Just a Job

As I stood on the sidewalk in front of the abortion center, a nice car pulled in to the parking lot. A woman dressed in scrubs got out. The man waved as she walked in the side door where the workers enter. I called out to her, offering help from Abby Johnson’s ministry who helps abortion workers find other work as well as healing from what they do and see in assisting with abortions.

The woman ignored me and the man drove slowly back out the driveway. He stopped as I waved and begged him to take my information. He rolled down his window.

“Listen,” he said, “We don’t believe in this. It is just a job.”

Let those words sink in.

In an abortion, a living human baby is either poisoned medically which cuts off nutrition and oxygen, or is surgically dismembered limb by limb without anesthesia. In later term abortions, the child will first receive an excruciatingly painful shot in the heart before the dismemberment and skull crushing. All. While. Alive.

Just a job.

I offered him a card from Abortionworker.com and urged him to have the woman call Abby Johnson. 

“Her salary is paid by the blood of babies,” I said. “This ministry will help her leave.”

He took the card and drove away.

************

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Matthew 6:24

How to Escape the Threatening Snare

I was on my kayak when I heard a man from shore desperately calling for help to his wife who was on a kayak just a few feet away from me.

“Help, come quick, come quick! The dog is hooked on a fishing hook!“

The wife frantically paddled to shore.  I called out “I have a scissors in my kayaK If you think that would help!”

The wife told me that whatever I had might be of use and to please come.

The man had the dog cradled against his leg and was panicked, trying to push the hook either through the skin one way or pull it out. He was having no success. The barb had dug into the dog’s skin and would not come out.

The woman tried to help hold the dog and make a suggestion. The man snapped at her.

“Just move away!“ he barked.

Quietly, she stepped back. And then in a gentle voice she said, “I know you’re frustrated but I’m only trying to help. Please don’t snap at me.“

With sweat pouring down his face, the man continued working to dislodge the hook. I told him about my scissors. He said he just didn’t know how they would be of use. He was angry when I spoke again, shushing me, but I knew I had an idea that would be useful, so I soldiered on. 

“Maybe use the scissors just to cut the fishing line away,“ I said, “That might make things easier for you to manipulate the hook.“

I handed the scissors to the wife who tried unsuccessfully to cut the line. Again the frustrated and frazzled man snapped at her and snatched the scissors from her hand.

Once more, in a quiet voice she told him, “I know you’re frustrated, but don’t take it out on me.”

Red-faced but silent, the man cut the line.

The sweet dog was trembling and every so often would groan with pain but never made any attempt to nip at the man or get away. He knew the man was trying to help. He would endure whatever was necessary from his master to be freed from the snare.

 I was silently praying that God would help the situation. Suddenly the man cried out, “Dear Jesus, I can’t do this! Please help!”

Instantly, and miraculously, the hook came out. The dog was freed, and the man yelped with joy. The woman smiled at me, handing back my scissors.

“A miracle!“ I said, “I was praying too!“

The couple smiled at me and said they thought I was.

“As soon as I asked Jesus for help,“ the man said, “did you see how the hook came out?“

“I did,“ I said, “God is so good.“

“All the time,“ the couple said in unison.

The dog swam happily in the water behind their kayaks.  I headed off on my own kayak. I thought about the many reminders and visual images of important truths that God had shown me in that incident.

He showed me that sometimes in frustration we lash out and harm those closest to us because we’re desperate and powerless and we don’t know what to do. However, when we turn to our Master with complete trust and faith as the dog did, we are ultimately freed from the snares that entangle us.

And I was encouraged that when we are helpless and we call out to Jesus, He intercedes.

God is good all the time.                

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12

  

A Divine Appointment At the Dentist Office

I went to my dentist appointment with deep anxiety. I have an exposed root and the cleanings are always painful. I hate going. I never know when it is going to happen...but it always does. Sudden stabs of electric pain that make me levitate from the chair. 

Anyway, i took Tylenol and headed there with heart pounding. Resigned to my fate. To top off my anxiety, my regular hygienist who at least knows me and has seen me for years and is as gentle as possible is no longer there. Me and my painful teeth were to be subjected to a new hygienist. 

When I saw her, my spirits drooped even more. She was young...a mere child. How could she have any experience with terrible painful, fearful patients like me???? I settled in the chair, heart palpitations surely en route to a heart attack. 

She asked if there were any new medical issues since my last dental visit.

“Yes,” I said hoarsely, “I have strained vocal cords.”

“Are you a singer?”she asked.

I almost lied to avoid the inevitable discussion. However, God never gives me a pass.

“No...I am a sidewalk counselor in front of an abortion center.”

She paused laying out the tools of torment on the tray.

Silence. 

I get that response often. I soldiered on.

“I call out to women as they enter the abortion center. We offer them the hope of God and tangible resources to help them. I have to speak loudly or they won’t hear. You’d be surprised how many are conflicted and respond to our pleas.”

“How long have you done this?”she asked me.

“Seven years. I feel I am called by God to be a voice for the voiceless...but now I have no voice.”

She wore a mask, as all health care workers do now in this age of Covid-19. However, I could see her eyes, and they were filled with tears.

“What will you do?”she asked, wiping her eyes.

“I train others to call out,” I said, “Sometimes I whisper to them what they should say and they call out for me. I start vocal therapy next week. I am hoping I will get my voice back. It is a great ministry. Almost every day, we see at least one baby saved.”

Now the young lady removed her mask so she could blow her nose in earnest and wipe her tears. She didn’t say much but I knew she loved God. Sometimes you can just tell. I was still terrified as she began scraping at my teeth, but there was a sense of peace on the edge of my panic. What will be, will be. I will get through the pain and in an hour it will be done, I told myself.

I asked a few questions about her life, and soon was completely certain this sweet young lady knew the Lord. Minutes ticked by. I could not believe it when she finished scraping and polishing. 

“All done,” she said, smiling.

I had not experienced even one second of painful twinge.

I thanked her and told her I had never had a dental cleaning without pain.

“I am called by God, too,” she told me, “to this work.”

