Ragnar Forgives Me For Being Late When He Hears Three Mothers Chose Life

“I am really sorry I’m late! I have a good excuse though, Ragnar.” And I did...but I still felt terrible as I raced to my granddog’s apartment and freed him from his crate.

“Didn’t you know I was stuck in my crate and I really had to poop and pee? I mean bad.” Despite his frustration, he greeted me with overwhelming expressions of joy, wagging tail and expressive howls.

“Well, yes, that was obvious. We barely made it out in the nick of time.” (He almost dragged me off my feet down the two flights of stairs to get to the outdoor bathroom patch.)

“What could be more important that taking your one and only granddog out to sniff, and go on long walks on your visitation day???”

“Now Ragnar. Don’t pout. I had a good reason. Three moms at the abortion center chose life for their unborn babies.”

“What’s the big news in that???All creatures protect their young.”

“Some humans don’t.”

“I knew humans were bonkers, but you must be joking.”

“Well, sadly, I am not joking. That’s why our Cities4Life team is out there on the sidewalks of the place where people go to kill their unborn babies.”

“Go on. I’m listening.”

“Well, you know the lake where I take you and we watch the geese swimming?”

“UH...yes. I was hoping we could go there today.”

“We will. You know what those geese would do if you tried to harm the eggs they sit on when they are nesting?”

“Yep, like any decent mother they would peck my eyes out.”

“That is what good mothers do...they would die for their young. It is unnatural, and wrong, for a mother to want to harm her young. We go to the sidewalks to try to encourage mothers who feel overwhelmed or desperate enough to harm their baby that there is hope and help. They don’t need to do that.”

“Do they listen to you?”

“Not always. But today, three of them did. And one of them even asked Jesus to be Lord of her life, right there on the curb of the abortion center. I couldn’t leave. I was praying with her.”

“I don’t know who Jesus is...maybe if I did my nose would not have incriminating dirt from your backyard all over it. Back to the discussion. Do you mean your pack helped three mamas save their babies?”

“Yes, with God’s help of course. Our ‘pack’ has this saying: Where two or more are gathered in God’s name, there He is in the midst of them.”

“We have the same saying in our pack...except we gather in Dog’s name.”

“Well, maybe I can tell you who Jesus is in a little while, but for now, I hope you will forgive me. I couldn’t leave. I was helping those women with all the resources they needed so they wouldn’t feel so alone, so desperate. One mom told me that she didn’t want to abort...but EVERY person in her life was telling her to. She was really grateful we were there. She said we were the only voice giving her hope and it reminded her that God is with her.”

“I forgive you. That sounds like a pretty special pack you run with.”

“It is. But we have the whole day in front of us now. Shall we go look at the geese?”

“I’d really like that. Is there a biscuit on the agenda?”

“Of course.”

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

Matthew 5:16 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

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

If you like Christian messages wrapped in the antics of humans and animals, you might enjoy my new book, just released. Click HERE to read about it and purchase if desired. Can’t go too far wrong for under $3.

Finding Purpose In Insuring Women Abort Their Children

This is what the “pro-choice” folks do to block the sound which we legally have gotten a permit to use. While their sound blocker does no good, it is the thought that counts. Their thought is that they are ‘pro-choice’ unless the choice is letting us present options and resources to let the baby live. That choice is best left unmentioned in their eyes.

As one woman left after her abortion sobbing uncontrollably, I glanced at the ‘pro-choice’ advocate. I asked her if she had seen the grieving woman.  She had. “That’s why we offer them another choice than abortion,” I said, “And the resources and help to make a choice for life.”

“We don’t know why she was crying,” the ‘pro-choice’ advocate said.

For a moment, I was stunned. “Yes we do,” I said finally, “And we see women leave here crying all the time.”

Fortunately,  before the ‘pro-choice’ folks arrived to limit the choices available, I had the opportunity to speak with the boyfriend of a woman he dropped off in the morning before the place opened. He was polite, and willing to talk. I gave him a whirlwind three minute Gospel presentation and he told me he believed all that. I told him then he needed to do what Jesus commanded him to do. I gave him my phone number and name and our information pamphlet. He told me he would call his girlfriend. 

He must have done so. She left a short time later, long before the abortionist arrived. Praise God. He has our info if they need resources to help them. I hope they call. 

One of our sweetest, gentlest counselors got on the mic and delivered a quiet, heartfelt plea to women to remember that Christ is with the broken-hearted and the humble. “When we are weak, He is strong,” she reminded them. Amen. I needed to hear that as much as them!

