rebellion and sin, let her sins be washed away by the blood of Jesus shed on her behalf, made clean and pure and white as snow?

Or would she continue to defy God and trample on His commands and His creation and reap the grief and despair He longs to spare her from?

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

My Bible study on the morning the beautiful snow began falling was the story of Joseph. He was thrown in jail following false accusations, but was retrieved from the jail by the Pharoah, who asked Joseph to interpret troubling dreams he had. Joseph immediately replies: “I cannot...but God will...”

Joseph knew where his strength, wisdom, and help came from. He knew when to rely on God and he was humble enough to give God all the glory. 

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful

messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

Proverbs 25:13

How I long for the abortion centers to close, mothers’ hearts to return

 to their children, and evil to cease as souls cry out to Jesus to be their Lord and savior. Hard as I try to bring this about,  I cannot. But God can...and will 

one day. I am His servant, rejoicing in the snow and the lives spared for a day.

God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.

Habakkuk 3:19

The Face of Evil

For the record, the dog in the photo is NOT the face of evil. He was the comfort after seeing the face of evil. Here’s the story.

Some days at the sidewalks of the abortion center are more emotional than others. I am never sure what will spark deep feelings. I suspect that I have subconsciously learned to keep the sense of unbearable grief at bay, but there are times that the sorrow of what is happening in the building just across a small expanse of grass and asphalt grips me like a vise.

The morning yesterday started happily enough. I woke early so I would have time to walk my granddog Ragnar a full hour before heading to the sidewalks of the abortion center. It was his last day with me for this visit. He was his usual delightful, exuberant self. We logged eight miles together the day before, and he was still raring to go for his morning jaunt. We only had enough time for three miles, but he knew when I returned from the sidewalks, we would conquer more miles. I love to walk just as much as he does.

So I was not feeling the weight of the horror of abortion when I arrived at the sidewalks. But suddenly, the cars started pouring in, and then disgorged woman after woman. The women lined up at the clinic door like “sheep being led to the slaughter”.  I called out to them till I was hoarse, not even noticing the rest of my team was there. They took over calling out.

But that wasn’t really what started the feeling of oppressive despair. It was only in part precipitated by the “pro-choice” escorts who show up each morning to encourage the woman NOT to stop and speak with us. In addition, they always try to distract us from calling out, and will engage in taunts and accusations designed to discourage and intimidate us. It doesn’t work. 

What it does do is make me feel a deep burden of sadness for those people. How can they find delight in thwarting the choice for life? How can they laugh at the death of innocent babies?

But it was not the usual bitter and angry “pro-choice” group that set off my deep sorrow. I didn’t even realize what it was till I started writing this blog and suddenly remembered what had started the cascade of grief that made me battle tears the first part of the morning. 

A man in a wheelchair who is a “pro-choice” protester sits in the driveway and tells the cars not to stop for us. Before the deluge of cars or any other “pro-choice” people had arrived,  I was all alone with him there, I said hello. I always try to be polite and kind. 

“Cold day,” I said.

“Yes,” he agreed, “A beautiful day for an abortion.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Speechless at first. He smiled and I could hardly bear the wickedness of that remark. It was like looking at the face of pure evil.

A beautiful day for an abortion???

Finally I said, “That makes me very sad that you would say or think such a thing.”

I turned away, and it was all I could do for the next hour not to cry. I still am fighting tears as I write this. What kind of twisted mind or calloused heart would ever find beauty in the violent, barbaric death of an innocent human baby? If it was a joke, who would joke about such a thing? And day after day, he shows up. He hears the Gospel which we share repeatedly while speaking to the women. He hears all the offers of help from Cities4Life counselors over and over again.  How could it NOT impact him? What hope is there for our society if people like him can turn such a blind eye to the suffering and tragedy of a million babies a year being slaughtered by their own parents’ consent?

Two mothers chose life. One took my literature on her way out and told me she was reconsidering. It certainly helped lift the blanket of grief that had nearly suffocated me the first hour.

And then I returned to Ragnar, who greeted me joyfully. He was eager to head off on walk number two. I was grateful for the diversion from the memory of the man who rejoiced over the death of the unborn.

If you want to be a voice for the voiceless and volunteer on the sidewalks alongside people who love life and value the sanctity of life, click HERE for information.

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Isaiah 5:20 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Proverbs 8:13 

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

How Will The Dream Survive if We Kill Our Children?

Ragnar, my beloved grand dog, is spending a couple of days with us. I took him on a long walk yesterday morning then left for four hours on the sidewalk of the abortion center, joining my Cities4Life team to encourage women to choose life over abortion. Following my time on the sidewalk, I took him on another long walk to the pet store.  The employees caught sight of him and swarmed around him. The groomers came to pet him as well, and his thick, continually shedding undercoat swirled off of him in clumps. They offered a free grooming session. Of course I agreed. They seemed to indicate they had never seen so much hair shed from one dog.

