Enough Is Enough!

It has been almost four weeks since I had a memorable and life-changing experience at the abortion mill where I currently minister, and I’ve been trying to find the time to write that story up! But, it will have to wait a bit longer since I am going to write about today while it is still fresh on my mind.

Today, in response to recent videos exposing some of the horrific atrocities of Planned Parenthood (PP), thousands of people gathered outside PP buildings all across America to pray for an end to the slaughter of innocent children, protest the crime and injustice, and raise public awareness. I am thankful to have been able to be a part of the gathering outside the PP in my local city. This was my first time at an event like this, and what an experience it was! The zeal and dedication of those who take a stand for life and truth is contagious!

I am blessed to know and work with some very godly, passionate brothers and sisters in the pro-life ministry that I am involved in, and a number of them were there today. A few of them spoke and as I listened to them, I thought of how thankful I am for their example in this ministry. One woman in particular who spoke today has been such an inspiration to me (thank you, Mrs. W.!). These thoughts inspired a question that I want to ask myself, and that I think we should all ask: what kind of example am I leaving to those around me?

Mrs. K. and I at the protest

Have you been disgusted and saddened by the recent Planned Parenthood videos? Do you believe that all life is precious? Are you ready to say “enough is enough”? I would encourage you to step out and take a stand for life and the gospel of Jesus Christ right where you are. All it takes is a willingness to be used by God! Go to Sidewalks4Life.org to get involved.

I do want to make a little note here that what we did today at PP is different from what we do when we minister outside the abortion mills on a daily basis. Our specific goal was different (although proclaiming truth and life is always our goal in general), so we used a different approach. When we go out to the abortion mills to offer hope and help to the moms who come, we do not protest. We talk to them, pray for and with them, and show them what resources we can connect them with to help out with their needs.

Monday, February 9 - Abortion Mill Update

            We really saw God at work out at the abortion mill on Monday! Despite unexpected rain (that seems to have become the norm for Mondays, whether or not the weatherman predicts it), we were able to witness FOUR women choose the way of blessing in not going through with their abortions! We were able to give a blessing bag to one of the mamas who talked to us. She was 14 weeks along and admitted that she was scared, but happy. She thanked us for being there to help her make the right choice—one that she will never regret.

Sadly, although two others got free ultrasounds (on the mobile ultrasound RV that comes out from the Pregnancy Resource Center nearby), they went through with their abortions anyway. Sometimes I wonder how a mama can kill her child after seeing his or her little hands and beating heart. That makes me very sad, but what is more sad is how hard and cold the mama’s heart must be to do that and what eternal punishment awaits her if she does not repent.

As car after car pulled over and went on the mobile ultrasound RV, we on the sidewalks looked at each other in astonishment. Throughout the morning there ended up being a total of seven women who went on. We have never seen that many get ultrasounds in one morning! It was very obvious to us that it was nothing we had done in our own strength—God was answering our prayers. They may have been prayed with a mustard seed of faith, but God heard and answered! (I’m going to cry just writing about it now!) God is so good!

October 6 and 13 - Abortion Mill Update

As much as I enjoy blogging, the weeks seem to fill up and slip away without me getting many opportunities to post. So, now I have two weeks of mill updates to do in one post, and if I don’t hurry, I’ll have another one to add in just a couple more days.

October 6: One interaction that still stands out in my mind was with a grandmother who, along with other family members, had come to support her granddaughter in the murder of her grandchild. After getting her granddaughter all set inside, this grandmother came back out and began yelling over and over, “God forgives!” “God forgives!” “God forgives!” We told her that yes, God does forgive all who come to Him in true brokenness and repentance. But we also explained to her that God does not forgive someone in the midst of willful disobedience. You cannot walk into sin and come out the other side claiming God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is not a pass. It is not a license to disobey Him. The grandmother didn’t listen; instead she kept repeating, “God forgives!” “God forgives!” Yes . . . so much of the time a lie is 99% truth!

October 13: This week was so encouraging after the discouragement of so many hard hearts last week and no *visible* fruit. Another lady that we minister with wrote this about this week: “Four saves that we know of! My favorite was the last one, a young man had been out in front for an hour or more listening to all the preaching, and pleading words from [another sidewalk counselor] as well. They left and told us they didn't do it, raised their hands in high fives, and were honking their horn and waving to us, thumbs up as they drove away. Relief and joy!” Thank you to all of you who were praying for us and these dear mothers, fathers, and their children! You may never know how much your prayers mean to us!