I had not expected in a million years to see Jesus or to be blessed by a dentist appointment. God is always surprising me.

Resurrection Sunday and Reflections of a Grateful Near Abortive Mom

I was resting my strained vocal cords when I got a call yesterday from a woman who had gone Saturday to abort. She stopped for two of our Cities4Life  counselors and spoke a long time with them. She still went in to the abortion center because she was overwhelmed and being coerced to abort by the baby’s father. 

However, she heard God speaking in her spirit, “Keep your baby! Keep your baby!” She left the abortion center. As she drove home, she called her pastor who lovingly but firmly told her abortion was wrong, and she had chosen the only course someone who claims to love the Lord should choose. He prayed with her and she submitted her life to Jesus. 

She was calling me just to thank us for being there. She wanted nothing more than to express her gratitude for helping her choose what she knew all along she should choose. However,  I shared the vast resources of ministries who partner with us and provide help. In fact, by the time I finished, my strained vocal cords could do no more. My voice was almost gone. 

She was incredulous by the deluge of help offered.

“What will this cost me?”she asked.

“It is free. All free. Loving Christians donate their time and money to make this possible. Even if they did not, a mother killing her own child is always wrong, however, we know the obstacles you face feel insurmountable, and we are here to help.”

This is such a beautiful story to dwell upon on Resurrection Sunday. Jesus died to pay the full penalty for sin we deserved. He rose from the grave, securing the victory once and for all over sin and death.

What will this cost me?

It is free. All free. 

But...

If Jesus is Lord, you will follow Him wholeheartedly, doing what He says in gratitude and love for all He has done for you.

Happy Resurrection Sunday.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

This is Not My America

Yesterday, 8 people praying and walking while maintaining social distancing were arrested in Charlotte. I was there. I saw a line up of 12 police cars on the street in front of the abortion center. It looked like a mass murder had just gone down. It had, in fact. At least 17 babies were slaughtered in that abortion center. 

However, the police officers were not there to arrest the ones that had murdered those little humans. The police were not there to arrest the women lining up in front of the abortion center, all within inches of each other. The police were not there to arrest the facility personnel  that packed them in like sardines as they entered the front room, with no screening, no temperature taking, none of the CDC precautions designated for “medical facilities.” 

The police were arresting peaceful, praying citizens on the street, walking and maintaining the required social distance.

Police arresting founder of Cities4Life nonprofit charitable ministry helping vulnerable people.

After my time on the sidewalk, legally there as part of an exempt nonprofit charitable organization offering hope and help and resources to vulnerable people, I went on a bike ride on a local greenway. The parking lot was PACKED. Every place taken. I passed well over a hundred people on the greenway, many in clumps, clearly not abiding by social distancing. I did not see a single police officer. Not a single arrest. Not a single citation.

During my time in front of the abortion center, our counselors with the help of the prayer walkers helped two women to come aboard Help Monroe Pregnancy Center mobile ultrasound unit. Using all the CDC recommended precautions, we counseled those women. Both were abortion minded. Both felt hopeless and trapped. Both chose life when the vast array of help and resources were offered and when they saw their precious child’s beating heart. The couple I counseled both submitted their lives to Jesus right there on the RV after hearing the Gospel. They wrote to the prayer walker who had led them to our RV and asked her if she would take them to church when this pandemic restrictions are lifted.

These are the people the police are targeting for arrest.

The basic behavior is the same as those on the Greenway. People out in the fresh air, staying far apart, walking. But in one case, they are pro-life and praying, and deterring women from abortion with offers of hope and help. They were told to go home or face arrest. It is the message of life that is being squelched. And that is the America we will return to when all this is over. It is an America I do not recognize and my heart is broken.

We cannot let this stand. Peacefully, prayerfully, and respectfully, this has to be challenged.

Psalm 43:1

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

When Our Nearest of Kin Want to Kill Us

Please pray for our Charlotte Cities4Life teams. The abortion center is open, using medical equipment such as masks that are in short supply. Meanwhile those noble healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 who are treating patients to try to PREVENT death are at risk themselves from mask shortages. 

The abortion centers which provide (at enormous self-profit) elective killing of thousands of babies a day are open in our nation. The rest of us have been told to shelter at home, avoid gatherings, only go out for essential purposes, cancel all non-essential medical interventions/visits. Small businesses are closing their doors per the CDC and state requirements. Many will be closed permanently in the wake of the economic devastation. 

But the multi-million dollar for profit abortion centers are open for business as usual.

I myself have strained vocal cords. I have self-diagnosed with the help of a friend who is a speech therapist and is fairly certain I have nodules on my vocal cords, judging from the symptoms. I won’t go see a doctor until the overwhelmed hospitals and health care workers are no longer dealing with the pandemic.

Nonetheless, at least forty abortion-minded mothers and workers gathered yesterday at the abortion center where our sidewalk counselors minister. This large group collected in a small building. Against the CDC request of no gathering greater than ten, and no non-essential surgeries.

Yesterday in the cold, pouring rain, our team gave out several of our life-saving/Gospel focused literature. We offered help, hope, truth, and resources so they could make a choice other than abortion. We spoke to every woman entering that place. We begged them to turn to faith in God and not to fear. We did not stand aloof from the plight of the babies while their nearest kin plotted their death. 

One woman chose life. We rejoice in her choice, and pray she did not contract coronavirus while in the midst of that tightly packed group inside the building.

Please pray for Cities4Life teams as we are committed to being there as long as that evil place is open. If you are moved to contact your legislators and demand that the non-essential practice of abortion cease in the midst of this pandemic, please do so. Better yet, remind them that the inhumane, barbaric, evil practice of the killing of unborn children should be legally prohibited forever. The last people any of us should fear are our closest of kin...our own parents.

https://charlotte.cities4life.org/donate/

By God’s Grace People Can Change

God always speaks to the sorrows of my heart. This morning I was reflecting on how hopeless situations can appear, but God promises that He is able to restore anyone to Himself if that person is willing. I wait, as I am sure many of you do, for restoration in situations that seem impossible. If the wait is prolonged, as it often is, the sense of futility can dampen the fire of joy. 

