They Were All Just Laughing, the Employees Were laughing, and I Had To Leave!

There are those times where I just stand in awe of what God has done, and yesterday was one of those times!

My dear friend and fellow sidewalk counselor Anne and I were ministering at a very busy AWHC
abortuary, pleading with many abortion bound mommy's and those accompanying them.

Anne pleading with mommies!!!

There were many hard hearts, as is the case so often when so close to Christmas, or any holiday for that matter.  

Many dads stood out front smoking their cigarettes making excuses for bringing their women to this place of death.  One young man came and spoke with us and told us his girlfriend had to abort their twins because it was an ectopic pregnancy, which later we found out was false, and he proudly proclaimed to be an atheist. Frankly we knew deep down inside he wasn't being honest about his children who were being led to the slaughter.

Oh how our hearts broke.

Another man told Anne to shut up or he would make her shut up....all at the same time he was watching his baby in the back seat of his car while his wife was inside waiting to have someone kill their other child.

Oh, how our hearts were breaking.

We cried out, we sang, we prayed, we held our signs, we pleaded, we offered help, we shared about Jesus and HIS ways.

And then.....

We noticed a young woman come out of the abortuary and walk up to the security guard, and he grabbed her hands, and we almost wondered if that was his girlfriend as he looked as though he was lovingly consoling her.....which we later found out from her that he was telling her to breathe, and that she could do it...the abortion!

She then got into her car and began to drive out, but not without stopping to speak with Anne, which happened to be standing at the driveway on the drivers side.  I was on the other side of the driveway talking with one of the abortion bound fathers.

Anne spoke for a few minutes with her, and then she pulled out, with Anne speaking loudly to me to me those words all of us long to hear......

"She chose life!  Follow me, we are going to meet her!"

I hurriedly gathered all the signs, and ran after Anne...which, I'm sure must have been a sight!!!

When I caught up, Anne was already talking with the young woman in another parking lot.  I went over, and what I saw broke my heart....this woman was weeping, tears running down her eyes, telling us she could not do this!

We asked if we could take her out to lunch, which she agreed!  Anne & I hopped into her vehicle, and headed down to Panera's which is right up the street, and ended up spending a couple hours with this woman who bore her heart with us....a woman who had no hope, but when she left, had hope, the only hope that can come from Christ!

On the way to the restaurant, I asked her what changed her mind, and she went on to tell us about how everyone was laughing in the waiting room, how the employees were laughing, and babies were dying....she thought it was all wrong, and couldn't stay in there.

She also shared how, on the way to the awhc abortuary, she 'just' happened to run into a video on her instagram of Ben Shapiro, and how he was speaking at a college, and a student asked him about first trimester abortions, and his response startled this mommy's already convicted heart!

She also mentioned that she had never noticed it before, but the whole way there she kept on seeing pro-life billboards, which were other things convicting her on this wrong decision to kill her child.

She also thanked us many times for being there....God was certainly working in her heart mightily.

She later went on to share how she had already had two abortions, after I had shared my testimony about the abortions I had had....it was an amazing confession that she had been carrying around for years.

Her circumstances of this child are severe, which she shared with us, and it will be a mountain to climb, but we shared with her that we will be there with her, but more importantly, God will be with her.

We shared HIS glorious gospel with her, her need for the Savior Jesus, and her heart is so hungry for God, and has been hungry, but she hasn't known what to do or where to go....she has been stuck in sin....a place I once was which I can relate to so much.  

We shared with her, that with a surrendered heart to Christ comes freedom, the only true freedom comes from HIM.

This woman, who was weeping and weeping, who could not understand how God could forgive her for the sins she has committed, was able to hear words of escape through the Almighty, which she has never heard before!  Oh Hallejuah!

Yes, even tonight, I am in awe at what God did, and used two vessels that were broken for the babies being led to death.  He not only comforted this mommy's heart, but HE...the King of Kings touched our hearts....something only HE can do, and for that, we are so extremely thankful to Jesus!

Please keep this mommy, her unborn baby, and her 4 other children in your prayers, as this won't be easy, but with Christ, all things are possible.  And please pray for those of us that will be ministering to her as we enter this journey.

This....this is why we do what we do!!!!!!

All glory to Him, thank you Jesus!

Hugh Hefner Did No Favors for Womanhood!

The other night my daughter asked me if I had heard that Hugh Hefner had died, and my response was no, I had not.

But in that moment, feelings arose within me, and all I could think of was Playboy,  and the sexualization and abuse of women, and how this has manifested into our society and the changes for the negative that have occured.