Monday, September 8 - Abortion Mill Update

            Although we got to the abortion mill later than we had hoped to yesterday morning and there were already a few cars in the parking lot when we arrived, it ended up not being as busy as some days. Since there were only a handful of us on the sidewalks, though, we were kept very well occupied. We were thankful to have the sound permit (which has been a rarer occurrence recently) and my father was able to use our handheld microphone.

I spent the morning intercepting cars at one of the two driveways and farther up the road. It is nice to catch the cars out in the road before they start to pull in so that we don’t have to deal with the “security” person telling us to “stop blocking the driveway!”. As a Christian, I believe in being a law-abiding citizen and thus never try to block the driveway. However when it is a matter of life and death such as we face at the abortion mills, we “must obey God rather than man” and it can get challenging to have that perfect balance!

The most significant encounter that I had was with a post-abortive mother. When I first stopped her I asked if she was there for an abortion. She said that no, she was there for a follow-up appointment. I was in the mindset to address mothers coming for abortions, so I wasn’t quite prepared with what to say. Feeling the need to get wisdom from the Lord, I asked her if I could pray with her. She readily agreed and I took that opportunity to pray, among other things, that she would see her need for God and that He would give her a desire to live for Him and obey Him. After praying with her, I wanted to get a sense of where she was at with the Lord, so I asked her if she had ever read the Bible. She said yes, and pointed to a Bible in her car. Just then, the “security” man came down and told her to move. I encouraged her to pull over so that we could continue to talk. She said “just a minute” and pulled into the parking lot. I thought that would be the end of our conversation, but after she parked her car she came over. My father had joined me at that point and we continued to talk with her. One thing that we asked her was: if she had it to do over again, would she still have an abortion? Her answer was an immediate and clear, "no". She came over to talk to us again after her appointment and we were able to share some of the gospel with her and connected her with one of the ladies we minister with who had an abortion in the past. Please pray that as she has contact with her God will open this mother’s heart to take responsibility for her part in her child’s murder and that she will see her need for repentance and a new heart.

Another woman I talked to was walking along the road. She was on her phone and headed toward the mill, so I was sure she was going in. I walked up to her and held out the booklet that I had. She took it and kind of took her phone away from her ear. I asked her if she was there for an abortion. She looked around and said no. So I asked her if she was just passing through and she said that she was. I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her. She said that she knew there was an abortion clinic there because she could hear us from her house sometimes but that she wasn’t going there. She did say that she had a sister who was pregnant and abortion-minded, so she would give her the booklet. Then she went walking up the road away from the mill. Later she came walking back through and talked to one of the other ladies on the sidewalk. We found out that she has four children. Her sister later contacted that sidewalk counselor and we found out that that sister is six months pregnant but in a very difficult financial situation. We never know how contacts may happen out there and praise God for this opportunity to contact someone who wasn’t even there!

As far as we know, there was one “save” yesterday in which a baby was saved from death and a mother from a lifetime of grief and pain. Praise God!

Just as a note so that you know how and when to pray: The opportunity has opened up for us to go out to this clinic every other Monday and a different clinic every other Tuesday, so that is our schedule for right now. Please pray for us and the others that go out to minister that we would be kept by the power of God and not grow weary. The spiritual battle is strong, but our God is stronger!

Quiet Summer?

I should know by now that “quiet summer” is an oxymoron. Okay, it’s not—but sometimes it really does seem like it! After my violin recital in June had passed, I had thought I might have a slower summer to wrap up most of my schooling (the book part, anyway :-), begin advertising myself as a violin teacher, continue to go out to the abortion mills, and still have enough time to prepare for an orchestra camp at the end of August. That hasn’t quite happened as planned, but here is a bit of what I have been doing:

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Orchestra Camp is coming up the last weekend in August! It will be nice to have my sister join me there this year, plus two other girls from our area. Besides that, my teacher is setting up for her students to do some fiddling at the local farmer’s markets in August. Needless to say, I have been practicing my violin a lot recently!

It Will Soon Be Official

The only thing I have to finish before I can officially graduate from “high school” and get my diploma is a Literature course, which I hope to finish before I go to orchestra camp at the end of August. I have a few other things that I am finishing up, as well, but they are not needed toward my graduation.

Español

Spanish studies have been going well. We haven’t had class for the past two weeks due to some things that have come up, but before that we had been progressing nicely and I was learning a lot!