And now, Charlotte area folks. For another family that chose life we need a queen size sleeper sofa. This family chose life, marriage, and Jesus. This is the perfect new family for a sleeper sofa you no longer need. Email me at vkaseorg@cities4life.com.  The pregnant mom, due in 2 weeks, is finally moving in to her new apartment today which we helped secure, but the furniture doesn’t arrive for two weeks. We need the sleeper sofa today. And a TV set. I am waiting on this miracle.

Thank you in advance for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

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

Great news! My new ebook and print book are out on Amazon. Click HERE for God-filled, clean reading, safe for the family.

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

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.”

In Peaceful Presence of God

Before church, I bundled up since it was very chilly, and headed out for a morning walk. There were few people outside. It is probably the coldest morning thus far this season. However, the deer didn’t seem to mind the cold. They were out in droves in an empty field. I feel blessed to see one deer. I saw an entire herd! And one buck with small antlers was standing guard at a neighboring homesite. 

I took some videos and stood quietly watching them. As you can see, they were very close to me. They did not seem terribly worried about me as long as I stood still. I wondered if they knew how much I love all creatures. Could they perhaps sense that? The one to the right in the second photo even approached closer. She seemed curious and friendly.

It was a simple and gentle moment, a blessing. Deer are such kind and unassuming animals. 

Psalm 42:1: As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

The gentle deer quietly grazed and lifted their big dark eyes to watch me as I passed by. They are dependent upon God’s provision of tender grass and shrubs, and the flowing streams. I doubt they spend one moment worrying that God will provide those things. They moved slowly and gracefully on their slender legs, watching me as I watched them, each of us abiding in the peaceful place God had prepared for us.

Our pastor talked about how sometimes life becomes one of daily drudgery, daily struggle. Each day brings more of the same trial. We are working our way through the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s daily struggle was speaking to a people who would not listen. His obedience to God required enormous personal sacrifice, and he was lonely, discouraged, and beginning to lose hope that God can be relied upon. 

IN fact, in Jeremiah 15;18, in contrast to the deer who pant after the flowing stream but KNOW God will provide what they need, Jeremiah cries: Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?"

We have all been there, haven’t we?

God rebukes Jeremiah, and in the following chapter,  promises him that God will restore His people. They must undergo the punishment and consequences of their sin first, but ultimately, they will return to God. 

Jeremiah now proclaims: “Then I said, "Lord, you give me strength and protect me. You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble. Nations from all over the earth will come to you and say, 'Our ancestors had nothing but false gods - worthless idols that could not help them at all.” Jeremiah 16:19

He sees beyond the daily struggle to the culmination of God’s plan, and is comforted. He is given a glimpse of future joy.

The deer in the field, completely trusting in God’s provision are one of those glimpses and symbols for me. 

So was this:

My new book went to #2 in one of its genre cateories. That made my day. (I am being a little tongue in cheek about it being a glimpse of God. It is a glimpse of hard work beginning to show small signs of bearing fruit.) If you want to read the full series, you can buy the first 3 books bundled for a reduced rate HERE, and the new Book HERE.

Anyway, I still have several free copies of the new ebook to send out to those who love to read ebooks and write reviews as soon as they finish. If that describes you, send me your email where I can have Amazon gift you the ebook.  You can private message me at my vicky kaseorg-author page on Facebook. This new book is filled with the Gospel, as well as the struggle that all people face: Is God real and will He be there in the midst of my pain?

The short answer is YES.

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

Habakkuk 3:19 

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

My New Book Live On Amazon Today!

I am always surprised when my regular blog readers tell me, "I didn't know you were an author!" In case you are one of those people, take a look at the right side of your computer when you open my blog. Scroll down. All those books along the right side of the blog are books I have written. There are a lot of them. Notice at the top of the blog, on the right side, is a place to click to sign up for my email list. Please do that. I always alert those on my list when my books go on sale or when I publish a new book.

This one, Unlikely Reward, whose cover is pictured above just went live on Amazon today. (E-book live now...print live in a couple of days or so.) It is the fourth in the Unlikely Friends series. (If you click on the series title, it takes you to book 1 of the series.) Like all my books, they are family friendly, clean, and chock full of a Christian message. All contain characters who have a reverence for life, and the message that God equips us to do what is right. The series focuses on the concept of redemption and forgiveness. This one deals with some hard situations, but I try to tell it such that you can safely read it with kids. The story is interspersed with enough humor that the sad parts are not overwhelming. (Except to me...I always cry at the sad parts of my books.)

