'We Declare that Mothers are Heroes'

That was The Washington's Post's headline yesterday. Other comments from other news organizations said, "In a pivotal year in the legal battle over abortion, crowds estimated at over 100,000 of anti-abortion activists gathered in Washington, D.C., on Friday for the annual March for Life that featured President Donald Trump as the first sitting president to appear in person at the event in its 47-year history." I heard the sound of a heavenly army of angels singing "Glory to God in the highest!" Calling it a “profound honor" to be the first president to attend, he said that "unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House," citing his own actions. Of course the other side sites his words are for politcal gain, I wouldn't care if he was. He's putting his words to action.

My post today is dedicated to heroes of a different kind. They are the ones who put actions to their words. They, “literally” walk-the-walk, NOT, just talk-the-talk. I can’t begin to thank God enough for being alive to see God's love-in-action like I saw in those supporting the right to life yesterday. Lovers love by fearless, uncompromising love-in-action actions. Can’t you see what love looks like in these marchers? And, our President? Well, his actions are speaking for themselves. Who would want to be on a side that doesn't defend life? I can’t put it into better words than what Tulsa’s Bishop David Konderla says here:

“You are my heroes! You inspire me and make me proud! You are young and old, but mostly young, carrying the future in your pockets. You come from all over the country enduring long bus rides and trips in cars and sleepless nights. You brave freezing cold and possible rain or snow, standing and walking for hours. Many call you the Pro-Life Generation; I call you heroes. You come to witness and to celebrate and to mourn and pray.

Witness to the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. Celebrate the turning of the tide of our nation as we grow in numbers and move ever closer to overturning the stain that is Roe v Wade. Mourn for the lives lost and the hearts of parents broken because of a choice they wish they could take back. Pray for the healing of all and the conversion of those who still cling to the tired, old propaganda of choice. How sad for them, growing old and facing the end of their lives or political careers trying to defend the indefensible. How could anyone plan to explain to God that to the end of their life they clung stubbornly to the idea that freedom means being able to take the innocent lives of those He loves?

You are going to win! But you won’t win through marches. Marches are for witness and celebration and mourning and prayer. You will win through lives committed to God, the giver of life. You will win through the timeless beauty of modesty and chastity which prepare the heart and the soul for faithful marriage open to the gift of all the children that God desires to give. These children raised to know and love God and coming in ever greater numbers will be heroes too and will take their faith and their place in the public square and will win our nation for life. So march, heroes of life, and live Godly lives and receive the blessings of God and the thanks of a grateful nation.”

The Right to Abundant Life

The Right to Abundant Life
Today marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade legal decision, issued on January 22, 1973, that legalized abortion in the U.S. I wanted to take my thoughts a step further than the two March for Life videos that I posted last week of hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates, many of whom were high school and college students, marching to defend the rights of the unborn.

I am a woman (so clearly I am pro-women) and I’m a Christian who believes in life at conception to the grave, so clearly I am Pro-Life. I am so proud of those who marched for life last week. I was thrilled to see them carrying signs that read “Choose love, Choose life,” “I am the pro-life generation". God bless President Trump for announcing during the march that he will reject any efforts by pro-abortion leaders in Congress to weaken pro-life laws. He said, ” If they send any legislation to my desk that weakens the protection of human life, I will issue a veto and we have the support to uphold those vetoes.”

I don’t get on a soapbox when it comes to political issues, but when it comes to the sanctity of life, I can’t stay silent. In this case, silence is not golden! I’m not qualified to speak to the scientific debates and arguments going on between the pro-life and pro-abortion camps so I won’t attempt to go there. But I do believe I am qualified to provide what God says from His Holy Word that undergirds pro-life and right-to-life arguments.

1) I am pro-life because men and women are made in the image and likeness of God. "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26). God’s choice at the time of creation. One of the Ten Commandments is: “You shall not kill.” (Exodus 20:13). Why? Remember, God has made man in His image. Abortion is the calculated taking of a life created in God’s image.

2) I am pro-life vs. pro-choice because God is the author and giver of life. "You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” (Nehemiah 9:6) "Life comes from God; God is for life — that is, God is “pro”-life.

3) I am pro-life because the alternative is death. "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) The abortion industry is a culture of death. The sanctity of life movement is a culture of life. What a contrast!
• God says, “Choose life!” That is God's "choice" — life!
• Death is an enemy! Post-abortion counseling reveals that many women have been traumatized by the later realization that by having an abortion they have opted for death rather than life for their unborn babies.

4) I am pro-life because there is abundant evidence in the Bible that God looks upon unborn children in the womb as human persons, with human emotions. "At that time Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice, he exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped FOR JOY. (Luke 1:39-44). John
the Baptist, while still in his mother’s womb, “leaped for joy” as Mary, pregnant with Jesus, approached.

5) I am pro-life because every child in the womb has the potential for being used by God to declare His love and to serve Him. "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5) God called Jeremiah to his future ministry as a prophet before he was born.

6) I am pro-life because children are a God-given blessing, a source of happiness, a reward and a heritage from God. “Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him. (Psalm 127:3-5)

Two naive, young and completely unskilled in parenting, my husband and myself, started our family at ages 18 and 19. I continually thank God for my two biological children and my two children they married, and my seven grandchildren. I pray for them all daily. Indeed, “The fruit of the womb is God’s reward” (Psalm 127:3). They are a heritage from God, a reward from Him, a God-given source of blessing and happiness. How could anyone think anything otherwise?