Student to Teacher!

Last year I started giving a young lady some violin lessons and then began teaching two of my younger sisters. The opportunity opened up for me to begin advertising myself as a violin teacher this summer, but with the reports I had heard I figured I wouldn’t be getting any more students until at least the fall time. After only 2 weeks I had two students and I currently have a couple more that I am going to meet with soon. That was certainly different than I expected, but I’m enjoying every bit of my teaching experience!

Special Memories

Recently our family has taken a couple hikes together and created some wonderful memories. I really enjoy hiking and being outside, and the weather turned out so beautifully for us! 

A steep portion of the path up to the overlook on Crowders Mountain

Me beside a pretty mountain stream

One of the views at Crowders Mountain State Park

Our Puppy

Docky is growing up fast, although I sometimes don’t notice it because I see him every day (kind of like mothers say about their children)! He weighed 7 pounds when we got him and is up to 22.5 now!

Docky

Docky - he likes to chew on and play with pine cones!

Textile Creations

I have had a number of sewing projects piling up for the past year and finally decided that I just needed to get some of them done. I have a nightgown and jumper done, a blouse in progress, and a few other things cut out and ready to be sewn.

Visitors

We have had a number of visitors recently, including a special (albeit way too short!) visit from some friends that I met at the orchestra camp last year who were passing through on their way home. Thank you, Victoria!

Life

I have been out to the mill once since the last update I posted. It was in the afternoon, which was a new experience for me as I am used to going in the morning. My sister also went along. (I did learn that next time I would bring a hat or some kind of sun protection because the sun is right overhead at that time of day and I felt the burn for a while after!) I had a few interesting interactions and appreciated the different perspective that a different time of day gave me. In one of the interactions that I had, I was able to share the gospel message with one young lady who had not had an abortion yet (so she said, anyway) but was just there to get some information. She was visibly touched by what I shared. I don’t know if she has been back to the mill or not, but please pray for her in either case.

Next Time . . .

I likely won’t do another post until I give you an update on the orchestra camp at the end of August. Until then—have a wonderful summer!

Praise the Lord! - Abortion Mill Update

I feel so awed and so humbled tonight as I sit down to write about our morning at the abortion clinic. I hardly know what to say! This morning as I was getting ready to go I felt rather weary both in body and mind, but I really felt like the Lord wanted us to go today. Looking back, I can certainly see His hand in it!

My sister and I took one of the driveways at the clinic as the other one was already being taken care of. In the past, I have always waited until vehicles start to pull in to the driveway to intercept them, but I have seen the success of those who have tried to intercept them while they are still out in the road. I decided to try that approach today and it worked very well.

We had been at the clinic for about an hour when one of the vehicles that I tried to stop in the road stopped and rolled down her window. I gave her the booklet that I had and then began talking to her (I will call her “S”):

Me: Are you here for an abortion?

S: Yes.

Me: Do you know what God says about abortion?

S: (Hesitantly) Yes, He says it’s murder.

Me: Does what God says matter to you?

S: Uh . . . well . . . uh . . .

Me: Would you consider yourself a Christian?

S: Well . . . um . . . I believe in God.

Me: Being a Christian takes more than believing in God. It takes a relationship with Him. And if you have a relationship with Him you will not want to do something that He does not like.

            The conversation continued on from there covering topics such as: how abortion would affect her soul and her eternity, the testimonies of women who have had abortions and regret them, the guilt that she would have after her abortion, what resources we had available to help her if she had any needs, whether her family members knew about her pregnancy and how they felt about it, and more. During our conversation I could tell that the reality and seriousness of abortion was settling in to her heart because of some things that she said. I explained that we like to think, or people can make us think, that this is just our choice and we can do whatever we want. However, that is not the case. Murdering your child has a huge impact on every area of your life. At one point, the conversation turned toward children being a gift from the Lord:

Me: Do you know that the Bible says that children are a gift from God?

S: Yeah, I know that’s what the Bible says. But . . . I already have enough gifts.

Me: If you gave someone a gift and they gave it back and told you that they already had enough gifts, how would that make you feel?

S: I would feel bad.

Me: Do you think God feels that way about what you are doing?

S: Um . . . yeah . . . but . . .