Click HERE to see Ragnar during his grooming make-over video.

Anyway, i wouldn’t have minded all of Ragnar’s thick fur as I stood on the sidewalk of the abortion center that morning. It was so cold! It is always colder there in the winter than any place else in Charlotte, as though the frozen hearts toward the innocent unborn contribute to the chill in the air. 

I had seen a wonderful pair of quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.’s neice, Alveda, in response to her uncle’s statements about the need to protect babies in the womb from mothers killing them for ease and convenience. I copied it and then read it  over the microphone at the abortion center. I hope this message was received and more than the one mom who chose life was impacted by the truth of these words.

“How can the dream survive if we kill the children?”

GREAT truth. No dream that is predicated on the belief that all humanity is equal and sacred will survive if we decide one portion of humanity, the unborn, is expendable. World wide, a full quarter of all pregnancies end in abortion.

“How can the dream survive if we kill the children?”

Then she also said, “Every aborted baby in the womb is a slave to his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.”

When I read this over the microphone,  I pointed out that before the legalization of abortion, no one thought of the baby in terms of a slave or a victim. She was a cherished child, loved, nurtured, protected. How had we become a nation killing a million unborn babies a year? Words poured out of me as they often do when I am on the microphone pleading for babies’ lives. I cannot hold them back. The awful impact of abortion on our culture overwhelms my spirit.

Words and grief over what we are doing to our babies flow out of me like Ragnar’s hair collecting in piles on the groomer’s floor.

Praise God that one woman we know of chose life, but so many other babies died. ..

...on the day we memorialized the man who said his dream for our nation could not survive if we kill the children.

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“Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children. Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭13:18-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Running Towards Danger

I took this artsy desert hiking photo a few minutes before I was certain my life was over. I was blissfully hiking all alone in the desert as I do each morning before spending the day with my folks. It was a cooler morning than the rest of the week had been with dark rain clouds gathering on the horizon. The sun jabbed holes in the cloud cover, so the lighting was eerie and beautiful. Not another creature was stirring for miles upon desolate miles all around me.

UNTIL......

I was about a quarter mile from my sister’s home when a chorus of very loud, very near coyote yips and howls shredded the silence. They sounded like they were right behind me. I could not see any, but it sounded like several animals and they were together and nearby. I have heard coyotes many times in the evenings in the desert. One will howl and another will answer from a distance. This was not like that. This was the sound of several coyotes together. I suspected they had cornered a prey judging from the frenzied chorus. 

I hoped I was not the prey.

I know better than to run from a prey-driven canine. It just encourages them to chase. However, I did not see the coyotes, so I prayed they did not see me and I took off as though my life depended on it. Frankly, that is how I felt: absolutely terror-stricken. People who live in the desert and encounter coyotes regularly may not have been afraid. I was terrified. One coyote I could handle with my walking stick as a weapon. I didn’t think I could take on a pack.

I sprinted as fast as I could go. 

The horrifiying howls intensified. My sister’s house was now in sight. I reached her gate and honestly felt like my heart would burst out of my chest if I didn’t stop running. Since I still did not see the coyotes, I slowed to a trot, sucking in huge gasps of oxygen. My chest hurt. I stumbled into her house.

Now my fear switched to the fact that my heart hurt and I was ready to keel over with a heart attack.  I looked out the window. A car had pulled in front of the house. A woman jumped out and ran down a path to the nearby desert wash towards the coyote howls. Was she crazy??? I figured she had lost a dog or some pet to the pack and was going in to rescue it.  

I didn’t see how the saga played out. My walk was over for the day. I went to shower. When I was done, the car, the woman, and the coyote howls were all gone.

Who runs towards danger? Who knows someone or something is about to die and throws all caution to the wind to rescue those who are perishing? Who risks certain death to save those who cannot save themselves?

I thought of this week when three abortion workers have called or texted to tell me they want OUT of the business. They are soul sick and weary. They wanted out but all felt trapped and powerless. Who could save them?

Jesus, fully man but also fully God, had the power to obliterate all those who clamored for His death. He could have called down lightning, floods, pestilence, or pointed a finger and zapped every one of His executioners. He could have told God He had no interest in paying the penalty for the sins of wretched humanity. He could have hopped off the cross at any moment and refused to die a gruesome death for people who not only were not worthy but were actively working to destroy Him in the midst of His incomprehensible sacrifice.

But He stayed on the cross, he endured the torment, He willingly faced death to save those who could not save themselves. This is what I shared with the abortion workers. They could leave. They could be forgiven. They could find a place of eternal safety.

By His wounds, we are healed.

I pray the same is true of the woman’s dog.

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1 John 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.