Great Conversation

I had a great conversation with a young man. He is 18, and we were discussing why I would not provide condoms to him and his girlfriend so they could continue to have "safer" sex. "Safer sex" is a term used to describe having sex while using any kind of contraceptive or barrier that lowers your risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or pregnancy. The term is used because the proponents of it know that abstinence is the safest way to protect yourself and that no method other than that is 100% safe, so they have come up with the term "safer sex."

He had made it clear that he was not going to stop having sex. He was trying to convince me that giving him condoms was more responsible, on my part, than not doing so because it allowed him to continue his behavior yet be still be protected.

I informed him of the following:

• My message of abstinence would mean nothing if, after my whole speech, I turned around and gave him condoms.


• My job was to speak the truth to him, not if he liked it, but because he needed to hear it. I reminded him that if I gave him a condom and he got an STI or his girlfriend got pregnant, I would be part of the problem not part of the solution.


• If he thought he was old enough to be making the decision to have sex, then he could use his own resources to purchase the condoms (not the best plan, but true!).


• If he was a drug addict and wanted to quit, would it be helpful to give him clean needles to continue to use, even if he died doing it?


• He should not consider sex to be a "stand alone" activity, because God intended it to be attached to marriage for the purposes of intimacy and procreation.


• To continue to put himself at risk emotionally, physically and spiritually in the face of truth is foolish and if he avoids the truth, he does so to his own peril. I also told him I thought he was smarter than that, given our conversation.

He did not agree with everything I said. We did discuss the Gospel and how it could affect his life to have a personal relationship with God. In the end he did admit that I had made some valid points and that he would consider what I had said and that he did not like the fact that I had some good arguments.

Pray for more contact and that the seeds planted would grow!

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! This week I had the opportunity to pray with a women while she asked Jesus to be her Savior. What a thrill!

Can't Have It Both Ways

I was thinking about the pro-choice position that women who make adoption plans for their children have more trauma from that decision than do women who have abortions.

On one hand they say, abortion has little effect on women and that if there is a problem it is only "acute stress" often ending with the abortion. Yet if a woman chooses adoption they say she deals with it as "chronic stress", that often goes on and on as she has questions about her child in the future.

To say that there are different emotional outcomes when women abort their "products of conception" (POC) than when they make adoption plans for their newborn (POC, different size and location) highlights the truth that abortion takes the life of "someone" that the woman, if given time, would become attached to and be concerned about. If the POC is not "someone", then the emotions should not be any different.

As a three time post-abortive women and a birth mother of a child I released into an adoptive home, I can say that I will always grieve the loss of my three POC someones, and I did grieve when I released my son into his adoptive home. But today, I am rejoicing for the life of my 26 year old birth son (POC, different size and location) as I can never rejoice for the lives of my aborted someones.

They can't have it both ways. If POCs cause emotional attachment leading to stress of any kind, they must be "someones", not simply POCs.

What happens . . .

. . . when you get the news that a client chose not to carry her baby to term after leaving the office?

For many of our volunteers and staff, it is a challenge to manage the emotions associated with this news. We ask ourselves, "How could this happen?" We thought the risk was neutralized for the mom and the baby. On some level we grieve for the loss of that baby and for that mother who, even though her initial response to having the abortion may be relief (the most common initial response), we know at some point will deal with the loss of her child.

David O'Leary wrote an article for At the Center magazine, that I remind myself of when discouragement comes. He writes, in part, "Remember your calling. You are called to serve not to save. In our work, we offer help to those in need because of the love and compassion of the Lord Jesus. It is not for us to rescue the lives of the women, men, and children with whom we deal. Our calling is to offer a way, proclaim hope in Christ, and give practical assistance."

The ups and downs of ministering keeps us always mindful of who it is that works the changes in a person's life: it is not us, it is God.

I Corinthians 13:7-8
Love beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.