And then the Holy Spirit speaks through the Word of God and hope flames again.

My bible study this morning was about Jacob’s sons in the midst of famine returning to Egypt for grain. Unbeknownst to them, their brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery twenty years ago, is now second in command to Pharoah. He is a powerful man who has single-handedly with the spirit of God engineered stockpiling food to save many people during the long famine. If you are unfamiliar with the story, it is an amazing story of God using evil actions to bring about good. That is a powerful and central message of the story but a different side-message gave me enormous comfort today.

Judah, the oldest son who had been responsible for selling Joseph to slave traders out of jealousy and evil selfishness has been entrusted with the safety of the youngest brother Benjamin. Jacob, the father of the sons, had been lied to by his sons all those years ago who claimed his favored son Joseph was dead. He believes that Benjamin is the only remaining child of his late wife Rachel, whom he dearly loved. 

The sons do not recognize Joseph as they follow his orders to return to Egypt with Benjamin if they want more grain. Jacob is bereft, but knows they will die of starvation if he does not do as Pharoah’s right-hand man has asked.  When Joseph sees them return with Benjamin, he tests them and sets up a “sting”operation. He plants his valuable silver in Benjamin’s sack and sends them home with grain. Then he deploys his soldiers to confront the brothers of theft. They find the silver in Benjamin’s sack and return to Egypt. Joseph says they may go on their way home, but Benjamin, the apparent thief, will remain a slave in Egypt.

Judah, the once traitorous brother who had sold Joseph into slavery, now speaks some of the most transformative words of the Bible: “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me—for fear that I see the evil that would overtake my father?””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭44:33-34‬ ‭

Judah has recognized his past evil, repented of it, and shown the complete change of character in now offering his life in place of Benjamin’s. I reread that passage, filled with hope. When God gets a hold of our spirit, miraculous change is possible. Our past does not need to determine who we will become.This is true of me, my family...and you. God meets all of us where we are, but does not intend for us to remain there.

It took twenty years for this transformation to occur in Judah. Joseph was busy following the Lord and living a life dedicated to God during that time. He did not apparently wallow in despair for being sold as a slave nor for being tossed unjustly for a period of time in prison. He seemed to always trust God and thrive in whatever situation he was placed. And in the end, he was rewarded with the relationship with his brothers restored and the joy of seeing his old father again before he died. His family was reunited and saved...after twenty long years of separation.

Sometimes the waiting is very hard, but we know that God’s timing is always perfect and always for the purpose of glorifying Him and expanding His kingdom. At times I am like Joseph, waiting for something for years with no apparent resolution likely. Other times, I am like Judah, slowly being transformed into the likeness of my savior despite the evil choices of my past. Either way, God’s grace and mercy is at work, even when He appears to be silent and distant. That famine in our soul will end if we are in Him. Restoration and healing is possible in the worst situations.

Where are you?

This is the year 2020...a year of perfect sight. A year when we will see all we need to see with perfect clarity. A year when our vision will need no correction. Uh...probably not. 

However that is what I strive for. To see God more clearly. For God to be SEEN more clearly in me. 2020 seems like a good year for that to take place. I begin the New Year as I begin every New Year, every new day. Reading my Bible. 

I always read the Bible cover to cover each year. To be sure I am on track I follow a read the Bible in a year plan. I change up which plan I use each year, but I have done this for as long as I can remember since becoming a Christian 33 years ago. What is most astonishing is that each year, it is a fresh book, with new insights, new lessons, new truths I newly apply. I don’t know how God does that.

This year, I started back at Genesis a few days ago. I had never taken serious note of the first question God is recorded asking of any human. Nor had I contemplated the profound and far-reaching implications of that question.

Adam and Eve had sinned, eating of the fruit that God had strictly forbidden. They instantly felt shame, covered their nakedness, and hid from God.  God is walking in the Garden of Eden, and this startling discussion begins.

“Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭

Where are you? This is God speaking. God knows everything. He knows exactly where Adam is. He knows where the furthest star in the furthest galaxy is since He placed it there. Why would He ask Adam, “Where are you?”

The more I pondered this, the more convicted I became that this was the pivotal question for me this New Year. Maybe the pivotal question to ALL of us. Where are we? Are we like Adam, hiding from God trying to cover a sin He obviously knows all about? Are we dressing ourselves in our cleverly designed clothes to try to present ourselves in a way that passes as decent, as acceptable...when the reality is we are covering the naked horror of transgression against our Creator?

Where are you? God ALWAYS has a reason for everything He does or says. He asked that question for a purpose, but I don’t believe it was because He was unaware of Adam’s hiding place. I think it is an opportunity for Adam to come clean. To confess. To repent. To turn in humble sorrow for his sin before the Lord and lay it at His feet, longing for restoration. 

But that is not what Adam does. Instead, he absolves himself of all responsibility or culpability for his sin, and blames God and Eve.

“The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭

No confession, no repentance, no humble sorrow, no longing for restoration. A sniveling attempt to wiggle out of the truth of what he has done.

I have NEVER done that.  (Sarcasm alert for the careless reader.) 

Have you? 

I think there is a second reason God asks that question. Not because God doesn’t know where Adam is, but because Adam doesn't know. Adam seems oblivious to the magnitude of what he is doing. Hiding from God??? He KNOWS who God is...he should also know he is as capable of hiding from God as a three-toed sloth is of winning the Boston Marathon. And this is the terrifying nature of sin. We lose perspective of who God is and where we are in relationship to Him.

I had the privilege of standing on the sidewalks of the abortion center yesterday, still open the day before this new year. I spoke over the microphone to the women streaming into the abortion center to kill their unborn sons and daughters. This is the question I asked them. 

Where are you? 

It is the question I ask myself this new year as well. It is a very important question.

