Stained Glass Windows

Stained Glass Windows

 The most frequent reasons for women having abortions are the following: 

1.  having a child would interfere with a woman's education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%)

2. that she could not afford a baby now (73%)

3.  and that she did not want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%). 

4. Other reasons given are because their parents' or partners' desire for them to have an abortion.  Younger women often reported that they were unprepared for the transition to motherhood, while older women regularly cited their responsibility to dependents.  Some are cited for the possibility of fetal anomalies.  

While studying this I was struck at the selfishness behind every one of these "justifications".  And then this morning Dad read me a story that restored some belief in people.  

Though there are many selfish people in the world who will stoop to murder, there are others who have chosen a life of unselfishness.  There are others who understand that life is worth protecting and cherishing.  Men and women who have allowed themselves to be channels of mercy and saving grace.  

One such woman is Coru Salchert.  This woman seeks the unwanted.  She deems the broken hurting souls as people worthy of love and life.  Here is a story of selflessness, redemption, and unconditional love.  And by God's grace I hope to be a Cori Salchert in the life God has given me.   


Meet Emmalyn.  A baby who at two weeks was adopted by Slachert, even when she knew this baby girl hadn't long to live.  

Here is their story told by Cori Salchert to TODAY's Terri Peters.

Cori Salchert

Salchert's daughter, Johanna, 22, helps her bathe baby.

Resources:
Guttmacher Presentation
Guttmacher post

REMEMBER THEM!

Please be advised...this post contains graphic images.

Hebrews 13:3 Says, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body."

We are commanded to REMEMBER THEM THAT ARE IN BONDS. I think the Lord had a very good reason why He told us to remember. How often we forget about other people! We get distracted and carried away with life. With work. With schedules. With entertainment. With good things. But there are people, that desperately need to be remembered. And not just to ''send a card and say I'm praying for you'' (although sometimes this may be a very needed and good thing). But that our love would be put into action!

 Here is a short list I've compiled. (Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.) I hope it encourages you to stop and think about someone else. Of why we are here. Of the people HE loves and commands us to love also. Of how important it is that we make time to remember and put our remembrance to action!

 Other Christians, especially those in persecution

 "Brethren, pray for us." (I Thessalonians 5:25)

 "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:"  (II Thessalonians 3:1)

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." (II Corinthians 4:8-11)

http://www.persecution.com/

The Lost

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." (John 4:35)

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:79)

The Widows and Fatherless

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27)

"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." (Romans 15:1-3)

The Voiceless Victims of Abortion

"Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)

"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" (Proverbs 24:11-12)

https://voicesofdissidence.wordpress.com/

http://ahanorthidaho.com/About.html

http://abolishhumanabortion.com/

Tomorrow

"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." (James 4:13-15)

The truth is...you aren't guaranteed tomorrow. Time is either a merciful friend or a deadly enemy. As Christians, we are really good at making "plans". I'll do this or that tomorrow. Procrastination can sometimes just be another fancy word for disobedience. We have such "good intentions" sometimes...but sadly, they never get much farther than that...an intention...and not an active reality in our lives. We say....'I'll give of myself tomorrow. I'll serve the Lord tomorrow. I'll read my Bible tomorrow morning. I'll love my neighbor tomorrow. I'll give food to the homeless or give him a place to stay next time it's convenient. I'll visit the nursing home next week. I'll help the preborn scheduled for abortion later. I'll give a tract to that familiar grocer next time I see him. "I'm sure they'll be another time when someone isn't in line behind me." Or maybe that man sitting beside me on the bus. "I'll catch him later." "I'm in too much of a hurry today to stop and talk to that lonely man sitting on that park bench." I'll stop and make time for others tomorrow. I'll rid my heart of secret sin next altar call at church. I'll let go of bitterness in my life later. I'll forgive that person before he dies. I'll spend time with my family tomorrow night. Or that friend that needs encouragement. I'll open my home to hospitality next meal. Tomorrow...tomorrow...tomorrow. I'll do it all tomorrow.'

I'm only 22 years old...and I've already realized how short my life actually is. Days...months... even years seem to pass by so quickly. It's sobering. I honestly think it is a subtle tool of satan to keep Christians distracted with the things of this world...and to forget the real value of time. To forget that it is precious...as it is short. To forget that tomorrow doesn't belong to us yet. To forget who it really does belongs to. Christ! And that we are His servants...here to do His will. Not our own.

