Posted on 09/29/2011 4:14:30 PM PDT by wagglebee
Last year, I took my whole family to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., including my 4 year old daughter, Grace. She frequently goes out to the abortion clinics with me to pray. She knows what it means to be pregnant. She has a very simplified understanding of abortion.
She had never been exposed to any graphic signs. I knew she would be at the March for Life. I didn’t know what she would say or how she would handle it, but I didn’t want to hide them from her.
We were walking to the March and walked by a large exhibit that showed graphic signs. I thought, “Okay, here we go. She will definitely see this.” When we got in front of the sign that showed an aborted baby at 24 weeks, she stopped and stared. I stopped, knelt down beside her, put my hand on her shoulder and waited for her to respond.
She probably stood there and stared in silence for about 15 seconds (which is about the equivalent of a year in 4 year old time). Then, she turned around and looked at me with a compassionate expression. She pointed to the picture and said, “Mommy, that baby is broken.” I smiled at the simplicity and accuracy of her observation. I simply responded, “Yes, Grace. That baby has been broken.” She grabbed my hand and started walking again.
I wasn’t sure if or how she had been impacted by what she saw that day, until a few nights later when we were saying our night time prayers. Grace was praying and said, “Please keep babies from being broken and keep them safe in their mommy’s tummies.” I sighed with relief. She had gotten it. She had made the connection between abortion and that broken baby.
I am writing this to encourage parents to talk to your kids about the reality of abortion. Children are perceptive. They are able to understand so much more than we think they can. Their honesty is real. I’m sure some will criticize me for bringing Grace out to the abortion clinics to pray at such a young age. But I think it is appropriate.
I want her to be active in this movement. I want her to know that she can make a difference…that she is ALREADY making a difference…no matter her age. I want her to see her mom and dad leading by example. I want her to know that we are not people who just say we are pro-life; we are people who live out our pro-life beliefs.
This goes for everything we are involved in. I don’t want my children to be sheltered from the reality in this world. When we volunteer at homeless shelters, she is there with us. When there is a young girl who needs a place to live, we are happy to bring her into our home and make her a part of our family. If we go pray to spare the life of someone who is about to be executed, Grace will be there with us. We always want Grace to put our money in the offering plate at church.
Every six months, Grace does a big toy clean out. She gathers her toys that she no longer wants and we go donate them to various charities. Being pro-life doesn’t just stop at the abortion clinics for our family. We are pro-quality of life. We want Grace to see that.
Trust me, we are not going to win any “parents of the year” awards. But if there is one thing I can instill in my child, it is truth through charity. I always want to be the number one person cheering on my daughter to not just do the right thing, but to always do the right thing in love and charity.
I always pray that she be honest at all times. I pray that she learn how to be honest from us, her parents. I pray that we set a good example for her. I pray that she grow up with a solid understanding of the value of life. I pray that she is able to see the value in all life, born and unborn. I pray that pro-life parents will empower our children, at a young age, to get involved in this movement. Your pro-life witness might be the best inheritance you can leave for your children.
Children inherently understand.
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They should. They have my vote.
Yeah. And it takes some adults to really confuse the issues!
Really hopeful when I read stuff like this!
Wait until she finds out mommy was doing that to babies for years and years.
nice find...thank you
There were some antiabortion activists in my neighorhood outside an abortionists house a block or two away. Problem (for me)was it was 3 pm and the elementary school kids were all going to be walking by.
I stopped my car and asked them to vamoose, which they videotaped, by the way, so the kids coming home from school wouldn’t have to see what some parents do to their kids.
Why show murder victims to kids? It’s child abuse to murder a baby and it is child abuse to deliberately show the bodies to kids IMHO
Are you saying Mommy used to be an abortionist
I stopped my car and asked them to vamoose, which they videotaped, by the way, so the kids coming home from school wouldn’t have to see what some parents do to their kids.
Why show murder victims to kids? It’s child abuse to murder a baby and it is child abuse to deliberately show the bodies to kids IMHO
In schools children are constantly told that abortion is a "choice" and that it's not murder.
Yet you think it's "child abuse" to show children the results of this "choice"? That's some very odd logic.
No. She worked for them for 8 years didn’t she? She was an accomplice.
IMO, she has more than made restitution for her past actions.
I think there are limits to what children should be exposed to. Let them have their childhood. Craft an environment in which debauchery and atrocities do not exist. Give them a world full of love. When they’re a bit older, they’ll discover that not everyone is so fortunate. They will know what they’re striving for, and what they’re fighting against. Protect their innocence when they’re young.
I really didn’t address how to handle the negative messages children receive about abortion, did I? If you can prevent them from receiving those messages, obviously that would be ideal, but here in the real world that isn’t always possible. So you have to lay a foundation ahead of time, with age appropriate lessons about where babies come from. When the topic of abortion is brought up in school, your children should already know that’s a baby the teacher is talking about. There are now available some very nice photographs of babies in the womb, which I think are appropriate for any age group. Keep the lines of communication open with your children, so you’ll know when someone approaches them with inappropriate messages. When they are exposed to the pro-abortion message, counter it with reminders that this is a baby we’re talking about. Bring the pretty pictures out again. Instill in your children the positive message of God’s love and the miracle of life. When someone tries to steal their childhood by inflicting violent messages on them, do your best to shield them from that, and handle the violence yourself.
What ? show children murder bodies? Graphic images of human depravity shown to children? Not in my house.
All this goes toward teaching the sanctity of life, not depressing them before they can cope with the dark side of human nature.
The same people complaining about these pro-life demonstrations think nothing of letting their kids watch NCIS and all the other murder investigation programs every night, in the comfort of their own homes.
Unless your kids do not watch any TV, enough with the hypocritical nonsense about these demonstrations.
All this goes toward teaching the sanctity of life, not depressing them before they can cope with the dark side of human nature.
I would like nothing more than to not be ABLE to show children images of abortion. But that's not the world we live in.
Children are taught that abortion is a harmless "choice" and NOTHING could be further from the truth:
- Over 3500 innocent Americans are murdered in abortuaries EVERY DAY, there is a death EVERY 24 SECONDS.
- Abortion is the most common surgical procedure in America.
- If the CDC were to actually be considered a cause of death, it would not only be the leading cause of death in America, it would actually be bigger than the next three leading causes of death (heart disease, cancer, strokes) COMBINED.
I don't want children to have to be horrified by the images of abortion, but if it's a choice between horror and allowing them to believe abortion is harmless I would far rather see them horrified.
I want the woman who is planning to murder her child to have a horrified 5 year old who is begging her not to kill his brother or sister.
I remember 30 years ago when groups like MADD were starting to talk about drunk driving deaths. People were upset that they were showing pictures of accidents. But if you look at statistics over the past three decades it is clear that the number of alcohol-related driving deaths have dropped.
I was a strong TV policewoman. Followed my mom’s lead on that. We don’t watch icky stuff in this house.
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