Where are you? Where are you in relationship to God? Are you hiding something from Him? He sees you. He sees whatever you are trying to shield from His sight. And He offers a chance at redemption. We will fail at times, as Adam did. We will sin, and then try to rationalize why we did. But God provides a way back to Him. In His perfect justice, He requires that there be a penalty for transgression. That penalty must be paid, or God is not JUST. Banned from God’s presence for eternity because of our sin, all is not lost. He loves us and doesn't want us cast from His presence forever. The Bible says God desires that none should perish, but that All should come to repentance. God requires that we confess our sins and turn from the path of destruction, And rather than us bearing the staggering penalty for sin, Jesus bears it for us in His atoning sacrificial death on the cross. 

He gives us another chance when He asks, “Where are you?” If we are submitting our lives to Jesus, turning from our sin, accepting what He has done on our behalf, humbly in faith trusting Him despite all the sin and shame of who we have been, He tells us exactly where we are. We are at the foot of the cross with our eyes on Him. We are safe. He is with us, and we are with Him.

That is my prayer for you in this Happy New Year.

For the Joy Set Before Him

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:1-2‬ ‭NASB‬‬

These verses are among my favorites. I have read them countless times. However, today as I was doing my morning devotional, I read this verse and it stopped me in my tracks. 

Fot the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross....

What joy? The cross was a horrific, agonizing, brutal way to die. After the cross as the weight of the world’s sin fell upon Him, He staggered under the unspeakable rift He felt being forsaken from the Father with whom He had never had anything but perfect communion.

Joy?

The joy is you...me...all of us who were set free from the penalty for sin. The joy is for us, that we have been washed clean by His sacrifice, by His atoning blood. The joy is for us that we have been redeemed and reclaimed to a right relationship with God. He endured the cross for the joy of saving US.

Praise God.

The Prodigal at an Abortion Center

I often get calls from abortion minded moms as a Cities4Life counselor. Our teams are on the sidewalks of the Charlotte abortion centers every day they are open. Contrary to what many people think, many of those moms are conflicted and even praying God would place someone in their path to stop them!  I put my name and phone number on the literature we hand out. Sometimes, moms call me months later. Yesterday, one such call came through. It was  God-ordained on so many levels.

I had spent the morning watching a YouTube video about rationally presenting the case for protecting the unborn. Much of the material was familiar to me, and I use many of the suggested arguments already in my work as a prolife counselor. Nonetheless, when the video showed aborted fetuses, I crumpled in a mass of ugly tears and gulping sobs, remembering my own abortion forty years ago. I was consumed with sorrow. I had done that to my own child. How could I have been so foolish, so evil?

Shortly after the video ended, I received a text message. It was from a mom I had apparently counseled many months ago. She had stopped communicating to us and we assumed she had aborted. Now, she told me that she had miscarried, and was so distraught and depressed that she stopped texting all of us who were trying to help her. She was pregnant once more, but determined she would never consider abortion again. However, she needed help.

I told her of course we could offer help and asked her if she wanted me to call her. She did. I was in the middle of a boatload of work, but I felt God whisper, “Talk to her. Now.” I called her immediately.

One of the instantly apparent issues was that this poor woman, L, was feeling immense sorrow and guilt over the miscarriage. She wondered if she was being punished for considering abortion. I told her that no matter what, we would connect her with people who could help with her current pregnancy, but would she allow me to talk with her about God? I felt she carried an enormous burden of grief, and I believed I could help her. (Not really I, but God could...)

She agreed. 

I shared my own history of abortion and atheism. Then I told her that very day, I had been crying about what I had done to my child. I said the consequence of abortion may not be removed, but that healing was possible with God. Then I shared my journey of faith, and the Gospel. She interrupted several times with excellent questions.

“How could a merciful God take my child’s life after I decided NOT to abort??”

“Was my sin the cause of my child’s death in miscarriage?”

“Why would God bring so much suffering when I had tried to turn back to Him?”

Over the next two hours, I shared the truth of the Gospel. I talked about Job, and his questions that mirrored her own. I shared the suffering that Jesus endured to pay the penalty that we deserved. I told her about how we all sin, how God is a God of justice and has no choice but to demand a penalty for sin, and how justice kisses mercy at the cross. I explained how we all have a choice to accept or deny God’s incredible merciful offer to pay the penalty for sin we owe.

“But how could God want me back?”she said, crying. I knew how she felt. I had felt it myself.

So then, I shared the story of the prodigal son. I told her how Jesus tells a parable of a father who lets his profligate son leave home with his inheritance. I described the wayward, rebellious boy wasting his father’s money on women, food, and wine. And when the son had nothing left, he realized with abject despair that he had no hope. His only hope at survival was to return to his father. So he headed back home. The father saw him from afar, and ignoring the dignity of his position and the custom of his people, he RAN to greet his son. (By now I was crying, as I pictured the father running to his son...) He called his servants to prepare a feast. His son who was lost now was found. And the father ran as fast as he could to embrace the son who had returned to him.

“That is how God welcomes you back,” I said. 

Both of us were sobbing now. She said she was ready. She wanted to give her life to her Heavenly Father.  As she prayed out loud to receive Jesus as her Lord, I don’t know which of us was more joyful.

“I have wanted to do this for such a long time,” she said, while weeping.

******

Luke 15:32
“But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, 

and was lost and has been found.'"

Sadness and Killing Averted

An old man stopped his car to talk to me as I was pacing up the street from the Abortion center. Our Cities4Life team was spread out along the street, offering hope and help to abortion minded women.  I often stand on the side of the road offering our help and information to women on the way to the abortion center. I sometimes have great discussions with passerby’s who want to chat about why we do what we do. Sometimes those discussions are confrontational. Often they are from people who support what we are doing, speaking for the unborn at that last-ditch place.

The man rolled down his window and told me he was against abortion. However, he worried very much for our safety in this terrible world. He feared there were people who would oppose us in harmful ways.

“Thank you so much for your concern,” I told him, “However, I trust that since God has called me here, He will protect me. And if He doesn’t, He has a reason and purpose in that as well.”

“May I ask you something?”he asked.

“Sure.”

“When God doesn’t answer your prayers, when you can’t hear Him, what does that mean?”