Pray for Thursday

I will be speaking with a group of teens at Kennedy High School on Thursday, September 18th at 1:00 about adoption. Please pray for this outreach and for the other speakers that they would communicate positively and clearly about this loving option.

Harvest

There are days in the ministry when you just have to sit back and praise the Lord. There is never a dull moment here as we see the Lord's hand working in the lives of our clients. I am having a weekly Bible study with one woman who has learned some hard lessons about "doing things her own way" rather than following the Lord. I was encouraged as we spoke this past week to hear her say, "I need to experience the consequences of my past choices so that I learn and grow from them." She was not blame-shifting to others or trying to dodge her consequence; it was very refreshing! This is major progress for her, and I rejoiced to see God's Word "getting" to her!

MWC Volunteer Has Book Published

One of our volunteers, Lee Burtman, has written a memoir for a dear World War ll veteran friend. It's finally finished, after three years, and will be available in early October. The story follows this man's harrowing journey through war-torn Europe and also shares a touching account of meeting his first love while in France. The book fast-forwards to his life today and shares his spiritual struggle as he second-guesses crucial decisions he made over sixty years ago. I believe his story will be an encouragement to believers and an opportunity for unbelievers to hear the Gospel through the pages of Fighting For Delphine: A Soldier's True Story Of Triumph And Tears.

Lee says, "I want to share God's truth and also honor my veteran friend, Ken, about whom the book is written. We're planning a book-launch event/tribute at Galilee Baptist on Saturday Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. We'll have a 1/2 hour salute to Ken and all the WWll vets in the area with music, patriotic hymns, a video honoring our vets, etc. Then there will be a book-signing with a display of military artifacts and light refreshments. The public is welcome to attend!"

For anyone you may know who is interested in purchasing a copy through the web site, a portion of the proceeds will support missionaries in Haiti and Russia. For more information, go to moonglademedia.com.

Welcome, Danielle Grace Moreau!

Thought I would share the good news from one of our MWC board members, Jennifer Moreau:

"We had our baby! Danielle Grace was born on Sept 5 at 11:54 am, and was 9 lb 4 oz, 22 in. Considering I only gained 35 lbs during the pregnancy, her size was quite a surprise! I may be biased, but I think she's the cutest thing ever."

The Impact of Teen Parenting on Teens, Their Children, and Society

My friend, Jenny, is a great researcher and here is some information she put together regarding teen pregnancy and its impact on teens, their children and society.

Disclaimer: This is research-based information, and while we know there are exceptions to all of these findings, this is the world of teen pregnancy which we need to face. This information is another reason why MWC's efforts to encourage sexual abstinence, adoption, and spiritual truth are so critical!

One way we can use this information is that in discussing the option of adoption with teens we can help them consider the real impact of single parenting for both their children and themselves. We would, of course, support any choice that honors life, but this information can be helpful in advising pregnant teens, especially when there is no father in the picture . . . but that discussion is for another post.

From "Emerging Answers 2007: Research Findings on Program to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases"

About 75 of every 1,000 girls age 15 to 19 became pregnant in 2002, which means that cumulatively, more than 30 percent of teenage girls in the US become pregnant at least once by the age of 20. Despite declines in all major racial/ethnic groups, there remains large racial/ethnic disparities in these rates. More then 80% of these pregnancies are unintended by the mothers.

About 40 of every 1,000 girls age 15 to 19 gave birth in 2005. This is important because births to teens have negative consequences for the mother and her children. Despite recent declines in overall birth rates to teens, the percentage of births to unmarried girls under age 20 has risen dramatically, reaching 83% in 2005. This is important because births outside of marriage generally have more negative consequences for both mothers and their children.

Teenage mothers are less likely to complete school, less likely to go to college, more likely to have large families, and more likely to be single--increasing the likelihood that they and their children will live in poverty. Negative consequences are particularly severe for younger mothers and their children.

Children of teenage mothers are likely to have less supportive and stimulating home environments, lower cognitive development, less education, more behavior problems, and higher rates of both incarceration (for boys) and adolescent childbearing (for girls).

