We need adoption stories!

“Minnesota Loves Adoption”

living scrapbook of adoption love stories in Minnesota

In celebration of adoption, the Adoption Option Council of Minnesota* (AOCM) is creating an online, living scrapbook that will capture those life-changing stories of love that define adoption in our state. This special project will help all Minnesotans better understand adoption as an act of love.

The “Minnesota Loves Adoption” scrapbook will open on Mother’s Day 2011 and will be recognized in many ways throughout the year. Please help AOCM celebrate adoption by encouraging people to share their adoption love stories. Specifically, the scrapbook stories will:

 Capture adoption journeys -- in stories, letters, poems and photos -- of Minnesotans.

 Celebrate domestic adoption stories (children born in the United States).

 Share stories of birth families, grandparents, adopted persons, adoptive families, friends and supporters.

 Reflect on how adoption has had a positive impact on the lives of individuals, families and communities. To submit a story, please keep in mind:

 Each adoption story is unique and emotionally powerful, including joy, pain, delight and grief. Please share your story honestly, in your own words, keeping a focus on the loving outcomes and the positive impression you want to share with others who may consider adoption in the future.

 Keep your story to about 300 words long and include photos and/or a short video clip. Only your first name will be used unless otherwise requested.

 Submit your information to jenny@aoci.org. It will be reviewed and formatted to fit the scrapbook.

 You will be asked to sign a consent form, giving AOCM permission to share your story.

*Formerly known as the Adoption Option Committee Inc.

Announcing the new T-shirt design for the 2nd Annual Amazing Grace Walk

This design is a combination of two designs - one from Glorianne Ensminger and one from Brittany Ledgerwood.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Save the Date

Here is information for our 2nd Annual Amazing Grace Walk:

3rd Day at Regions Hospital – 40 Days for Life

What a blessing to be out again in front of Regions Hospital praying for the end of abortion at that location and around the world!


We were joined yesterday by new warriors, Nadia, Ellianna, Cheryl, two ladies from Stillwater, and many others!


It was cold, but sweet fellowship and a SmashBurger on the way home made everything better!

Refining Fire

A dear friend recently shared this with me, and I was moved by it. Maybe it will be a blessing to you, too!

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, ' Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

God LIGHTs Up This Electrician’s Path

Anybody have a job for this guy? He lives in Fairbault, took a stand to not work at new Planned Parenthood clinic being built in St. Paul. God bless him for his conviction!

Read his story here.

Thanks to the Lord for Great Gifts!

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes,
but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker.
~Helen Keller

Thanks so much to all of our donors who share their resources with us to help women in crisis! Today is only Monday, and already my heart been encouraged by three different events!

First, we received two cases of Bibles from the Gideons today. This organization gives Bibles free of charge to anyone who would like to give the Word out. If you would like to donate to the Gideons, go to www.gideonsinternational.org. Our Bibles come from the Coon Rapids office.


Secondly, Naomi Pietenpol, Ambassador Baptist, sewed some double-flannel receiving blankets for our new moms as a high school project. Thanks so much for the blankets! That was a very sweet gesture!


And finally, we received a wonderful gift of $475 from Brist Chiropractic & Naturopathic Nutrition Center. Dr. Brist and his staff sponsored a spinal health day at their clinic where patients received spinal health care in exchange for a donation to Metro Women’s Center’s Acacia Fund. The Acacia Fund is MWC's fund to provide items for our clients that we cannot get elsewhere such as car seats, bus cards, utility bills, special formula emergencies, ultrasounds, or other client needs related to their pregnancies. The fund was set up in honor of the Brist’s daughter, Acacia, who passed away as an infant. Thank you so much for providing for our clients in this special way!

THANKS FOR THESE BLESSINGS!

On the Road: Southview Baptist

Southview Baptist - Thanks for the great day of fellowship and encouragement!

Sunday we were able to present a ministry update at Southview Baptist Church in Richfield. Pastor Jeremy Stephens invited Jim McLeish and I to come and give a report to the church about Baptists for Life and MWC.