I've decided to start making time for what is most important in my life. I've realized that unless you purposefully choose to take the time...it won't just fall into your lap. Life is short. Tomorrow is unknown. Hell is real. People are dying. Babies are being murdered. People are starving for truth. For love. And there's a heaven with eternal consequences and value.

"And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Romans 13:11-12)

Let's wake up! Let's honestly evaluate our lives! Let's seek the Lord while He may be found! Let's be about our Father's business! Let's understand His will and do it! Whose with me?

National Remembrance Day of Aborted Children

Political/World Issue

Yesterday, September 11th, we hopefully took the time to remember the travesty of 14 years ago, when our nation was attacked and almost 3,000 Americans were killed.  I was recently informed that today, September 12th, is the national Remembrance Day of Aborted Children, where every year in the U.S. over 3,000 babies are aborted every day.  This is not only a travesty but a holocaust.

I believe this post from two guest writers, is both timely and appropriate.  Both share their thoughts on abortion.  I thought it was a blessing, and also a neat contrast to view both a young girl's perspective as well as a woman's.

Do You Love Me?

8 week Embryo 

"I cry out in pain. How could you do this to me? I am your child, your baby girl! But yet you decide to kill me? You think I am just a blob of tissue, really nothing. Something not wanted and easily deposed of. I came by “‘accident” and I am not wanted so why not just kill me? 

I am helpless, defenseless. My only hope is that someone will speak for me, I am voiceless. 

But who will speak for me? Does anyone care? 

I have nothing to hope for but you, a voice for the voiceless. I am voiceless, but will you speak for me? Will you stand up and do what is right? Are you willing to be hated by all? Do you love me enough to care? Will you change my parents mind so that I might live?

                                             

Abortion is a subject that I of course have known about but not until recently have I really understood what it really and truly was. I didn’t even know what Abolition meant until this year. I have had the opportunity to do Abolition work several times this year and it has been truly amazing and eye opening for me. It was amazing being out there holding signs and standing up for what is right, while you are hated by all! They hate you because you are pointing out something the is caused by their actions in life, their decisions. And you're standing up and saying it is wrong. You are truly hated for it. People scream and yell, curse you out and much more. The only reason there is so much opposition is because it is real, it is happening in our Nation today. Every day thousands of babies, real babies, not just blobs of tissue, are being killed. Murdered. But yet no one stands against it? We are the voice for the voiceless! Do we not care that babies are being murdered everyday? Will we not stand for what is right?

This subject has weighed heavy on my mind lately, will you also think about it and think what we are letting happen in our world today without blinking an eye lash? Will we continue to let this happen without saying something?"  T.K.

Unwanted

22 week old Embryo 

"The horror of what has been revealed recently concerning Planned Parenthood and the off-handed way so many people view and accept the murder of innocent lives has been weighing on my heart. As I was thinking and praying, I was inspired to write the following words. I am open to hearing your responses and what you can add to my thoughts:

All living things have a beginning. Without that beginning there can be no further progress, no development, no growth, and the final manifestation of the living creation will never be. Whether plant, animal or insect, life has a beginning – a seed, an action, an outpouring of God’s creative power inherent in every living, growing, changing, miraculous element of the universe we live in. So how can anyone say that the creation resulting from the seed of a man and the egg of a woman is not living from the moment it is begun?

That creation is living, it is growing, it is developing, it is becoming something more, it is a creation in God’s image, it will be a unique creation with infinite possibilities, it will make a difference in the world in which it lives, it has an impact on all who  come to know and love or not love it. What happens, what suddenly causes that precious, living being to be brutally cut off from becoming what it was intended to become? Why is a life suddenly aborted? Why is this living creation of God murdered and destroyed?

Because it was not wanted.

When a woman desires to become pregnant, the news that she is going to be a mother brings joy, brings people together, causes celebration and gratitude and excitement. How many women do you know that refer to their joyously anticipated child as a “fetus” or “embryo” or “blob of tissue”? That child growing within them is their “baby”, their “precious cargo”, their “gift from above” among many other identities! It seems that it is only when the child is not wanted that it suddenly loses its right to life. So, to me, that is what abortion is really all about – the decision of the mother (and in some cases the decision of influential people in the mother’s life*) that she does not desire to be pregnant, does not desire to be a mother, does not desire to give the life within her a chance to grow, to develop into the person God intended. The woman “chooses” to play God. She “chooses” death over life and becomes the killer of her own child, her own flesh and blood.

