They Are Waiting

Throughout today and this week I have heard one word consistently repeated, and with a great heaviness:

Obamacare.

Socialized, federally operated medicine.
And with it, above all interests political and personal, one resounding horror has been growing and weighing on my heart and mind.
That my tax dollars will be going to fund the one thing I hate most and have sworn my life to seeing ended:
The merciless murder of innocent lives that is abortion.

This thing God has burdened my heart with.
This purpose has He set my life apart for.

And my heart was beginning to despair...
Shame on me!
I had forgotten- I let my eyes wander to the waves of wickedness around me and taken them off of Christ. I was beginning to sink, when He breathed the sweetest hope back into my soul.

He told me, reminded me-
That the Lord in Heaven laughs at the works of evil men. He sees their end, and He has the victory!
And through Christ this victory is mine!!

Oh, fellow fighters of this good fight! Fellow soldiers in this battle for the lives of the unborn! Hear this beautiful truth:
Abortion may be legal.
You may be forced to pay for it.
But if those girls are being told the TRUTH, and shown the Love of God for them and the precious life that grows inside them,
It. Won't. Matter.
If they KNOW that they carry a BABY, not a clump of cells and tissue,
If they SEE that they are loved, and their baby is loved,
That they have worth and PRICELESS VALUE in Our Heavenly Father's eyes,
And that their baby will be loved and cared for, one way or another, through motherhood or adoption,
That above all CHRIST JESUS loves them and gave Himself for them, dying on a cross to redeem them from their sins,
Many of them WILL CHOOSE LIFE for their baby!!

I have to tell you about a dream I had the other night.
I dream quite a lot, and usually pretty vividly, but this one was unlike the dreams I usually have, and I know it was from God.
I dreamed my whole life.
I could see things past, things going on presently, and some things in the future.
I saw me working for my family business, and going to a new church and making friends- all of which are things I am doing right now.
I saw me talking to old friends, and I had to let go...say goodbye, to some people. And it was hard, but the Lord was standing behind me as I did, and I felt that He had His hand on my shoulder, turning me away from those things or people I was saying goodbye to, and turning me towards a new life, and new people.
And suddenly I was standing in a brightly colored room, looking down into a baby crib.
There in the crib a baby girl was laying. She was beautiful- with large, bright eyes and dark hair, and was wearing a pink dress, with soft pink boots and a pink bow in her hair. She couldn't have been more than a couple months old, if that. Certainly nowhere near old enough to talk! But she turned and looked at me, stretched out her tiny hand and said, "Don't forget us."

My heart broke.
I had become so wrapped up in how busy my life was, that while I had not forgotten this campaign, I will confess to you that it had been pushed to my back burner somewhat lately. And while I've been feeling quite convicted about it, I still kept pushing it off and procrastinating...
And there, in that dream, God snapped my heart back to attention. And intention.
I had not stopped working, but I had ceased to be intentional.
I had not stopped praying, but I had lost the fervor and burning passion that made me start this thing in the first place.
And I need to confess that publicly.
And apologize. To the Lord, first and foremost, and then to those precious little ones who are waiting for me!
They have no voices, but I hear them.
I hear them and my heart feels their searing pain...as their lives are severed from them, and their mothers look at me with their broken, hurting souls .
Waiting for me.
To speak for them and to them.
To pray for their salvation- from death, and from an eternity without Christ!
To fight that they might know the truth and be spared!

Some of them are waiting for you.

One

Since this campaign is all about birthdays, I figured it would be appropriate to wish a "happy birthday" to someone whom I consider to be an important influential figure.
Can you guess who it is? Here are a few hints...

• He's turning 26 today.
• He was born in the Philippines where his parents were missionaries.
• He raised money to support an orphanage in the Philippines and his foundation is currently working to build a children's hospital there. 
• He is a football star & the first college sophomore to win the Heisman trophy.
• He is most famous, in my opinion, for writing John 3:16 on his eye black for a big game. Because of that bold statement, at least 92 MILLION people looked up that verse and read the gospel in a nutshell.

That last hint probably gave it away, so...

Happy birthday, Tim Tebow!

If you're not a Tebow fan, then just hang with me for a few minutes, okay? I promise there is more to this post than applauding his accomplishments.

Do you realize that by the world's standards and the norm of our culture, he shouldn't even be alive?