            After I had been talking with her for some time, another pro-lifer came over and joined the conversation. She showed “S” a model of what her baby looks like right now (she is nine weeks along) and then we asked her if “S” if she would be willing to get a free ultrasound. She hesitantly agreed and since the mobile ultrasound RV was not out today she followed another pro-lifer to the Pregnancy Resource Center a few minutes away. A couple hours later we received a call from “S” saying that she had decided for sure to keep her child! Please continue to pray for her that she would remain strong in this decision, especially as she goes home to face her fiancée!

            I rejoice every time a woman turns away from killing her child, but there is something so awe-inspiring and humbling about being one of the vessels that God works through to turn someone away. All praise to Him!

            Another encouraging encounter today was a woman “L” that had come with her friend even though she did not support her decision to murder her child. She came along hoping to talk her friend out of it on the way. She apparently was not able to do so, because when pro-lifers asked “L” (the friend) to come down onto the sidewalk and talk to them, her friend was already inside. “L” took the information that was offered to her and talked for quite a while. (Since I was farther down the sidewalk I did not hear everything that happened.)

A while later, both ladies came out of the clinic and “L” told us that her friend had not had the abortion and they were going to leave! We were able to give “L” a baby blessing bag to give to her friend. As they left I told my sister that I felt like crying (happy tears, of course)! Two women had turned away! Please continue to pray for this situation, though; it seemed that the matter was not completely settled in the mama’s mind.

            One vehicle that came had three ladies in it. It looked like three generations – a young woman who was probably the one coming for an abortion, her mother, and her grandmother. How sad, and yet we see it more often than I care to mention. As they were walking across the parking lot, I called out to them and asked them to come over and talk to me or at least take the booklet that I had. The young woman called out to me, “Have a wonderful day!” “It isn’t a wonderful day, ma’am, children are being killed here,” I replied. Then, more harshly, she shot back, “Stop harassing me! I was being sweet to you!”

            One time when a woman who works at the clinic was pulling out I stopped her and she rolled down her window.

Me: Do you know what God says about abortion?

Worker: Do you know what God says about abortion?

Me: Yes.

Worker: Good. I do too.

Me: He says that it is murder. Do you want to be involved in murder?

She started to pull out so I asked her if I could give her something to read. She said “no” and was off.

            We don’t often get a lot of encouragement from those driving by, so I was surprised when we had two such interactions today! One middle-age woman pulled up and as I went to stop her, she pulled over to the side of the road and rolled down her window. She proceeded to tell me that she had just heard on the news that the Supreme Court had decided to back Hobby Lobby! She said that she appreciates what we are doing and that she is against abortion also. She was on her way somewhere, but it was so nice of her to stop and give good news and an encouraging word!

            The other one was a man. Since I couldn’t see inside the car very well, I stepped out to stop him as he was driving by. He rolled down his window and when I saw that he was alone I explained what we were doing out there. He said goodbye and moved on. A little while later, though, he was back. He pulled over to tell us that he appreciated what we were doing out there and to keep it up. The Lord knows when we need encouragement and He often uses earthly vessels to deliver it. That is a good reminder to look for opportunities to encourage people, because God may want to use us to be that earthly vessel!

            I am still so amazed at what God did today and so excited to be a co-laborer with Him! Thank you, Lord!

Not Allowed

The following appeared in a newspaper in 1999 following the shooting at the Columbine High School in Colorado:

Dear God,

Why didn’t You save the children of the Littleton school?

Sincerely, a student

Dear Student,

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely, God

If Thou Be Glorified - Abortion Mill Update

It’s hard to know where to begin in recounting our time at the abortion mills today. A part of me feels like shouting “hallelujah!” and another part feels like weeping. However, one thing that I do know is that no matter what I feel or what happened “if Thou [God] be glorified” (as the poem in my last post said) we will rejoice.

Today one of my sisters joined my Father and me out at the clinic for her first time. The three of us began our morning with “the Gatekeeper” and another pro-lifer at one clinic. Although we were a bit later than we had planned to be, when we arrived there were only a couple staff there and no customers. Then, through some various events, we learned that they were not doing abortions there today! Praise Jesus! I was so happy that I felt like crying and singing at the same time! We know that the battle at this clinic is not over yet. They will be doing abortions there later this week. But please join us in continuing to pray that days like today would become the norm!

There were two encouraging encounters this morning before we left that clinic. As we were gathering up our things, a truck driver pulling out of the road across from the clinic stopped mid-turn and called out his window “God bless you!” before continuing on. It may have been a “little” thing, but it meant a lot. It was a good reminder to me that it is sometimes the “little” things that mean the most. And then, just as we were getting in our car, another pro-lifer pulled up and introduced us to “E”, a mother who chose life at that clinic about two years ago and her adorable baby boy, “K”. The Lord knew that we would need that encouragement and sent it at the right time!