“That is a great question,” I said, “And one that I suspect most people ask. Here is what I believe. I think God is always speaking but sometimes we miss it. For example, the Bible says all creation declares the glory of God. Just looking out the window when you wake up and seeing the beautiful colors, and taking a breath...I think all those are reminders that God is declaring His glory to you. But if you open your Bible, He is speaking very clearly on many things. Sometimes you can find your answer there. 

“Or maybe His answer is one you are not ready to understand. Like in the book of Job, Job asks God why he is suffering so terribly and the wicked prosper. God doesn’t answer why. Not directly. Instead, He reveals Himself to Job and describes many things God can do that Job cannot. In the end, Job says I had heard of you but now I see you. Your ways are too marvelous for me to understand, and I repent in dust and ashes. Sometimes we have to just trust that God is working and He knows best. He created the universe and loves us deeply. His ways are not our ways, but they are always best.”

His eyes were red. He seemed to hang on my every word.

“I suspect there is a heavy burden you carry,” I said, “And your prayer is going seemingly unanswered.”

“Well see...now can I ask you something else? No one loves me except my wife. I have a hard time trusting that God would love me.”

“Do you know Jesus as your Lord?” I asked.

“Oh yes.”

“Well, I don’t know about all the others in your life... whether they love you or not. But I do know God loves you immeasurably. The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That means before you ever submitted your life to Jesus, He was willing to die a gruesome death on the cross to pay the penalty for sin you deserved. He saw you completely. Unlike all the people in your life, He saw every ugly thought, every sin. He knows everything about you. And He was still willing to die for you. THAT is love...unfathomable love.”

He grew teary-eyed as I spoke. Then he grasped my hand tightly. 

“May I make one more request? Will you pray for me this week?”

I told him I would pray for him for this week and beyond. “But please understand that you can do nothing to earn God’s love. He already loves you, from the moment of creation.  The Bible says: It is by faith not works that we are saved, lest any man should boast.” There is nothing you can do to lose His love either. The Bible says you are engraved on the very hands of God and that nothing can separate you from the love of God!

“You are made in the image of  our Holy God and even now, at your age, He has a divine plan and purpose for your life. He will help you to understand and know what that is. If you have truly repented of your sins, submitted your life to Jesus, believed He died to pay the penalty for sin that you deserved, you have the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit will guide and lead you. He will help you understand all you need to know. Mostly, He will help you to believe you are loved, absolutely loved by God.”

Then I asked if I could pray for him right now. He nodded and closed his eyes. I prayed mostly that God would truly reveal to this poor man how deeply loved he is. When I finished, the man squeezed my hand and thanked me. “This was a divine meeting,” he said softly.

Right after he drove away, a young couple stopped their car beside me. They were on their way to abort. I talked with them a long time. Much of our discussion centered on the Gospel, who God is and what He would have them do. Finally, they said they would leave and think over what I had said. To my surprise, they did. And they did not return. 

The abortionist arrived and the deadly slaughter began. I stayed long enough to be certain the young couple had truly had a change of heart and missed their appointment with death. The baby was safe, at least for today.

The full parking lot slowly disgorged women with sad faces. They averted their eyes as we tried to hand them healing literature for post-abortive women.

One would think my heart would be filled with angst, but it wasn’t. It was filled with hope and worship for the Lord that had allowed me to comfort a hurting old man with the Gospel, and one young couple who recognized that killing their baby was not what He would have them do.

“I’m good....” As She Drives into Abortion Center

“Please let us help you...”

“Oh, it’s ok. I’m good.”

She smiles weakly, and then drives into the abortion center determined to kill her baby.

I have had this conversation a thousand times or so in the past six years on the sidewalk in front of the southeast’s busiest abortion center. 

Today, I perused an article in The NY Times about elderly people traveling to Peruvian jungles to take part in ayahuasca healing ceremonies. Ayahuasca is a psychedelic drug that causes hallucinations, vomiting, and diarrhea. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? The kind of healing we all can sink our soul into.

Apparently, it is touted as bringing about momentous healing to one’s tortured soul. One person in the article is described as saying after she took the hallucinogen, her soul told her it had been trying to talk to her a long time to say, “I’m okay.”

The increasing numbers of elderly people engaging in these healing ceremonies are described as seeking to find their purpose in life. The hallucinations, vomiting, and diarrhea apparently lead them to find it.

“Do you know the Lord?” I asked the woman who stopped to talk to me outside the abortion center yesterday.

“Of course,” she said.

“Would He have you abort your baby?”

She opened her mouth...but then closed it. With reluctance, she admitted He would not, shaking her head slowly.

“Please, let us help you. Let me talk to you about your situation and resources that can help. Let me show you your baby on the ultrasound before you make this life or death decision.”

“Oh it’s ok. I’m good...”

“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD. Thus says the LORD, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭6:14-16‬ ‭

Pausing in the Face of Fear

A mother recently chose life at the abortion center, but she was as determined as anyone I have met to kill her child when I first encountered her. She stopped her car and looked at me, giving me an opportunity to speak. I think she was a little bit lost and was hoping I would direct her. 

I DID direct her…to Jesus rather than the abortion clinic.

Her window opened just the teeniest crack.

“Are you headed to the women’s center?” I asked.

“Yes…is this where it is?”

“We have information that can help you. Would you take it? We have so many resources including a free ultrasound on the RV parked just down the street.”

She shook her head and didn’t open the window any further.

“I CANNOT have this baby.”

I saw the tiniest tear creep out of the corner of one eye.

“You really don’t want to abort, do you? Do you know how far along you are?”

“I think eleven weeks.”

I opened my booklet and showed her the photo of an 11-week baby in the womb. “By now your baby has a heart beat, brain waves, ten fingers and ten toes, unique finger prints, every organ in place. What is your situation that makes you feel you have to abort?”

The window rolled down a crack further.

“I can’t have this baby. I can barely provide for the one I have.”

“Do you love that child at home?”

She nodded.

“Would you send that child back? Listen, I don’t know the specifics of what you face, but I know we can help. For example, we provide baby showers that give up to two years of the clothes and supplies your baby will need. We have so many other resources we can point you to. Please, take my booklet. My name and number are on it so you can contact me at any time, no matter what you decide.”