Since I love animals, I threw in as many as possible in this series. A dog, horse, dolphin, and eagles. Since I love mysteries, the animals and the heroine always have a mystery to solve in the course of struggling through mysteries of faith. Personally, I think you will like my books and they are dirt cheap. $2.99 for the e-books. Surely you can take a chance on reading them for less than $3. Get all four and you have Christmas gifts covered!

I am a prolific writer, but this book took a long time to finally reach its conclusion. Just after starting this book, I also started officially working in addition to volunteering with Cities4Life. My hours on the sidewalk and following women who choose life, not to mention the added tasks of training volunteers, increased exponentially. I found very little time to work on my book. That was all right. There is nothing I would rather be doing than walking with God to speak for the unborn who cannot speak for themselves. But, there are not enough hours in the day to do all I needed to do to get my book out in a timely manner.

The good news that emerged from all that immersion in our life-saving ministry is that I dwell deeply in God's word and see His miracles daily. This gives all kinds of great fodder to my creative endeavors.

So, I hope you will read my book and write a review when you finish. Since it just went live this morning, you could be the first to write a review!!  Hopefully a glowing review. All my books average 4.5 to 5 star ratings and ratings drive sales. (Forgive this commercial break in my daily attempt to bring you inspirational blogs but some of you actually requested I alert you when the book was published.)

However, in the midst of the final stages of proofing the book for final publication the past couple of days, I have been in regular contact with a couple of the women I work with who chose life. One just had her baby, and wrote to express her overwhelming joy. A second is on bed rest and quietly awaiting the arrival of God’s miracles. Meanwhile, Crystal, the woman Cities4Life has been helping who was a Planned Parenthood manager, called to tell me her friends’ walkout from Planned Parenthood this week at her urging SHUT down abortions for a full week.

NOW THAT is worth writing a book about. I plan to. In the meantime, please consider reading my new book with its pro-life, pro-God message.
********************

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

2 Thessalonians 3:10

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

Proverbs 14:23

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

A True Story of God’s Victory In a Family That Had Lost All Hope

One of the things God has taught me over my four years of work as a sidewalk counselor with Cities4Life is NEVER GIVE UP.  I have also learned that it is hard not to give up sometimes. Some of the stories and issues the abortion-minded women face are overwhelming. Yet somehow, God always seems to make a way. Sometimes it is not what we expect or even want, but He always is there in the mess.

I blogged some time ago about a family that I met when they came to the abortion clinic with their kids in a car with no AC, 95 degrees heat wave, and the car was on its last treads of life, for sure. Homeless, and now pregnant, the mom, J, did not feel she had any choice but to abort. While she’d been with the boyfriend for eleven years and all her kids were his, they just had never gotten around to marrying. He had a decent job, but bad choices and bad luck had thrown them into their current dismal situation.

Because of the awesome partnership with LoveLlife Charlotte and the many donors and supporters of Cities4Life, we were able to offer this family interim housing for a couple of months. I shared the gospel with both parents and they both asked Jesus to be Lord of their life. They instantly knew they must get married, and knowing God’s word on intimacy outside of marriage, asked that we help them to marry NOW. 

We did, complete with a lovely dress, ring, and pastor who asked to let him perform the wedding. We even were able to give them a fancy honeymoon hotel and dinner. We helped get them a lovely large van with AC and enough seats for the growing family. We fixed the old car. We found a housing/training program that seemed ideal, but the wait would be at least 5-6 months to enter it.

Then came struggle. Work problems. Unexpected car problems. Money issues and struggle to continue funding interim housing. For a while, I think we all despaired. We all thought about giving up. 

I stayed in touch with J, and I remember many conversations where I “talked her off the cliff.” Her due date approached and still no definite place to live. She was growing increasingly worried. However, she often said to me, “I don’t know how it will work out, but I know God will work it out.”  Then due to a really unexpected set of events, the program all our hopes were on was unable to take them. Now what?

I contacted an alternate program. They had an opening, and they loved the “God story” of this family. However, the apartment they had available needed a lot of work. They did not have the funds to fix up the apartment. I asked: if we could raise the funds, would they let the family in the program....and could they do it by Nov. 15? The mom was due by the end of November since she always goes into labor early, and our baby shower that provides the first two full years of the baby’s needs was scheduled for Nov. 15.

They said yes. They told me the amount they would need to get the apartment ready and cover entry costs.

