October 15, 2011
Yesterday I was at the Flagstaff, Arizona 40 Days for
Life campaign -- where
they have gotten some excellent
coverage from local media.
In fact,
40 Days for Life continues to get great media
coverage from local newspapers
and TV stations.
These reports are getting the word out to people who
otherwise might not know about the campaign -- and who
might not even
know that abortion is such a serious
problem in their own home
towns.
Here’s a rundown of several of those
stories.
-------------------------------------------------------
LITTLE
ROCK,
ARKANSAS
-------------------------------------------------------
Mary
Pate, the 40 Days for Life coordinator for Little
Rock, was part of a
lengthy live report aired by KHTV,
the local CBS affiliate.
She
called 40 Days for Life a peaceful attempt to
change people's hearts and
minds.
"There are many victims to abortion; it's not just the
child,"
she said. "Women are hurt by abortion as well
and we feel like that once
women learn that there are
alternatives to abortion when they are in a
crisis
situation, they will make a better decision."
Mary also
countered the pro-abortion argument that
abortion is healthcare. "It's not a
simple procedure
and the pain doesn't end the day they leave the abortion
clinic," she said. "There could be a lifetime of pain
and regret and
guilt."
For a link to the KHTV video, please go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393
-------------------------------------------------------
LUFKIN,
TEXAS
-------------------------------------------------------
Local
coordinator Michelle Reynolds was quoted in a
Lufkin News story about 40
Days for Life.
"I'm a normal person just like everyone else, but I've
seen the effects of abortion -- my friends, my past
experiences with
Planned Parenthood and myself -- they
bring them to a clinic to get help and
they're not
getting the help that is needed. I've seen the hurt
they can
cause," she said.
Rev. Mark O'Neill, pastor of Lufkin's Covenant
Presbyterian Church, told the reporter, "Planned
Parenthood is the
largest provider in the country.
We want to pray here and pray that the Lord
would have
mercy on our country and cause people to see that
abortion is
the taking of another human life."
For a link to the Lufkin News article,
please see:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393
-------------------------------------------------------
FLAGSTAFF,
ARIZONA
-------------------------------------------------------
The
Flagstaff Daily Sun spoke to Sam Copeland, who
heads up the local 40 Days
for Life campaign, at their
vigil location outside Planned
Parenthood.
"It's a spiritual issue. It's not a political battle,"
Sam said. "It's peaceful."
He said for the most part, participants
are members of
local evangelical Christian churches. They would like
to
see Planned Parenthood stop performing abortions --
and in the case of
locations that do not actually
perform abortions, to stop referring women to
other
locations that do.
For a link to the Flagstaff Daily Sun
coverage, go to:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393
Here's
today's devotional from Randolph Sly of the
National Pro-life Religious
Council...
-----------------------------------------------------
DAY
18 INTENTION
-----------------------------------------------------
We
pray for a flowering of the joy of
parenthood.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------
Behold,
children are a heritage from the Lord, the
fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the
hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's
youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of
them; they shall not be ashamed,
but shall speak with
their enemies in the gate.
-- Psalm
127:3-5
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION
by Randolph
Sly
-----------------------------------------------------
I still
vividly remember the day my first child was
born. As she came into the world
I gazed upon the
most beautiful little baby I'd ever seen.
Later I was
driving home from the hospital for a
shower and a fresh change of clothes
when a song came
on the radio, "The Men in My Little Girl's Life" --
a
ballad about being a father as he watches his
daughter grow through
childhood to womanhood.
I wept as I listened, knowing those years would
go by
very fast... and they did.
Being a father, whenever I read the
Psalm quoted
above I'm always captivated by one word - "heritage."
It
basically means "something passed down from a
preceding
generation."
That little girl I watched being born and wept for is
not
mine to give to God like a product of our
fertility, but rather His, which he
has entrusted to
us. So are all her siblings.
My wife and I share a
great treasure: precious lives,
which are placed in our lineage that His life
with us
might be perpetuated.
To the psalmist, this was a blessing
from the
Lawgiver, God Himself, who blessed Israel with
another generation
intended to continue their
covenantal promise.
For us in Christ, it is
his gift of succeeding
generations for His Church and her
families.
These days I'm looking upon my grandchildren, and
rejoicing
that my children and their spouses will
pass on the greatness of Christ's
gospel to them and
thus will continue the work of God in the world. What
a
blessing. What a
heritage!
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------
Heavenly
Father, please keep me from taking for
granted the gift of children. Help us
to remember
this heritage that you have given us. Make us
faithful
stewards of these precious lives, that each
generation might be raised in the
nurture and
admonition of the Lord. We ask this through Jesus
Christ our
Lord,
Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE
DEVOTIONAL
-----------------------------------------------------
To
download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with
friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2011day18print.pdf
-----------------------------------------------------
For
Life,
Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
PS:
Has 40 Days for Life affected you? If it has,
please leave a comment on
today's blog entry:
http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2393