The window rolled down a little more. She reached for the booklet. I slipped it in to her.

“Do you know God?”

Now the tears began to cascade.

“What would He have you do?” I asked.

She cried out as though in pain, and slammed her fist down in a torrent of tears. Her shoulders shook with her cries. I think she knew exactly what Jesus would have her do…and abortion was not it.

“Oh honey,” I said, “would you consider coming on the RV and let’s talk about how we can help you?”

She lifted her head and looked down the street at our Cities4Life team stretched along the sidewalk.

“Are those protesters? I don’t want them to pressure me. They cannot talk to me at all!”

“They are with me. They are not protesters, they are offering hope and help. But they won’t talk to you.”

Honestly, I didn’t know how I could guarantee that. They are a friendly, loving group. They often offer help and encouragement to the moms who approach us. How could I telegraph to them this mom didn’t want them to come near?

“Drive down and park behind the RV,” I said. “I’ll meet you there.”

She nodded, rolled the window back up, and drove down the street. As I jogged behind her, I prayed she did not turn instead into the abortion center. She didn’t. She parked behind the RV. Our team, sensing the situation, didn’t speak to her. They smiled, but then continued reaching out to other moms entering the center. I am convinced the Holy Spirit guided all of them in that perfect response.

I walked the woman (who I will call Sarah) into the RV where the HELP Pregnancy Center sonographer, Kelly, met us. Kelly set up for the ultrasound while I talked with Sarah about her situation. As she listed her concerns, I wrote each one down. I then explained how we could help in each area. A friend who was meeting her at the abortion center arrived. That friend was visibly pregnant. In fact, she told us she had come to abort her baby just a few months ago at this very place. In the end, she changed her mind but didn’t tell any of us on the sidewalk. 

“I am so glad I didn’t abort,” she said.

I offered her the same resources we now offered Sarah. Then we went to see Sarah’s baby on the mobile ultrasound. When the baby’s image appeared on the screen, Sarah’s mouth fell open and she cried out in a voice filled with wonder. “I thought it was just a clump of cells! Oh my. This is really real. Oh my.”

She continued to gasp in shock and delight as the little baby moved and stretched. I knew at that point there was little doubt the baby was safe now. His mama had seen him for what he was — her child. A precious tiny vulnerable human whom God had perfectly designed Sarah to protect.

When I walked her to her car, she stopped before getting in. “Thank you so much. I feel so much better. And I feel humbled. I learned that I should not be in such a rush. I need to think more before I take action.”

“You were in a crisis and let fear take over,” I said.

“Yes.”

“Fear is a nasty liar. A life and death decision should never be made on the basis of fear. Trust God to guide you instead.”

*****

Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

*****

God Meant it For Good

Our city council recently passed a buffer quiet zone ordinance prohibiting amplified sound within 150 feet of medical facilities, schools, and churches. It was all a big smokescreen to prevent amplified sound from being used in front of the three local abortion centers. One of the brave city council members who voted against it was quite vocal in saying this was the case. He saw it as a sneaky subterfuge to silence the first amendment rights of the peaceful pro-life group offering hope and help in front of the abortion centers. Our presence affects their profit margin. I’m pretty sure they don’t like that at all.

Despite a huge outcry from the pro-life community, the ordinance passed and went into effect Monday, October 1.  For the ordinance to be applied, the facilities are required to post a sign declaring themselves a quiet zone. As far as I know, not a single school, church, hospital, or legitimate health care facility posted such a sign. Only the abortion centers. Notice the photograph of the professional sign posted at the “health center” where 20-50 babies lose their lives every day but Sunday. You would think with the millions they make off of the extermination of little people that they would spring for a professionally produced sign, but they probably need to save their money for all their “health” promotion.

Of course, the ‘pro-choice’ side was gleeful. As the women streamed in for abortions, the ‘pro-choice’ escorts went on, business as usual. They approached the cars with amplified music blaring under umbrellas they carry to block us. They smiled at the young man who blasted his car radio to drown us out as we called out with our un-amplified voices to offer baby showers and myriad resources, free ultrasounds, free mentorship programs, the truth of fetal development, and the clear Biblical truth regarding sanctity of life.

Fortunately, our director is well versed on the ordinance and our rights. He summoned the police. After they examined the ordinance and likely consulted with superiors, the car owner was told to shut off his blasting car radio. The umbrella ladies were told to silence their music. We had a clear quiet zone to call out to the women who have been deceived into believing abortion will solve anything or that taking an innocent baby’s life is a valid answer to struggles.

At the end of the day, a woman who was meeting a friend was cutting through the parking lot. She approached me immediately as I called out to her. She was not there for an abortion but was just cutting through from a neighborhood behind the center. As soon as I told her what we were there for, her eyes teared. I immediately knew she had an abortion in her past. When I asked, she began crying in earnest and I urged her to come to a quiet place across the street to talk with me. She told me a terrible tale of rape that led her to abort. And then she broke down. The abortion had not healed the trauma but in fact, had made it worse. She was filled with remorse, self-revulsion, suicidal despair, and deep shame. She knew God, but she did not know how she could be forgiven.

Out of my own past and sorrow, God had brought me to a place where I could minister to this grieving woman. After five years of suffering from what she had done,  now she listened as I shared the truth of the Gospel. I didn’t sugarcoat abortion. There is no healing if terrible sin is not recognized for what it is. She knew that. I spoke of sin, repentance, confession which leads to forgiveness through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, and upon following that process, the creator of the universe would love and heal her. Her tears flowed and then she threw her arms around me and thanked me. I gave her a list of abortion recovery programs in our area, as well as my name and number. “Call me anytime if you want to talk.”

No blaring music trying to cover up the horror and sin of abortion ever healed her soul.  “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30:15‬ ‭

Praise God for that quiet zone.