So, I put out a facebook plea for funds and blogged about it. Within 24 hours, we had the money needed for the repairs. Then the program director told us the only way we could have the apartment in time was if we could raise a team of helpers to work THIS WEEKEND on the apartment. We found folks almost instantly. (We could still use more help if you are available Saturday.) Then we realized that while the program does provide furnishing, it usually takes two weeks for it to arrive. The family will move in in four days. 

I put out another facebook plea for sleeping bags and air matts.  A facebook follower dropped by my house a few hours later with two sleeping bags and four pillows. The program director found 3 cots they could use. I have a queen air matt and two sleeping bags. We just need one pillow, and one sleeping bag. I am confident someone will show up with those. They can move in the night before the baby shower. 

It will be spartan, but sure beats a single small hotel room which is where their past five months have been spent for the most part. With three young children!

I am leaping for joy. It has been such a long and difficult road. But God is faithful.

I took the mom out for her birthday before the final meeting with the program director. She had not made a firm decision yet on whether they would enter this program. It is wonderful, but rigorous. They will have all kinds of fantastic training in all areas necessary for successful management of their resources so that when they leave, they will be well-equipped to be successfully independent.

The mom was waffling because this was not her dream. Her dream was her own little home in a safe place that she owned. I reminded her to keep the big picture in mind. Oftentimes what we face in the present is not where we hope to be. We have to keep ourselves content with present circumstances, but not satisfied till we have reached the goal that may be on a distant horizon.

Honestly, that is true of the Christian walk. We are not home here on earth. This is but a temporary home. We must do our best in this imperfect place but never lose sight of the goal. A mansion is prepared for us in heaven and we will be with God with no more sorrow or despair or wondering where He is when all looks hopeless. Hope will no longer be deferred but will be shining all around us and upon us. We will see our Lord face to face and all the struggle will be but a distant memory.

Thank you Lord for upholding us when we felt too weary to continue on our own tired legs. The victory and the glory belongs to Him.

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

If you want to be a part of this life-saving ministry, please click HERE  Please contact me at vkaseorg@cities4life.com to help with the work on Saturday or to bring a pillow and sleeping bag to this family. Bless you all who have helped thus far! You are a part of a miracle.

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

Matthew 17:20 

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Former Planned Parenthood Abortion Manager Starts a Revival for Life

This is a story I have wanted to write for a LONG time. A few months ago, I was connected with Crystal Eldridge, the former manager of the Winston Salem Planned Parenthood. She is a Christian who was consumed by guilt over her work there, and wanted out. Cities4Life has been active in helping Crystal for several months, and I had the privilege of being the point-person in that endeavor. First we helped her in recommitting her life to God, and then in finding new work, and being able to handle the financial struggle till she found a new job. Over the months, I have come to know and love Crystal, and have been awed by her courage.

Planned Parenthood was desperate to have her back, and offered her far more money than she could make in any other job in her small town. However, Crystal was firm in her renewed commitment to God. She would not dishonor Him or ever challenge His authority in her life again. She refused to return.

A whole network of people have been praying for her and helping her behind the scenes. We cheered her on with joy and praise to God when she landed her new job. Eager to now change the world of abortion that she had so recently been trapped in, Crystal was determined to help in any way God led her.

She sent pregnant women who made a choice for life our way so we could encourage and help them. And she began reaching out to her friends inside the abortion industry. She urged them to leave. She told them if she could do it, so could they. If there are no abortion workers, there would be no abortions. She referred them to Abby Johnson's ministry, And Then There Were None, who would help them leave the abortion work.

Yesterday, I texted her to invite her to a wonderful event taking place Dec.2 in Charlotte, Our partner ministry, LoveLife Charlotte does forty weeks of prayer walks each Saturday around the street the abortion clinic is on. A march for life for each week of pregnancy. Dec. 2 is week 40. Crystal said she would be overjoyed to join us and then told me she had GREAT news.

This is her text to me:
I've been talking to the girls that worked with me at the Planned Parenthood in Winston Salem. Three of them did a walk-out yesterday during the abortion clinic! THEY SHUT DOWN THE CENTER YESTERDAY DUE TO LACK OF STAFF. There are only two people plus the doctor employed there. You can't do abortions with only two people. I am trying my hardest to help close the place.

One person CAN make a difference, folks. Crystal let God reach her tormented conscience and change her. She recognized she could not pretend to follow God and work in an industry that slaughtered innocent human babies as she cleaned up after the bloody aftermath of an abortion. She told me, "It was like a murder scene...which I realized in fact...it was...."

She told me her love of God and life was rekindled, and despite the struggles, her conviction remained solid. She would now work to end abortion.