My sister and I outside an abortion mill with our new sign. (Although it may look like part of the first T is missing, that is only the reflection of the camera flash.)

Since there were no abortions being done at the one clinic, we left early and headed over to another clinic to join the brothers and sisters witnessing there. We were thankful to hear about a couple women who had already chosen life before we got there! We arrived only a short time before the abortionist, but we still had several interactions with the customers.

At one point, two very well-dressed men drove in and went inside the clinic. We were hopeful that they were inspectors and that the clinic would be closed down. Alas, they were with the DHS. You see, we as peaceful, loving, truth-bearing Christians are viewed as a threat to our society. We are dangerous. We are equated with terrorists. Our response? We thank God for every day that we are not being persecuted so that we can continue to share His message of hope. And if we are ever persecuted, we will “rejoice that [we are] considered worthy to suffer shame for His name”!

I want to share one more thing from our day, one of the hardest for me since I began going out to the clinics. One mother that came to the clinic, “A”, was eleven weeks pregnant. She was already on the mobile ultrasound unit when we arrived. She saw her dear little unborn child on there and talked with some ladies. When she came out, she spent a while at her vehicle which was parked in the street behind the ultrasound RV, obviously still undecided. Then she began walking toward the clinic. One of the older men appealed to her. She stopped and listened to him for a few minutes until she finally walked back out onto the street. Over the next hour, he continued to speak to her with such gentle and loving authority as he shared God’s truth and many other things with her.

After about an hour of praying like I’m not sure I’ve ever prayed before, my Father, sister, and I stepped into the conversation and the other brother had to leave. We continued to share with her for another hour. During that time she kept saying, “I just don’t want another baby right now” (she already has two children) and “I just want to make my own decisions”. We shared with her that she didn’t get to choose whether she had another baby right now. That choice was already made. She already has a baby. The only choice she had now was what she was going to do with that baby. We continued to encourage her to just get in her car and drive away and that she needed more time to think about this.

Throughout the conversation her eyes continued to wander toward the clinic. I also noticed that her feet seemed to mirror her thoughts and words. Sometimes they would both be pointed toward the clinic, sometimes both away. Other times one was pointed each way, or she would step closer or further from the driveway. Even though she clearly told us that she knew she wanted to have the abortion, she certainly must have had some kind of indecision because of the way she acted.

In the end, she did go inside the clinic. Her appointment was scheduled for eleven in the morning and it was now two in the afternoon. She wasn’t sure if they would let her keep her appointment, but she said she wanted to go see because she “just want[ed] to get this over with”. Feeling helpless as there was nothing more that we as humans could do, we offered the rest to God and made our way to our car. Just as we were about to leave, however, she came back out to her car and drove away! That was most likely due to them not being able to take her at that point, but whatever the case it will give her time to think about everything that she heard. Please pray for “A” that she would not return. We may never know the outcome of this situation or many others on this side of eternity. But “if Thou be glorified”, it will have been worth everything!

Obedience Is Not Optional

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

~ Matthew 28:18-20

            What would you think if you had a child and when you gave them a command, they didn’t obey unless they felt like it? Or what if they said they needed to think about it, or ask someone else if they should do it? You would probably be aghast! Well, I don’t think Jesus feels any differently. And He has given His children a command: “GO!”

And yet, many times people just simply don’t obey that command because they don’t feel like it. It isn’t convenient or comfortable. And have you ever noticed how many times people say they need to “think about it” or “pray about it”?

Prayer is essential. Jesus prayed very often. But we don’t need to ask God if He wants us to do something that He has already commanded us to do. We may need to ask for specific guidance, and we certainly need to pray as we go. But we never need to pray about whether to go, and we can’t spend very long praying about where and how to go, or we will be disobeying by not going!

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, this command is for you! The practical out-workings will look different for different people, but there is no provision in this verse for being a disciple and not going. Besides, if Jesus really has done something in our life, we will want to tell others!

The following is a message that I heard on this subject that I think is excellent. I would consider it a “must listen”!

The Simple Obedience of Go

[Disclaimer: We can learn a lot from others and I think that is true in the case of this message. The man who gave this message chooses to look the way he does because of the people that he ministers to. However, although I really appreciate his ministry, I do not believe in the idea of being like the world to win the world.]