********

If you are interested in joining us in speaking for life on the sidewalks of the abortion center, please click on the following links:

https://charlotte.cities4life.org/take-action/volunteer/

https://charlotte.cities4life.org/donate/

Witnessing to Robo-Callers

The phone rings as I’m driving. I answer it. I can tell right away it’s a salesman because of the long pause. As soon as he says hello, this is So-and-so from so-and-so company, I said “I am so glad you called! Is Jesus your Lord and Savior?“

“Well yes ma’am, he is.“

“That is fantastic! What do you think it means for Jesus to be Lord?“

“Savior?“

“ Yes. And if he is Lord and your Savior, what does that mean to you?“

Silence.

“For example, if money was Lord of your life, would you do anything for money?“

“Well I assure you, it is not.“

“Well that’s good, but if it was, would you do anything to get money?“

“Well yes, I guess I would then.“

“ So if Jesus is Lord of your life, would you do anything that Jesus asks of you?“

“Yes.“

“Fantastic! So I volunteer on the sidewalks of abortion centers and you know that most of the women there claim that Jesus is Lord while they’re about to abort their baby. What do you think of that?“

“Well that’s a touchy subject for me. I believe they have a right to do that and I don’t really wanna get into it.“

“But if Jesus is Lord we do what he says, right? Is it OK to take that innocent human being’s life?“

“This is a really touchy subject. I don’t want to discuss it.“

“Well if it’s a touchy subject for you and you are claiming Jesus is Lord, I would strongly encourage you to examine why it is a touchy subject and what Jesus would have you do.“

“I see where you’re coming from. I hope you have a blessed day and thank you for taking this call.“

“Yes thank you for talking to me.“

Click.

I am loving my new ministry of witnessing to Robo callers.

In Our Hour of Desolation

Today my bible reading was about Jesus feeding the 4,000 with just seven loaves and a few small fish. It is a miracle, of course, but I noticed things in that passage I had never focused on before. For the past two weeks, I have been counseling a scared, pregnant young teen. She has made an amazing transformation in that time from abortion-determined and in her words hell-bound to submitting her life to Jesus and determined to carry her baby to term. But she is terrified. I text her often, every day. I thought of her and wrote to her of my thoughts as I pondered this often quoted miracle of our Lord.

 “In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and *said to them, “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” And He *directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. About four thousand were there; and He sent them away.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8:1-9‬ ‭

Notice Jesus’ disciples ask him, “ Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy all these people?” First, they KNOW there is not enough bread to feed 40 people, let alone 4,000. Secondly, they recognize that the people are in a DESOLATE place. That is a place that is lonely, empty, with no food or help for them. There is no way to satisfy the overwhelming need. It is a place so many of us find ourselves. 

I have often been in such a place. Likely, you have too. We all have or will find ourselves in a desperate, desolate place with no hope of sustenance or provision. We hunger for something we cannot possibly hope to find in that terrible desolation. Maybe that is where you feel you are right now! 

But look at what Jesus does. First, He gives THANKS. He knows that His Father will provide against impossible odds more than enough to not only take the edge off their hunger but SATISFY all those people. He doesn’t wait till after His Father comes through with the goods. He gives thanks FIRST. Then, He divides (or actually multiplies) the food and not only cares for the immediate needs of all those people, but abundantly, overwhelmingly meets the needs, with leftovers for the journey home...

Remember, the Gospel was written when some of those people were still alive. Why weren’t they pouring out of the woodwork screaming that Christianity was based on a lie? Instead, the followers of Christ grew at a phenomenal rate in those early years.

Those who had been in the wilderness with Jesus at this time KNEW personally of this miracle. They KNEW it wasn’t a lie. 

And what Jesus did for them in that desolate place, He can do for you and He can do for me. In gratitude to our Heavenly Father, we can and should FIRST give thanks for His provision when we are in a desperate, desolate place. Then, trust Him. He who numbers every hair on our head is standing with us right now. In the hour of our deepest need, He will satisfy.

Everything is possible with God

Swallowed by a Whale and Rescued

A startling, unflattering revelation. I am just like Jonah...joyful and grateful when God sends little blessings. Sorrowful, angry, even temper-tantruming when He sends struggles.

“Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.””

‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4:6-9‬ ‭

I read this passage this morning with the sorrowful recognition that despite all the miracles of God Jonah (and I) have seen, we still struggle with self-absorption and lack of trust. Jonah was saved from drowning at sea by being swallowed by a great fish. He was in the belly of the fish, alive for three days. The fish then vomited him safely onto dry land.

Who could complain to God after that kind of spectacular rescue???

Me.

No...I have never been swallowed by a whale, but I have faced other drowning moments in life. I don’t always love the method by which God rescues me, but He always has. I don’t like the unavoidable fact that He even brings the struggles sometimes as He did when he provided a worm and scorching wind and blazing sun to destroy Jonah’s comfort in the shade of the plant. But there is a purpose in ALL of the trials or the God who has a perfect plan would not bring them.

I know this because His Word shows how portions of His often inexplicable ways unfolded and led to triumph, victory, and glory to God. To know who God is, look at who He has been. To know what God can do, look at what He has done. To know that God can be trusted, remember His trust-worthiness in the past.

Jonah had the same prideful and unwilling heart as I have. Jonah kicked and screamed over God’s plan, and then had a hissy fit when it wasn’t what Jonah wanted. Jonah sulked and obeyed ultimately, but it was a grudging obedience at best.

Yet God used Him.

Sanctification is a process. God can use me in the midst of that messy, sporadic, wandering path. I don’t want to be like Jonah. I’d rather be perfect. Nonetheless, I am hopeful this morning that despite the fact that I am NOT, God IS. That is the only hope any of us have.

Hallelujah Chorus in the Courtroom

Almost everyone in the pro-life world knows Flip Benham. He is a boisterous, strongly opinionated, voracious defender of Jesus and of unborn life. A pastor and prolife advocate for decades, he was responsible for leading “Jane Roe” to the Lord. She was Norma McCorvey, “Jane Roe” of the infamous Roe V Wade landmark case legalizing abortion. He also baptized her. He won her over through love, truth, and persistence.

