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Today’s email:

It’s truly amazing to watch things happen at 40 Days
for Life campaigns. After all ... you’re watching God
in action!

Here are just a few of the ways He is changing hearts
and minds in response to your faithful prayers.

CHICO, CALIFORNIA

40 Days for Life vigil participants were praying near
Planned Parenthood’s driveway when an agitated young
man approached one of the volunteers and said they had
no right to be on the sidewalk.

The young man was visibly angry. He said he had brought
his girlfriend to Planned Parenthood to “deal with her
pregnancy.” But when she saw people standing in prayer
on the sidewalk, she began to question the abortion.

“Just the presence of someone praying, even without
any interaction, gives women perhaps just an extra
second to question what they are about to do,” said
Mary in Chico.

CINCINNATI, OHIO

One of the 40 Days for Life vigil participants in
Cincinnati watched as a 14-year-old girl approached
Planned Parenthood. “Since the gate was closed,” said
this volunteer, “I asked what she was there for — and
she said a pregnancy test.”

The volunteer got on the phone and called the director
of a local pregnancy center, who then spoke to the girl
and arranged a meeting. It was learned that the young
girl was in foster care and was not able to contact her
mother. “She was scared,” the volunteer said.

By being present at Planned Parenthood, the vigil
participants were able to guide her away from the
abortion center and towards people who would offer real
help. “This is the first good story I have been a part
of,” the volunteer said, “so I wanted to share it.”

NAPLES, FLORIDA

A woman from a neighboring business stopped to talk to
prayer volunteers at Planned Parenthood in Naples,
telling them that her son’s girlfriend was pregnant.
Her son is 17 and the girl is 16.

The woman explained that she, the two teens and the
girl’s mother had been to two abortion facilities. But
for various reasons, the abortion did not take place
and the couple decided to keep the child.

After further discussion, it soon became clear that
the problem wasn’t the baby. This woman is a single
mother who can barely afford to make ends meet. She
has no idea how she would help the teens support the
baby. That’s when the vigil participants got busy.

One volunteer gave the woman information about free
pregnancy assistance. Another told her about a better
job opportunity that seemed almost perfect.

“The mother started to cry and gave the coordinator a
big hug,” said Jeanne in Naples. “God works in such a
wonderful way and leads us forward.”

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

Bob was praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ann
Arbor, holding a sign made by his grandsons. “I’ve been
holding this sign for well over a year,” he said. Its
simple message: “Choose life.”

He watched as a couple walked into the abortion center
— and left after about half an hour. As they walked
towards the parking lot, the man looked at Bob and said,
“We made the right choice. We chose life!”

“As they drove out of the parking lot, they gave me a
thumbs up and yelled ‘God bless you,’” said Bob.
“It’s almost impossible to describe how I felt. A
child’s life — and the lives of his mom and dad —
had been saved.”

Day 34 - October 25

Intention:

May we come to know that divine life, in relationship, creates human life.

Scripture:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

--John 1:1-3

Reflection:

"In the beginning" was God. Always, before all times, there was God. This particular God -- the God of the Bible, the God of St. John's Gospel -- is different from all other gods. This God is alive and full of life. This God is not the picture of deadness and death, aloneness and isolation. This God is the picture of life, relationship, and unity. For within this God, within this one God, there are three divine persons who live, who love, and who work -- together. This is the glorious mystery of the Trinity. The Trinity means divine life. The Trinity means three, living Persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- who relate to each other. The Trinity means mutual love and service among three Persons.

The Word was always with God the Father. This Word was, is, and will be the Trinity's second person. The Word is also the Son of God or, as revealed in time, Jesus Christ. God the Father and God the Son live, love, and work for each other. As one, they create "all things" together: the Father creates all things, including all human life, through the Son.

So the Father, through the Son, creates all human lives. The little one swimming in his mother's womb, the infant smiling in his father's arms, the child crying in pain in a hospital bed, the energetic teen running another mile, the old man gasping for his last breath -- all were created, at their beginning, by the Father through the Son. No exceptions. Divine life creates human life.

Prayer:

O God, may we always be quick to call you Father. And when we call you father, let your Spirit remind us that we, and all people, from their beginning to their last day, are your children. We praise you, Father, that you sent your Son to reveal to the world that all people are His brothers and sisters, that all people are your children. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Rev. Paul Stallsworth
President, Lifewatch (United Methodist Church)