Born For This

This past Saturday (Sep. 14) was my birthday.

It was also the National Day of Remembrance for the Unborn.

And, come to find out, it was also the birthday of the now deceased Margaret Sanger.

Out of all 365 days of the year, I feel that it must be more than coincidence for all three of those to just "happen" to be on the same day. I mean, there's a 1 in 365 chance that my birthday would be on September 14th. Multiply that by the 1/365 chance that the Day of Remembrance would take place then, multiplied by the chance that Margaret Sanger's birthday would be that day, and...the "chance" of that is astronomical.
One in 48,627,125, if my math is correct.

Why are all those events important? How are they all related?

Well, Margaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood is now the world's largest abortion provider.
Their organization now performs over 900 abortions a day and over 300,000 every year. 
How terribly sad, that a woman who had been given a chance to celebrate her birthday found it necessary to deprive thousands of others of that same right.
I could go on and on about her and her organization, but I guess I'll save that for another time.
Anyway...

This year was the first National Day of Remembrance for the Unborn.
Memorial services took place all over the country at both burial sites of and memorial sites for aborted children.
It was a day to remember what we have lost...and a day to remember why we are fighting this fight.
So that, years from now, we will not be mourning at the graves of aborted children.
We will be celebrating the birthdays of the children who have been given the undeniable right to life.

Lastly was my birthday.
It's important to me that it fell on the same day as these other two events because I feel that I have been called to be a voice.
For those children being aborted.
For those women being deceived.
To remind this country to act on what we claim to believe- that all of our people should have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Because if we can't give all of our citizens the most basic of rights, then all our other rights mean nothing. Without life, there is not liberty. And without life, there is certainly not happiness. 

My birthday falling on that day is important to me because when millions of others weren't born...I was.
I have a voice. I have a heart. I have hands to help. I have a mind to write. I have a passion to fight.
And I feel as if I would be wasting my life if I did not act on this somehow.
I feel angry. I feel heavy-hearted. I feel broken. I feel the need to defend those in danger and fight for them. I feel somewhat like a modern-day Esther.
Her story has always been one of my favorites!
I would really recommend reading the entire Biblical account. To do so, click here*, but I'll try to summarize it the best that I can.

Esther was a Jewish orphan who lived in the citadel of Susa under the reign of King Xerxes. She lived with her cousin, Mordecai, who raised her as his own daughter when her parents died.
Meanwhile, King Xerxes was looking for a new queen...since he had pretty much banished the last one. Many beautiful young women were taken from the surrounding areas with the intention of his choosing one of them as his new queen. Guess who one of them was? Yup, you got it- Esther.
When she was taken, Mordecai forbade her to tell anyone that she was Jewish.
She was taken away from everything she knew and brought to the king's harem to be given "beauty treatments and special food." These preparations took place for months before she was sent to the king. During these long months, Mordecai paced the courtyard outside, staying updated on what was happening with Esther and making sure she was alright.
Finally, the day came for her to stand before King Xerxes.
And, out of all the women he could have chosen, Xerxes made Esther his new queen.
Meanwhile, some scheming royal officials wanted to destroy the entire Jewish nation. They deceived King Xerxes and convinced him to give his seal of approval for their wicked plan. The irrevocable edict, marked with the seal of the king, declared that all the people in the provinces ruled by Xerxes were to attack the Jews, destroy all of them, and plunder all they owned.
When the king gave his approval, he obviously did not realize that he was issuing a death sentence for his new queen, along with all of her people...including Mordecai, who had saved the king's life on a previous occasion.
Speaking of Mordecai...when he saw the edict, "he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly." He went to the king's gate and mourned there. When Esther found out about this, she sent one of the king's eunuchs to find out the cause of Mordecai's grief. "[Mordecai]...gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people." 
When Esther received the message, she sent the eunuch back to Mordecai to tell him this: “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
Mordecai replied, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 
(Insert awesome VeggieTales song! No, I'm serious, you have to listen to it...here.)
So, to make a long and incredible story very short...she went to the king, risking her own life to do so.
But he extended his scepter to her. (Applause erupts :)) 
There's a lot that happens in between this and the end of the book, but eventually he gives her the authority to write another edict, which declares that the Jews have the right to defend themselves, attack and destroy their enemies, and plunder their belongings. 
Some Jews still died. But not all of them. 
Because of Esther's courage, her nation was spared. 
You seriously need to read the whole account, the whole book, because I did not do this amazing story justice. And the thing is...this is not just a story. It's not fiction. It's not a fairy tale. It actually happened. This is real life.

Soooo why do I feel like Esther? I'm not an orphan...I'm not Jewish...I'm not risking my life...and I'm certainly not a queen! 
But I feel like Esther because there is a generation whose lives are at stake. 
I feel like Esther because I ask myself a similar question to what Mordecai asked her: "If I remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for those being aborted will arise from another place, but those being aborted in this generation will perish. And who knows but that you have come to be a voice for such a time as this?"
The Jews in their entirety could have been destroyed if she hadn't been their voice.
I think of the millions being destroyed as you read this...and I have to be their voice.
Some will still die...but not all of them.
And maybe, just maybe...I was born for such a time as this.

~Ashlyn

P.S. For me, there's something so powerful about music...it speaks when words cannot. This song is called "Born For This", and it's the story of Esther in a song. I think it shares the message perfectly. To listen, click here.

*All links to and quotations from Scripture in this post and my other ones are from biblegateway.com. It's a great resource...you should check it out!