Pam Tebow became pregnant with Tim when she and her husband, along with their four older children, were ministering in the Philippines.  She became severely ill with a case of amoebic dysentery. As a result of the sickness and the strong medicine she had been given, the doctor told her that the only way she would survive was to have an abortion. The doctor insisted that it wasn't even a baby anyway- merely a mass of fetal tissue, a tumor. But Pam and her husband, Bob, remained firm in their conviction that "God doesn't make mistakes." They refused to abort, even in the midst of such difficult circumstances. God blessed their faith by giving them a healthy baby who has grown up to share the good news of the gospel with thousands.

And I can't help but wonder...what if she had chosen an abortion? Would the orphanage that he supported in the Philippines have shut down? Would a children's hospital have been built there? Perhaps the greatest implication is that over 92 million people have heard the gospel because of this one man's boldness. What if he hadn't been alive to share it with them?

These are the implications that could have resulted from one child being aborted. ONE.
Oh, I shudder to think of the statistic we have created in the names of  "choice" and "convenience."
To think of the lives that we have cut short. The potential we have wasted. The God-given talent we have thrown away. The miracle of life that we decided should not even exist.

I want you to take a minute and try to wrap your mind around this.

Fifty-five million.
FIFTY-FIVE million.
Fifty-five MILLION.
FIFTY-FIVE MILLION!
55,000,000.
55 MILLION.

No matter how many times and ways I type it, I can't even comprehend a number this great.
Fifty-five million...and that's in the United States alone.
Fifty-five million...and three thousand are added to that number every day.

And I'm not only talking about the children.

That's fifty-five million women who are walking around in darkness.
Fifty-five million women feeling alone and ashamed.
Fifty-five million women who will never know the love of their child.

And I am only one. As I write this, there is a physical pain in my heart. At times, I have stopped and put my head in my hands. I want nothing more than to see this ended, but how? No matter what I do, I can't bring those fifty-five million babies back from the dead. I can't reach every single woman who has ever had an abortion. I'm only one person. How much can I do?

I am so challenged by the simple but profound words of Katie Davis (I wish I could tell you all about her, but I'll save that for another time). I hope that this inspires you to pursue the passion/responsibility God has put on your heart, no matter how impossible it may seem: "I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person. And if one person sees the love of Christ in me, it is worth every minute. In fact, it is worth spending my life for."


Follow us on twitter- twitter.com/bdays4babies
Follow Tim on twitter- twitter.com/TimTebow
Follow Katie on twitter- twitter.com/katieinuganda
Buy Tim's book- "Through My Eyes" on Amazon
Buy Katie's book- "Kisses from Katie" on Amazon


Information resources

Wikipedia article/Tim Tebow
LifeNews article by Randy Alcorn about Tim Tebow
YouTube interview with Pam & Bob Tebow
"Kisses from Katie" quote

My Heart

It used to be that every once in a while I would post something on social media pertaining to abortion and the pro-life movement.

Now it's basically every day.

There are times when I feel like a broken record.
Like an annoying "like" page on Facebook that no one wants to read.
Like I've said everything there is to say.
Like no matter what clever quote or argument I share, I'm not going to change anyone's mind.

So why can I not quit posting about my pro-life beliefs?

In his book Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson talks about how the passion that God places on your heart becomes your responsibility.

He says, "Supernatural sadness and righteous indignation often reveal our God-ordained passions. As in the case of Nehemiah, if something causes you to weep and mourn and fast and pray for days on end, it is a good indication that God wants you to take personal responsibility and do something about it."
"...what makes you cry? What makes you pound your fist on the table?"
"God-ordained passions often break our hearts. And they can seem like an overwhelming burden to bear."
(pg. 22)

The sadness and anger that abortion stirs in my heart is simply overwhelming.
It makes me cry.
It makes me want to pound my fist on the table.
There are nights when I cannot sleep because the burden on my heart is just too heavy.
There is a fire burning in my heart that will not be quenched.
I want to do something about this. I have to.

Dictionary.com defines passion as "any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate."

I hate abortion. I hate what it does to our children. I hate what it does to our women. I hate what it does to our families. I hate what it does to our society. I hate what it does to my country.

So why can't I shut up about abortion?

Because I can't help but wonder how many tiny dancers are missing from the classes that I teach...
how many little servant's hearts are missing from the children's ministry at church...
how many friendships I missed out on because their lives were cut short...
how many women I pass by are weighed down by the guilt of the secret they carry.

I picture two little eyes begging me, pleading with me not to let him die...
I see two little hands outstretched to mine...
I hear one little voice that is about to be silenced forever...
I feel his blood on my hands.

So I keep posting.
And I keep hoping that one day this terrifying practice will not exist.
And I keep praying (though not half as much as I should).
And I keep fighting with the hope that I may save even one life.

Because if I won't be their voice, then who will?