We were blessed to have one of our clients come and share her testimony of God’s transforming power in her life. She was very honest about her struggles to remain yielded to the Lord and about how the Word of God has been a great source of strength to her in her walk with the Lord. She shared Jeremiah 29:11 in her testimony: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” She shared that she now recognizes that with the Lord there is hope and peace when she yields herself to Him, and that apart from Him there is no hope.

Here are some pictures of the church members and us enjoying a lovely lunch together. Thanks, ladies, for all your good cooking!

A Dear Lady Joins the Lord in Heaven

This week we said goodbye to a dear friend, Patricia Carlson. She was one of the ladies from First Baptist Church in Hibbing who made quilts for our moms and babies. Pat was also the mother of our MWC Board Treasurer, Diane Eliason. Pat was a believer in Jesus Christ whose walk with the Lord really modeled grace and unconditional love to all who knew her. The picture above is of Pat and one of our clients with her new baby on a day when Pat got to personally deliver one of the quilts the ladies made for us. The following verses remind me of Pat. We will miss Pat’s sweet smile and her hugs, but we know she is with the Lord.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (NKJV)

40 Days for Life – Minneapolis

This year I decided to participate in the 40 Days for Life campaign in Minneapolis. On Friday mornings from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. I am going to Regions Hospital with my “I Regret My Abortion” sign to pray and ask God to end abortion in our world. I know, we could pray anywhere, but there is something about being in front of a place where abortions are being committed that makes the carnage so real.


Today I was so blessed to be joined by two long time friends, Nancy H. and Karen M. who got up early and joined me on the sidewalk. We prayed and sang and asked God to change the hearts and the minds of those considering abortion; the doctors, nurses, staff and others involved in doing abortions; and the authorities that operate the clinic inside this major hospital. There were other prayers, but you get the idea.


At MWC we try to save babies in Minnesota, one woman at a time through direct client contact, but being on the sidewalk, praying to our God, is another expression of our commitment to LIFE. We must not stop loving and reaching out the those on the other side of this issue. As one person said, “Until abortion is gone out of our world, we must out-love and out-last the enemies of LIFE.”


So, if you would like to join me and others on the sidewalk on Friday mornings from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., please come, prayerfully and peacefully. If you would like to meet at our office in Crystal and ride over together, call the office at 763-533-8642 or email me at colleen@metrowomenscenter.org.

Diaper Drive ... Done!

We reached our goal - 500 bags donated!

Seven-11

This season has been interesting and stressful at the Center and personally.

Actually, since before Thanksgiving when my father-in-law passed away, things have seemed a bit “off”. There have been clear moments, and then CRASH! Everything seems to happen at once: my car went haywire, my parents were ill, my dear friend Diane’s mother passed away, one of our volunteers is in hospice care, another on dialysis for kidney trouble. Another volunteer had her knee replaced, so we miss her smiley face around the office. Abortion foes are plentiful, and some clients decided to “fall (leap) off the spiritual wagon” by making some not-so-wise choices, and the snow continues to fall ...

But in the midst of it all the LORD has been holding us up. I have been thinking about “Where can we go to get all of our needs met, if not to the LORD?”

My dear husband shared this passage of scripture with me that seemed to be just the ticket! Psalm 27:11-14

“Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of my enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.“

I often have a hard time remembering the address of Bible passages, but this one I will remember because I am linking it to a 7-Eleven store--you know, the place where you can get just about anything you need! Just like with the Lord, who gives us everything we need! We don’t have to faint because we know the goodness of the LORD and can go to Him at any time for help in times of trial!


Well, so as not to leave you thinking that all is tragic, here is some great news! This week two women prayed with us to receive the LORD as personal Savior! Chisago Lakes Baptist Church did a diaper drive, providing 29 more bags of diapers! Volunteer Rose Seymour (pictured below) headed up the drive! A long-time client has been making beautiful progress and plans to be baptized, and during this season, two babies lives were spared from abortion.


So, when you get discouraged, think 7-11, Psalm 27:11-14 to be exact. Thanks, God, for encouraging us!