[Salvation]

Day 13 - October 8

 

Intention:

For all fathers who are terrified of being fathers.

Scripture:

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.

-- Psalm 68:5

Reflection:

I had a friend many years ago who confided in me that he was terrified of being a father. He and his wife already had two children when this revelation came forth. "I never knew my father," he explained, "and I have no idea what a father is supposed to do." We continued to share about this, as well as pray together. He began to see he had a father's heart for his children. His biggest problem was not a limitation on love but not knowing how to act out this love.

One day we talked about the verse quoted at the top of this page. I shared that he did know his Father… not his biological father but his Heavenly Father, who had rescued him from a life of destruction not many years before. "How did your Heavenly Father guide you?" I asked. He talked about the ways he had seen God's love offered to him and the way the Lord had used circumstances and the Scriptures to mold him and mature him. "Well, the Lord wants to do the same thing through you for your children. Be available to His love and available to your kids. You'll do fine."

How wonderful it is to know that God takes a personal interest in each of us, many times using His faithful people - the Church - as channels of this love. No one is fatherless who lives in the Lord. His fatherly care begins at the moment of our conception, as it is written, "you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:12), and continues to be poured upon us throughout our lives.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for caring about each of us so deeply. Help us to see and know you as our Father in heaven each and every day of our lives. Your loving hand also rests on every child today carried in its mother's womb. May they be born into this world and come to know fully and personally your endless love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council

[Salvation]

As we start a new week, let's rejoice at all the good
that God has done!
 
So far, there have been ...
 
... 112 babies ...

... saved from abortion -- that we know of -- during
this 40 Days for Life campaign!
 
And that means that since 40 Days for Life began as
a coordinated campaign five years ago, there have now
been, through God's grace, MORE THAN 6,000 LIVES SAVED!
 
Here are just a few of those babies' stories.


-----------------------------------------------------
DALLAS, TEXAS
-----------------------------------------------------
 
"Today is a day that I will never forget," said one
of the 40 Days for Life volunteers in Dallas. "Today,
for the first time, I stood in front of an abortion
clinic with other Christians and prayed for an end
to abortion."
 
There was a heaviness all around her, she said, yet
"it quickly became apparent to me that God Himself
was there among us, in a very real way."
 
She kept her head down, "trying to block out the
traffic noise and focus on why I was there."
 
It was at that point that one of the counselors
came up and said, "A woman just chose life!"
 
The woman had come for an abortion, but couldn't
bring herself to go through with it. She was weeping
as she spoke with the counselor. 
 
"Wow! God was already answering our prayers," the
volunteer said, "as we stood there on that sidewalk."
 
To see pictures of the Dallas vigil, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=3404
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------
DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA
-----------------------------------------------------
 
Patti, the local leader in Downey, knows of several
women who've chosen life for their babies during
this campaign. "God is answering in mighty ways,"
she said.
 
In a posting on the 40 Days for Life blog, another
volunteer tells of a young woman who walked up to
vigil participants and introduced herself. She was
holding a small child as she told them her story.
 
During last fall’s campaign, she was at this very
same facility as a client -- she was going to have
an RU-486 abortion. As she was walking in, she
noticed the people praying. It was a thought she
couldn't get out her mind.
 
When she was given the first abortion pill to take,
she walked out, telling the staff, "I can't do this!"
 
After finishing her story, she told the volunteers
that she would be taking her infant son to church the
following Sunday for a dedication ceremony.
 
Some of the people listening to all of this then took
her to a nearby Christian pregnancy help center, where
she picked up some much-needed baby supplies -- and a
new outfit for her son.
 
Said one of the volunteers, "To God be the glory!"
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
-----------------------------------------------------
 
Peter tells the story of a young woman who left the
abortion center and walked up to three prayer
volunteers and struck up a conversation. The three
soon found out that the woman was pregnant.
 
Before long, she simply said, "I don't want to have
the abortion."
 
The prayer volunteers got her in touch with a
counselor, who had a long discussion with her. The
woman, Peter said, "had come to the realization from
seeing a her sonogram that it was truly a baby
growing in her womb and NOT just a 'fetus' as noted
to her by clinic staff."
 
Peter later had a chance to speak with her "and
assured her that she will have all of our prayers
... and we will guide her to receive all the support
she needs from the Buffalo pro-life community."

To see pictures of the Buffalo vigil, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=3404