UPDATE ON BABY SILAS: Thank you for praying! Bonnie reports that he is out of the incubator and may be released tomorrow! Please continue to pray.
The One…
In times of war, it seems like the same kind of videos always show up in the news. One of them is a group of people, often a mix of first responders and civilians, franticly digging through the rubble of a bomb or missile strike, looking for survivors. They don’t know if anyone is left alive. But they know someone might be, and that alone makes it worth the determined effort. I bring this up because recently I found myself somewhat apathetic to the idea of going down to Planned Parenthood. I wondered why my attitude had changed. It’s the same thing I’ve been doing for a couple of years now. What I discovered was that I was focusing on the overarching issue of abortion nearly to the exclusion of the individual people we have an opportunity to save through our outreach and witness. In other words, I was too busy thinking about the war itself rather than working to save as many people as possible from its deadly effects. Don’t get me wrong, we need to be concerned with the war as a whole and those responsible for it. But we MUST make time to attend to the victims, even if there is a possibility we might not always see any (visible) fruit from our efforts. Just the chance that one unique, unrepeatable person could be saved makes it all worth it. And many are saved. Have hope!
Read on to find out what happened on the sidewalk today…
7:30-9:00: Bill, Tracy & Jackie
St. Peter’s of Steubenville, Ohio (my parish) helped Jackie, Anthony, Bill and me hold down the fort today. Joining us were Maggie (definitely sidewalk advocate material!), Ron, Shawn, Beth, Anna, and Laura (with her family in tow). Altogether there were over a dozen people praying in front of PP – not bad at all for an early morning shift!
I’m hoping our presence was intimidating and discouraged a few or more of the clients.
The weather was slightly misty and the temp was on the cooler side, but it didn’t deter our group from getting in all four sets of the Holy Rosary led by faithful Anthony.
Mostly we encountered staff. A few couples went in; a young lady flippantly remarked to me, “I’ve already killed it, thank you very much!” One of our group pointed out that, there it is. Admission of killing. Yikes! Tracy
9:00-11:00: Kevin & Linda W
Check back later…
11:00-1:00: Barb K, Sheila & Rose
Just a normal afternoon on the sidewalk, except for a very short hailstorm just before 1pm!
1:00-3:00: Sandy & Carol
The intermittent rain and wind made it seem much cooler than the 50 degrees the thermometer said this afternoon. But then, we all know it always seems colder in front of PP
I’ve seen it busier on a Tuesday but as my partner Carol V said, no matter how few go in, she gets teary as they don’t accept help or come out with the little brown bag and scurry by. There were some little lights today, however: several men who whispered “thank you” as they walked by; 2 younger women who listened, were pleased to hear of the help, took a brochure to share and one of them asked if she could have the little baby I was holding in my palm- so I was able to let her know that was her at just 10 weeks in her mother’s womb. She seemed in awe. On the down side, I was approached by a gentleman who said he represented the Cultural Trust Committee. He showed a badge. He said he had a few complaints about us being in front of the door of the “Art Studio” next to PP. He was polite and gentle. I pointed out that the sidewalk was public property and he agreed. He said just make sure we don’t block the entry door. I assured him we would never purposely do that. To his credit, he said they also had complained about the sign on the grassy area near the little tree and that he’d told them that it was public property. We know, of course, what the real motivation of the complaints is. In the picture you see Carol- who drove from Greene County and Bill. Bill is scheduled for 2 hours on Thursday, but was downtown and free so he joined us for our last 30 minutes or so. Thank you to both of these courageous prayer warriors. Sandy D
3:00-5:00: Bill & Virginia
There was an unusual large amount of foot traffic of all ages during our 3-5 shift today, maybe due to today being the day after a holiday and everyone getting back on schedule. Several of the people leaving PP have full backpacks, and are focused on quickly crossing the street or just leaving the area quickly and ignoring any literature. A couple left PP, refused literature with the male commenting, “its our choice”.
A male, who was visibly intoxicated, approached a man standing with us asking for financial help. He was very weepy, verbal and complaining about sore fingers, which he thought were infected. The security guard come over and suggested he go to an ER for an evaluation. The young man left shortly after saying he would go to a hospital. This young man was asking for help last week, but he did not appear to be intoxicated as he was today.
We said some prayers, it was wonderful having the father and son back on our shift, they brought a friend, Bill’s wife, Ursula was with us, A great group.
God Bless,
Virginia