The “pro-choice” people hate him. In my five and a half years as a Cities4Life counselor on the sidewalks of the SE busiest abortion center in Charlotte, NC, I often serve alongside Flip. He is unfailingly smiling and holding a Bible. Even in the heat of summer, he always wears a vest. He has a dress vest for court, which he appears in often. Flip is forever receiving citations or being arrested. In each instance I have observed, he is being targeted not for breaking any law, but for the Gospel, prolife message he unwaveringly proclaims. Human life, including unborn human life,  is sacred and should be protected.

I am often called as a witness, since I am on the sidewalk so frequently. I may not always agree with how Flip confronts those who are killing the unborn, but I always respect and admire his passion and willingness to be a truthful witness of the Lord.

He was once challenged by an officer for “disturbing the peace” in front of the abortion center. Flip instantly snapped back, “I cannot disturb what they do not have.” That’s Flip. Quick. Funny. Filled with the love of the Lord and the desire to defend what God would have him defend.

The latest court case was Thursday, August 8. Flip was charged with assault. I was down the street from him when the alleged assault occurred. The zoning people who have been capriciously misapplying the picketing ordinance in order to seize our signs slowed their car as they approached me. My sign was on private property owned by supporters of Charlotte Cities4Life. It was leaning against a tree but I was right nearby. I knew what would happen. I raced to my sign and held it. The car stopped. 

“You cannot lean your sign against a tree,” the zoning official said.

“It is private property and we have their permission,” I said.

“Signs must be held, even on private property.”

“What about all the voting signs I see, even have in my own yard, all on private property. Why are they not seized?”

“They should be,” he said. “We can’t seize everything.”

“Then why are you seizing ours?” I asked. “Please show me the ordinance that says what I am doing is illegal.”

“I will email it to you,” he said.

“That is fine, but please show it to me now. Pull this ordinance up on your phone.”

He refused, and shaking his head, drove away. At this point, he drove on to Flip, who had laid his signs on the ground while answering a phone call. When he saw the zoning officials approach, he knew what would happen. He ran to his signs and stepped on them. The officials tried to wrench the signs out from under him and Flip fell to his knees, brushing one of the officials in his fall. He begged them not to seize his signs (which are expensive.) They refused. Flip called 911 to report the stolen property. The officers arrived, heard the story, and filed the complaint. No complaint was filed against Flip.

Till later…

The zoning officials went to the magistrate and said Flip had assaulted them. Later, Flip was arrested. There was no evidence, no injury, and his story was very different from the zoning officials’ story. The officer who had responded to the 911 call had seen no evidence whatsoever of assault. 

It didn’t matter. Flip was arrested, spent some time in jail, posted bond and was released. 

I met him along with two other witnesses for his defense. None of us had seen the actual incident that time. We had seen the zoning officials seizing our signs countless other times however. I knew from my interaction with them just moments before the incident with Flip that they were out to find a way to take our signs.

Because we were potential witnesses to be called to testify, we had to wait outside the courtroom. It was a long wait. We were never called, but finally Flip and his incredible lawyer, Corey Parton, emerged with huge grins on their faces. 

Not guilty. According to Flip, no judge had ever pronounced “not guilty” with more confidence or more alacrity. Corey told us that the three officials all gave different stories of how Flip assaulted them, none of which were believable. Flip had desperately wanted to share the Gospel when he testified, but he was not ever called to the stand. It wasn’t necessary. The zoning officials were incriminated by their own fumbling deception, like the infamous Haman who was hung on the very gallows he erected for his enemy in the book of Esther.

“Jesus was never mentioned today, “ Flip said later (just as God is never mentioned in the book of Esther), “Though, His justice was done and His mercy bestowed upon each one of us.  He was glorified!”

*photo above of Flip Benham and attorney Corey Parton of Parton & Associates, PLLC

*David Redding of Redding Jones, PLLC, has also been working with Flip on this case and others.

A Culture of Death Pushed Back

It was a hot day, spits of rain making our volunteers scurry for umbrellas. Thus far, we’d had few interactions with the women intent on abortion. That is not to say we were discouraged. Most of us have been out there for years and know that God has the victory when we show up. 

We were there. 

Sweaty, bedraggled by rain, but there. 

Every woman who entered the abortion center heard our gentle pleas to trust God, not changeable circumstances or feelings. Every woman had heard the truth of her baby’s development, and God’s beautiful design, plan, and love for each precious one now in imminent danger. Every woman had been offered help and resources. We knew we had done all we could do and now it was up to that woman and God to alter the day’s outcome.

A van pulled over for one of our counselors. There were several smiling children in the car. The mother of the happy brood rolled down her window and shared an amazing story. Eight years ago, she had come down this road with a very different agenda. She had been headed to the abortion clinic to kill her baby. She didn’t want to do it. Every fiber of her being as a woman and a believer in God screamed against what she was there to do.

But she tearfully admitted to the Cities4Life counselor she stopped to talk with eight years ago that she had no choice but to kill her baby. She had several other children. She alleged that she had just been to Youth and Family Services for help. She claimed they told her that unless she aborted her baby, they would seize custody of her children from her.

The Cities4Life counselor assured her they could not do that. She offered bountiful resources and help. Gratefully, Patricia chose life. Now, she pulled over with her happy van of children to thank us and to encourage us not to stop doing what we are doing. 

“You helped me so much,” she said. In fact, she had been driving on Latrobe Drive to show her children the place of death...what she had almost succumbed to. She told them about these people who rescued her, these people standing in the rain on the sidewalk in front of the abortion center. She introduced the eight-year-old boy who is alive today because Cities4Life volunteers were there on the sidewalk that terrible day. 

“And now, I want to bring these children and volunteer with you,” she said. “I want to tell the women not to believe the lies and that they should not destroy their blessing!”

I gave her our volunteer information after asking if I could take her picture and share her story. She said she would very much like me to do so. She was very angry with Youth and Family Services and asked if I would share what they had done to her as well.

She drove away. About half an hour later, she reappeared with a man in the passenger’s seat. She introduced him, the 8-year-old’s father. His eyes were bright with a sheen of tears as he clutched my hand smiling broadly, and said, “Thank you, all of you. Thank you for saving my baby.”

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭11:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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