Tang

is like drinking skittles

Potpourri

Wonderful day out in front of Planned Parenthood today..
Great encouragment...
Received a blessing from a young priest who was out there...
Prayed the Rosary for life...
Hmmm...yeah, just a lot of Catholic Love out on Liberty Ave,
Jon remarks:
What is all this popery I am smelling..and not the kind with pine cones.

Venting

[I received this in an email from my mom recently when I asked her to write me about the circumstances of my birth]

Doctor to my mom when she was pregnant with me: "Michele, you are so young and it might be the best thing."

WOW. I can't think of a line that has made my jaw drop so low. The BEST thing. How does this doctor know what the BEST thing is? Is he God? Is he the arbiter of life and death? of MY life and death? Is is best that I should have died at his hands, on his table, to his financial credit?
Is it best that I am not alive, not a wife to my husband Jon, not a daughter to my parents, not a sister to Natasha or Billy, not a cousin or an aunt or a gradndaughter or a niece or a godmother ? Is it best because my mom was 19 and that made my life less beautiful, less worthy.
Is this HIS decision to make?
Is it my mom's? My dad's?
No.
It's neither. It was God's decision and He made it, and THAT is what's best. BOOM.
Amen.

You know
I have to wonder about
Pro-abortion Ob-Gyns...
"Oh, I see, you're 6 weeks along. Do you want to terminate your pregnancy?" "Really, I think you are so young; it would be best"

It's like an optomestrist who says,
"You know, we really don't need to worry about this eye exam, I can just gouge your eyes out and then you won't ever have to deal with vision again."

Or a nutritionist, " Oh, so you need some help with healthy eating, let's just scrape your intestines -- really it's for the best." "What? another alternative? Why consider them when I am offering you the best one?"

Or a dentist, "Oh, wow, your teeth are pretty stained. Let's just remove them and then you can use bright white dentures for the rest of your life." "Oh, you're only 18, well, all the more reason to get dentures now." Huh?

*Really, I can't think of anything more counterintuitive than a doctor who is trained in prenatal care and delivery to suggest an abortion.

I also find it ironic, when thinking about ob-gyns, that "to doctor" something means to "to alter something." Interesting.

Love is like..

Crisp Autumn leaves
that shine and crunch under giddy feet
and fly up to your face
when the wind comes ---to blow soft air around
your Entire Self ---

And love is all you feel
when those giddy feet
rush toward You
through golden piles
And drag you down to play
On the October earth

__________________________________________
Enjoy Autumn all you lovebirds out there....

Ode to Learning

In high school, you read some books.

In college, you read a lot of books.

In graduate school, you read books about books.

And, for your PhD, you write books about books about books.

My thoughts today

As we are standing in front of Planned Parenthood in Pittsburgh...

1. Got flipped off by a man in a cool silver car with loud music (remind sister not to date any man who would flip off pro-lifers --doesn't make for a good father one day)

2. Same woman as last time passes by and delicately says "God bless you" to me and Jon (thank you Jesus for this woman and her meaningful support just in saying hello to us, i.e. not everyone wants to burn us with their cigarettes as they walk by)

3. Drunken man decides to come up and chat with us about our intentions and how he believes women should have a choice. I respond that the baby is already alive, the choice is whether the baby is born. He tells us that he has three children but wants to drink himself to death, and I remind him that he is special and that there is no one else like him. He says that we have an answer for everything, little does he know it is God who uses the weak and puts mercy in their hearts and the necessary words in their mouths. We asked him to come back and join us sometime at our vigil. He laughs and walks away....I do expect him back. After all, he did say that we had 'all the answers.'

There is so much that goes on when you are praying for the unborn and praying for each woman who enters and leaves these clinics. I am very grateful for these moments when we can get close to the cross and hold on tight. I even delight in being flipped off or figuratively spat on. It is wonderful to suffer for our unborn babies. I am also encouraged just knowing that there are so many others uniting their prayers to the 40 Days for Life.
Okay, time to make cookies for my husband so he has paper-writing food.

Now, Who Can Make a Bird?

This seems a most appropriate feast day to share a memory that I have of my grandpa. I can remember many times during my childhood, teenage years, and even into my twenties that my grandpa would point to a bird and with a face full of wonder and delight, ask me "Now, look Lauren, who can make a bird but God?"

It may be a simple story but it has lasting sweetness for me. Whenever I see a single bird or a family of them flying swiftly through the air, I think of my grandpa and his faith and humility before God. Birds are a tremendous gift!


St. Francis: "My brothers, birds, you should praise your Creator."



St.Francis, pray for us.

A Couple Updates for 40 Days for Life (that I foudn encouraging)

GREENVILLE, SC:

The beautiful Christian people who have come together
with overwhelming generosity of their time and talents
to join together in this, especially the few good men
covering the night hours. A shooting star appeared
directly over our clinic as 4 men were praying there
one night. A motorcycle roared up one night and the
rider in full black Harley gear got off and sauntered
over to the 2 men there. He huskily asked what they
were doing. They told him. He responded, "Oh, yeah, I
heard about that on Catholic radio." And he has since
pulled two all-nighters! Our abortionist talked to us
respectfully and we are praying hard for him.

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX:

The greatest impact 40 Days For Life has in Corpus
Christi, TX is to re-enkindle the zeal of many persons
since our Rescue days in the early 90's, and for
individuals who were not born then to join us in the
greatest cause of this counry & the world, and that we
will never stop our efforts to save innocent human
life.

BUFFALO, NY:

The greatest blessing so far has been the hope and
excitement that seeing young people show up at the
clinic gives the veterans who have been there
tirelessly for years.

Choice? http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog

From 40 Days for Life Blog:

* In College Station, TX, Planned Parenthood put up a
huge black tarp across their fence to block their
customers from seeing prayer volunteers or talking
to sidewalk counselors. What ever happened to giving
women a choice?

* In many locations across the country, Planned
Parenthood has launched its laughable "Pledge-a-
Picketer" campaigns, attempting to dissuade 40 Days
for Life prayer volunteers from coming out by
trying to convince them that they are actually
raising money for the abortion chain.

* In the media, Planned Parenthood has tried to
falsely portray 40 Days for Life volunteers as
violent, threatening, harassing, and hateful. For
anyone who has been out to a 40 Days for Life vigil,
you know that is the exact opposite of the truth...
but for a business that makes millions by killing
people, lying isn't difficult either.

Sadly, today at 10 a.m., a 22,000 square-foot abortion mega center was opened in Aurora, Illinois.

"In His great mercy, the Lord has given us an
opportunity to be truly faithful -- to continue to
trust in him even more deeply as we face the sorrow
of this day."

"So let us be sorrowful -- we must feel sorrow on
this day -- but let that sorrow rest upon a firm
foundation of hope. Let our refrain this day be:
'Jesus, we trust in you!'"

We are not to despair, but instead are called to look
to the future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11-12)