Personally, for me, I immediately was reminded of the Playboy magazine that was always proudly placed on our coffee tables in the homes I grew up in.  This was the norm for our family, and frankly, I think my brothers and I thought all families had a Playboy magazine staring at them from the family coffee table in the living/family room.

Every month my dad would gleefully pull his treasured Playboy magazine out of the mailbox, (unless my mother got it for him), and rip the cover off, then search through the pages to the pin up section,and let that page fall down, and then stare at whatever nude woman was the Playmate of the month!

Unfortunately, as I grew older, I had more disgust with my mother for standing there and watching her husband gawk over another woman,  and allowing it in front of us children!

I'll never forget the day at the beach when I was just a young girl, the words my dad said to me while I was playing in the sand in my leopard skin bikini that he had bought for me....."You are going to make a great Playboy bunny."

Words have such an impact and unfortunately, I ended up moving out, but engaging in a world of drugs, drinking, fornication, and abortions, (interesting that Hefner had alot to do with the decriminalization of abortion).  

My life swirled into a very, very deep pit, which many times I tried to crawl out of, but never seemed to be able to reach over the top.

Until....on June 29, 1986, when I did not want to live anymore...truly, I really did not want to live, but thank God my grandmother had taken me to her little Lutheran church in Chicago when I was just a little girl....and I learned about hell, and it was so ingrained within me, that I knew I was going to hell, and that it would be much worse then the pit I had dug for myself.

But thanks be to God, on that beautiful morning at 2:00am, the Lord God removed the blinders from my eyes, and HIS kindness led me to repentance.  I was like Paul, and fell off the horse....I was once blind, but now I could see.  It was instantaneous, and I was changed and made a new creation.  I was on fire, and remain on fire for HIM...Christ Jesus!

Yes, Hugh Hefner played a big role in my life, but it wasn't for the good, it was for the detriment, the degradation of my soul, and womanhood....and so many other women I know can relate to what I am talking about.  If not for the Lord God Almighty intervening, I would not be alive today!

Please know that if you can relate similarly with my story, maybe you are involved in fornication, addicted to pornography, you've had abortions, please know that when you confess these deep sins, when you cry out and repent of them, God is able to pick you up out of these very deep pits, forgive

you, and bring freedom, the freedom that can only come from HIM and HIM alone.  

As Corrie Ten Boom said...."There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still!"

Thank you Jesus, for your great love for me, and thank you for the beautiful gift of repentance, that you so kindly give!

"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

Romans 2:4

Please Don't Be the Cause of A Fatality!

While Floridians awaited the fury of Hurricane Irma, knowing the damage and lives already taken in the islands, they began to hunker down and get ready for this monster of a storm with much anticipation and dread.

Unfortunately, and sad to say, there was a mad rush to the abortuaries just prior to this catastrophic storm by women, wanting to hurry up and have their little baby boys and girls killed by abortion!

As Allura and I pleaded with the women, we urged them to not be the cause of a fatality, which were horrifically taking place due to Irma.  We exhorted them to leave this dark place of death with their child still snug in their womb, and prepare for the Hurricane.

Allura stood at the driveway with car after car driving in to this parking lot, crying out, offering help, pleading for the life of these innocent children.

"At this time when everybody is in survival mode, you've come to a place that kills precious little innocent children, children who were created in the image of God, and should enjoy the same rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that you enjoy!" 

I stood in the back pleading as well, with those hanging out smoking their cigarettes, or exiting their cars.

I urged a young man that had been hired to hang the storm shutters, to refuse to do business with a place that dismembers or poisons to death innocent human beings.  He told me that God had blessed him with this job because he needed money so bad.....and that he was a Christian!  I told him that that was not a blessing, and if he did the work for them, he would be receiving blood money, and bring a curse instead of a blessing.  He told me that he thought what we were doing was good, but that he had to do this job;  I told him, "You will remember this day....the day I pleaded with you not to have anything to do with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them....but you chose not to expose them, but instead, to take part in the evil.....you will remember this day!"

Our hearts wept watching woman after woman walk into those doors in a hurry to get this deadly deed over with, so that they could make it home in time for the storm!

Around 15 little babes lost their lives that day right before Hurricane Irma; dismembered, decapitated, disembowelled or poisoned in the womb.....but you won't hear about that in the news; their little lives will be tossed into the Apopka dump with the rest of the innocent little ones who had no voice.

May we weep for the children, and may we remember these little ones who lost their lives during Hurricane Irma.

I'm a Christian, But In This Case, It's the Right Thing To Do!

"Sir, please get your woman out, be a rescuer today, save your little baby boy or girl!  Your baby is a precious gift from God!"