It deeply troubles me when pro-choice individuals say that pro-lifers are “religious zealots” that want to take away a woman’s rights. They are blinded, they are confused, they are misled. How can they not see the glaring hypocrisy of only valuing the unborn life and protecting it when it is wanted, but choosing to kill that life and even saying it is not of value when it is unplanned or unwanted? The child becomes the innocent victim of a parent’s “freedom to choose”.

What is even more devastating is what the woman must do to be able to live with herself and justify her decision. I don’t believe that any woman ever forgets or dismisses the loss of a child – even if that woman has chosen to decide it was not “human” but just a “mass of cells”. Because we are all created by the same God, we all were made in His image, we all inherently know what is right from what is wrong. Our consciences remind us. We can make excuses, we can listen to lies, we can do whatever it takes to silence that voice within that pleads with us to ask forgiveness, to be at peace with our Heavenly Father.

 I might be wrong, but I believe that underneath all the attempts to justify the prevention of life through the act of abortion (whether it be the mother, the doctor, or anyone condoning or aiding) there is the awareness that something serious, something life-changing has occurred. I believe too that at some point, the reality of what happened will take its toll on those who made those choices. Only asking for and receiving God’s forgiveness will pay for however that toll is collected. If only there were more people, more Christians willing to stand up for life, willing to talk to the women who are afraid or feel trapped by an unwanted pregnancy. They need help understanding the horrors of abortion and that there are other options available to them!*

*Note:  during my volunteer time at a Christian crisis pregnancy center, I encountered young women who were considering abortion because of the pressure of a parent or boyfriend, even husband. But ultimately, the decision is the mother’s. She may have to sacrifice a relationship or seek help, but that is what the crisis pregnancy centers are there to do – support and assist and even, through resources, protect the woman who wants her child despite opposition around her. Adoption, often an overlooked choice, has been the answer for many women who were not able to raise a child. And it is amazing how God will intervene when life is chosen!" D.M.

Toni's Note:

This morning while reading James 1 I was struck with a few thoughts.

Being a hearer of the word is not bad, but, it is only part of our duty.  We hear the word (like when we are in Church for example), but we also are to do His word.  God makes it very clear why.  If we only hear His word we will forget what it is that He wants us to do. (v.25).  Also, hearers only temporarily look at themselves, are convicted, but then go on their way, "straightway forgetting", and doing nothing.  A hearer can seem religious but they deceive themselves -- and his religion is vain.  If we are hearers only, that means our religion is vain.  But "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this -- to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted by the world."  (v.27).  A lot of us seem to focus on being unspotted from the world, but so easily we forget about those in affliction.  It really convicted me.  What am I doing to visit these people in their affliction?  Very little.  I pray the Lord shows me how I can reach them, because it's obvious this isn't a matter of "if" but "how".   I don't only want to remember, I hope to "do".

"...We need to let this spiritual work be done in us quietly and peacefully, not as though it could all be accomplished in a single day.  Furthermore, we need to maintain a balance between learning and doing.  We ought to spend much more time in doing.  If we are not careful, we will spend such a large segment of our lives in gaining knowledge that we shall need another lifetime to put out knowledge into practice.  We are in danger of evaluating our spiritual maturity on the basis of the amount of knowledge we have acquired.  ...This seems to be one of the most common as well as the most serious mistakes which Christian people are liable to make.  God is the giver of knowledge and he desires to have us put it into practice. But the moment we get knowledge, we get so carried away with the delight of having it that we forget there is anything else to be done.  But the fact is we have very little reason to rejoice until we put our knowledge into operation in life.
...Food, lying undigested in the stomach, is not only of no service to the body, but, if not removed, will become harmful.  It is only when it is assimilated and mingled with the blood and works itself out into our hands, feet and head that it can be said to have done us any good.  So to have an understand of Biblical truth in intellect is a matter of Thanksgiving.  But it will only result in our condemnation if it is not cherished in the heart and acted out in life.  ...Not light, but love.  (1 Cor. 13:2)."  ~ Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon

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