Monetary costs are also high. Teen child bearing cost taxpayers $9.1 billion in 2004.

From "A Work in Progress vs. 2: Building a Minnesota State Plan for Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting"

It has been clearly established through research that teen pregnancy and welfare reliance, lack of school success and reduced employment opportunities go hand in hand.

National data show that 80% of teens giving birth are already living in poverty. They are less likely to finish high school or go on to college, and their children are at greater risk of low birth weigh, high infant mortality, and childhood health problems.

The concrete costs associated with teen pregnancy and parenting are equally shocking. Families started with a teen birth account for 53% of all welfare expenditures, or $13.3 million each month in 2001. (MN Department of Human Services)

Speaking to Teens about Adoption

With school starting again, we are having opportunities to speak in high schools about the option of adoption. We will be at Kennedy High School on September 18 and at St. Bernard's in Stewartville on November 5th. We sent out 195 notices to high schools in Minnesota about bringing in a speaker panel regarding this important topic. Pray that we get lots of responses!

Politics

For information on where all the candidates stand on life-related issues, click on www.mccl.org to download a reproducible fact sheet.

Family News

Steve and I are getting prepared for our oldest son, Lewis, to graduate from Brown College on October 1, with a BA in Graphic Design. We are so proud of his accomplishment and thrilled that he has a job in his field working for a Christian publisher. Neither Steve nor I graduated from college, so this is pretty exciting!

The Cost of Abortion

I have been reading an interesting little book called The Cost of Abortion by Lawrence F. Roberge. It documents the "real dollar" cost of abortion in our society socially, economically, and demographically. We battle abortion because it takes the lives of human beings created in the image of God, but this information may turn some folks into "pro-lifers" who may not agree with us based on truth. It's sad to say, but some folks may not change their views about the issue unless they see how it affects their pocketbooks! You can find this book at Amazon.com.

Birth Control Jewelry

NOW I have heard it all: Planned Parenthood is making jewelry out of expired birth control pills. READ IT FOR YOURSELF!

Politics?

Teens Respond To Palin’s Daughter's Pregnancy

In Los Angeles's Echo Park neighborhood, you can often find teen moms walking down the street with strollers. Among them is 18-year-old Silvia Figueroa, whose daughter is one month and 11 days old. Figueroa says she heard something about Bristol Palin on the news but didn't think much of it. "Seventeen's not a big deal. A lot of girls get pregnant at that age," she says. "Most of the girls do it; I don't know why they make it a big thing. And that doesn't have anything to do with politics."

Read the rest of the article here.

Comment: Praise the Lord that Bristol Palin did not hide or abort her baby! Encouragment saves lives, but shame and rejection send teens "underground" with a pregnancy and feeds into the fear-inducing lie that their lives will be "ruined" by a pregnancy. Compassion and love, along with a challenge to change behavior and turn to Christ, is the best way to ensure that life gets chosen by a woman and her partner!

Gardasil: A Public Health Experiment?

Judicial Watch, using records obtained under a May 2007 Freedom of Information Act request, has summarized the approval process, side effects, safety concerns, and marketing practices related to the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil. It calls these a "large-scale public health experiment."

Read Michael Arnold Glueck's commentary here, and see Judicial Watch's special report here.

Out and About

School is back in session, and we are excited to be able to have contacts in the local schools:

Please pray for our team as we present the "Option of Adoption":

September 12: Kennedy High School
November 4: St. Bernard's - Stewartville

If you are interested in having an adoption speaker panel for your school or youth meeting, please call 763-533-8642.

What I'm thinking about this week . . .

Verse of the Week: "Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein."

Genesis 9:6,7

Thought for the Week: "What is the purpose of human government? God instituted government on earth for only one reason: the protection of life! From the days of Noah, God ordained government to be vested with the authority to pass laws insuring the safely of mankind’s most cherished treasure, human life."

--excerpt from The Sanctity of Human Life by Richard Seefried