"There is free help available, please go back inside and be the man that God has called you to be, a protector of women and children!"

These were some of the many offers of help and pleas to rescue the innocent child of an abortion bound father who had come with his girlfriend to the Planned Parenthood abortuary the same day as our last Jesus Loves the Little Children Day.

"Whatever we can do to help, let us help you,"  were the words of one of the fathers who had brought his family out to stand for life and to be a voice for the voiceless.

"You don't understand our situation, there is no way we can afford this baby, this is what we have to do....we don't want to do it, but we have to!"  These were some of the words that came from the father of the baby scheduled to die, among so many other reasons to have his child killed.

"Sir, would you say that you are a Christian, do you believe in Jesus?" Questioned one of the sidewalk counselors.

"Yes, I am a Christian, but in this case, it's the right thing to do!"  was his reply!

With shock, many of us responded telling him, no, God would never want one of His precious babies killed, you must rescue this baby!  Go back in now and get your girl out!

Sandra, one of the sidewalk counselors than shared how her family had been in extremely similar circumstances, but how they had chosen to trust God completely.  She shared with passion, that yes, there were trials, but God always has and had provided, and if he would completely put his trust in Christ, that HE would provide, that you just have to trust and put your faith  in HIM and not the circumstances.

Well, the father did go back inside, but he didn't come out, not until the end when we were all leaving, he came out of the abortuary door with his girlfriend, who was crying.

He let us know that the abortion had begun, and that the laminaria had been inserted, (a seaweed that is inserted into the cervix to help dilate).  We knew then that this was a later term abortion, so we began to let her know that the laminaria could be removed, and to please let us help her.

As they drove off, our hearts broke for that baby, and for them and we began to pray that God would protect that baby, and change their hearts; that if they really were Christians, that God would convict their hearts, and send a spirit of repentance upon them.

Shortly after they drove off, Sandra, the counselor who had encouraged the father to put his whole trust in God remembered that the father had given the name of the church the couple attended, so she called their pastor.

Amazingly when the pastor answered the phone to speak with her, he actually had the name and phone number of the aborting mom in his hand!!!!!  And when he heard where she and her boyfriend had been he was filled with sorrow, and said that he would try to meet with them immediately!  He was very thankful Sandra had called him!

We all again began to pray that God would use this pastor to save this baby, and continued praying throughout the afternoon!

The next morning, thank the Lord there was a text on the ministry phone from the couple telling us that they had the lamanaria removed last night!  Oh the thankfulness and joy that came upon all of us...thanksgiving unto the Lord God Almighty!

Thankfully, we had given the father one of our brochures the day prior at Planned Parenthood, and showed him our phone number.....thank the Lord he kept that brochure and we were able to find out that they had removed the lamanaria!

I immediately returned the text, and we made arrangements to meet for lunch that day, which we did, a few hours later.

As Sandra and I sat with this couple, they explained that shortly after they had left Planned Parenthood, they received a phone call from their pastor, who wanted to meet with them immediately, which they agreed to have the pastor and his wife come to their house early that evening.

Through their meeting that evening, God used this pastor and his wife to rescue this precious baby, and not only that, to encourage them to do the right thing and get married, letting them know they would help them through this time!

After the pastor and his wife left, the couple went to the emergency room and had the lamanaria removed, and the baby was fine, the heart was beating strong, and things looked good!

They told us, that they repented of the very thought of killing their child, and there was much weeping from this mommy!

We asked her how far along she is, and ashamedly she said, 5 months, "I can't believe I was going to do this to my baby!"

We spent a couple hours with this couple, and then they left for a follow up appointment to see how she and the baby were doing.

Frantically a few hours later, this mommy, who just the day before was planning to have her child killed, was crying telling us that her cervix had dilated and her muscous plug was coming out, and had fear that she was going to lose the baby!

We told her that we would call one of the doctors in our area that helps, and would see if we could get an appointment for her, which, as soon as we contacted this incredible doctor he said that he could see her the following day!

We began a prayer chain, and prayers began to sore to the Lord God Almighty, pleading with HIM to close this cervix and to keep this baby safe!

Well, praise be to God when the mommy went to see the doctor the next day, miraculously the cervix

had scabbed over and sealed....the baby was safe and snug in her womb!  Hallejuah to the King of Kings!

We are in awe of what God has done, and this is such an example of the body of Christ working together for the sake of a babe.....all working for the life of an innocent child, and being the hands and feet of Jesus!

God truly did a miracle, and HE gets all the glory, honor and praise!  To HIM be the Glory!