Have you ever felt trapped in a situation you knew was wrong...but there was no way to extricate yourself? Or have you felt that your meager contribution to an overwhelming pervasive problem like abortion could never be worth the effort?

Come to the prayer walk Saturday, December 2. Talk to Crystal Eldridge. My guess is you will change your mind.

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

Luke 1:37 

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

The Testimony of a Grateful Mother and A Precious Child Saved From Abortion

Yesterday, two stories from the sidewalks of the abortion center made me fall to my knees in praise. At my age, I might not get back up so it was a figurative falling to my knees. 

One of the  “pro-choice” people came to me and introduced himself and told me that he really appreciated what I had to say over the microphone. He told me it was very gentle and loving and not at all condemning and well thought out. I thanked him and told him I felt he was on the wrong side of this issue and I asked him if he knew Jesus.

He did not want to get into that. At that moment, one of our volunteers, Jessica, stepped forward with her seven-year-old daughter and she asked if she could spend a few minutes sharing her testimony with this man. She introduced her daughter and told him that this is a child that was scheduled to die at a place just like this one where we stood. The 19-year-old mother instead of abortion, bravely chose life! The little girl who was to be aborted is now a happy and beloved seven-year-old in her grateful adoptive family.

“Can you look her in the eyes and tell her that you wish she had died instead??” Jessica asked him.

He didn’t answer.

Then she went on to say that death is what happens to millions of babies every year that are being ushered in to that facility by the “pro-choice” advocates. Those babies don’t have the opportunity to grow up and be an incredible blessing and joy to a family the way her daughter is. 

Jessica had finished speaking and the man did not have a word to say. In fact, he looked like he was about to cry. I know I was.

I then turned to him and said, “By preventing women from talking to us, you make it harder for them to make the choice not to abort their child and contribute to the likelihood that children like this beautiful little girl will not ever enter this world.”

He tucked his sign under his arm and immediately walked to his car. He put the sign in the car and drove away. My prayer is that he means never to return unless it is to urge women to choose life. 

After everybody on our wonderful team had left except for the director of Cities4Life , Daniel Parks, and me, Daniel preached a powerful sermon over the microphone. I stood in the rain listening and waiting, praying for the lost souls in that terrible place, so deceived to believe that killing their child would solve anything. 

Shortly thereafter, two women left the abortion center. The first one pulled over and told me she had aborted. She was sorrowful. She took my post-abortion literature and told me that, yes, she would appreciate prayer. The security man made her drive on, telling her she could not block the driveway. I urged her to call me if she ever needed to talk.

The second woman walked out of the clinic and came right towards us, clearly weary and beaten-down.

“Did you change your mind?” I asked her.

“Yes, but I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t see any way I can have this baby.”

“I promise you, we can help you. Whatever situation you face. Let me ask you, do you believe in God?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What would God have you do?”

“He wouldn’t want me to kill it. I’m just so tired and I have to find a ride home.“

“I will drive you home.“ 

The good news was I had a good long drive to get her home... almost a half hour. During that time even though she said she did not want to talk, she did listen. I shared the truth of the humanity of her baby, and the development of her baby, and all the resources that we could offer to help her. Then I shared the gospel. Afterwards, she told me that she did believe that Jesus is Lord and rose from the dead and that she wanted him to be Lord of her life.  I applauded her for giving her life to God, but reminded her that if Jesus is Lord, and she meant what she said, then her behavior would change in submission to Him.

She said she understood that. “I promise you. I will never do something to disobey God.”

 Then I said, “Thou shalt not murder.” 

She looked at me, knowing what I was saying. “I’m confused about what I should do.”

“I think you do know what you should do. You do know right from wrong. God will help you and so will we. Will you let us help you?” 

I held my breath waiting for her answer.

 Looking straight ahead, she nodded. 

Fortunately I always keep a supply of gifts in my car for mothers who choose life. When we reached her home and got out of the car, I gave her an armload of gifts. Next, I pulled out a Bible from one of my crates.

“Would you like this?“

“Yes,“ she said, taking the Bible with reverence.

I found a black and white bracelet in the bottom of my gift bags and told her, “This you definitely need to take. It is black-and-white. You can clearly see which is which. That is true of our choices between right and wrong. They are clear. I know you know what is right and I know you know what is wrong. Wear this bracelet to remind you.”

As I drove away I felt overwhelming gratitude and joy. How gracious of God to grant me,  a humble pastor, gentle Christian volunteers, a grateful adoptive mom, and a vivacious charming little girl this blessing of helping others to see Him.

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

Micah 6:8 

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 119:11 

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.