Now, we plan to attend their wedding, and continue to walk through this season with them....please remember to pray for them, and their precious child!

God is good all the time!!!!

I'm So Relieved I Didn't Do It!

"I've tried talking her out of it, the whole way from Fort Myers I asked her not to do it"

These were the words of a very broken man who had pleaded with the mother of his child to please not have the abortion that was scheduled, as they drove the over 3 hour drive to get to Planned Parenthood of Orlando.

As I stood talking to him through his car window in the driveway, I could see how devastated this young man was, with so much pain in his eyes after trying to save his child.  

As I was speaking with him I noticed that they had a handsome, young son sitting in his car seat in the back, with big brown eyes staring at me, as if he knew the urgency of the situation.

One of the men who had come for our Jesus Loves the Little Children Day that Tuesday, came over to the car with his beautiful little girl, and said, "We are with you brother, whatever we can do to help, we will do it!"  His daughter, in near tears said, "Please let the baby live, let this baby live!"

We gave the father a brochure and encouraged him to try again, which he agreed to do with tears in his eyes.

Before he pulled out,. we told him that we would be praying for his child, and that God would touch his wife's heart, and with that he pulled out, continually thanking us for being there and for what we were doing.

Immediately, we gathered the children together, and began praying, crying out to the Lord to have mercy on this innocent baby, and to save this child.  The children's prayers were beautiful and heartfelt as they pleaded with the Lord to save this baby, and touch this mommy's heart!  

The father who had approached the car began to pray, "Lord, please use a relative, a family member, to save this child."

We continued to pray for this situation for the remainder of the time we were ministering, and right before we were getting ready to leave, a young man was standing out front and began mocking us.

His final words to us were, "You are just wasting your time!"

Well, we know that isn't true, and a couple minutes later, a young lady came walking out the front door of the abortuary.  Instead of walking to the parking lot, she began to walk toward us.

Sandra, a fellow sidewalk counselor and friend said, "She's crying, tears are falling down her face!"

And then, the words we long to hear....."I didn't do it, I couldn't do it!  I'm 18 weeks along, I'm so far along, I couldn't do it."

And with that, she lifted up the picture of her sonogram and showed us her beautiful child;  the picture so clear, that we could see intricate details of this child that came so close to the slaughter.

Sandra and I then asked if we could hug her, and she gladly let us hug and hold her in our arms while she cried.  At that point our friend Diana came over and was hugging her as well....it was a beautiful moment, one I will never forget!

She then said, "I'm so relieved, I didn't do it!  I didn't know I would feel this way, but I am so relieved and feel so good!"

We asked her if she would like us to take her to the pregnancy center, to which she let us know that the father of her baby was on his way to pick her up, and that they had driven from Fort Myers, and needed to get back!

I said to her, "I spoke with someone from Fort Myers today, wait, you are who we have been praying for!  We have been praying for you, and he is going to be so happy, he didn't want you to have the abortion!!!!  She agreed that, yes it was true, he didn't want her to have the abortion!

She went on to tell us that someone had given her one of our brochures before going inside PP, and while she waited, she had read through the pamphlet, and then when finding out she was 18 weeks along, she googled on her phone to see if her baby had finger prints, to which of course she found out her child indeed had fingerprints!

She then asked for the picture of her sonogram, and called her father, who had no idea she was there.  She confessed what she had been planning to do, and right away he said, "That is my grandbaby, you can not do this, you must leave!"  To which she did!

The prayer that had been prayed about a relative/family member helping to save this baby was answered!!!!!  Oh how great our God is!!!!

At that moment, her ride was there, she hugged us again, thanking and telling us how much she appreciated us, and then walked fast up to the daddy of their baby, and showed him the picture, crying.

He held out his arms, and she sunk into his chest weeping; it was a sight you see in the movies!  He then put his hands on her face and looked into her eyes and gave her a gentle kiss, and then walked her to the door, opened it, and helped her get in.  

He looked at us, and we all had our thumbs up, while he kept saying thank you, it was so amazing, and we were on cloud nine, thanking the Lord God Almighty for having mercy on this baby!

They began to drive out, and we met them at the driveway, saying our good-byes, to which she allowed us to hug her again, and he was just all smiles.

Oh happy day!  It was just one of those times, that will be etched upon all of our minds!  Our God is great and greatly to be praised!

This is yet another reason why it is so important to be in front of these places of death, being that voice for the voiceless, exposing the evil deeds of these places, rescuing those led to the slaughter, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  

Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers, and thank you Lord for all that came out last Tuesday to be your hands and feet, to share the true love of Christ at this very, very dark place....To God be the Glory, for HE has done great things!