Pro Choice: Enslaving of Women

Even as a little girl I was as tomboy as a girl could be, being an Army brat I preferred playing War over my Barbies.  So it wasn't a surprise that I joined the Army when I was in my Junior year at College.  I was already working two jobs while going to SHSU and decided to prove to myself (and everyone else) that I could do whatever I wanted!  I was looking forward to going to Bosnia and experiencing combat as an MP.  I was always upset when I saw fellow females playing the 'but I'm a girl' card and slacking in their duties; as far as I was concerned - if a guy could do it, so could I - and for the most part, I think I did...and even some more.  I was picked on for being the "Golden Child", who could do no wrong - I maxed out my PT test, I won Soldier of the Month, Soldier of the Quarter (Company and Battalion) even turned down my chance for Soldier of the Year because I didn't want to miss out on our Battalions "War Games" - all while I was still taking college classes at night.  

With that enlightenment it kind of makes you wonder why I never considered an abortion when I became pregnant with my boyfriend's baby - a whole soap opera of circumstances made it extremely messy.  So why not an abortion - I was a woman's woman, empowered and successful - I was fast tracking, getting promotions, talk of special schools, all the things I desired; a pregnant unwed soldier was a HUGE stigma - no one in their right mind would give up all the glory for that difficult burden!  

Yet, years before this, I had a personal relationship with Jesus.  I knew Him as my Lord and Savior, and even though I was as far away from God as I could run - He never left me.   I knew my situation was my own making, but I also knew without a doubt that the life inside me wasn't a curse, this was a blessing, and this was never my 'choice' - this was a life and it was never mine to take.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

(Psalm 139:13-16 NIV)

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

God created you for a purpose.  God knew who He created you to be.  You weren’t created by accident (even if your parents claim you were).    God is love - love doesn’t harm.  A baby in the womb with a disease, syndrome or illness is no less a beautiful creation than one without.  Each and every life is precious and to be cherished.  

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
    Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
    ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
    ‘How clumsy can you be?’

How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father,
    ‘Why was I born?’
or if it said to its mother,
    ‘Why did you make me this way?’”

This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One of Israel and your Creator:
“Do you question what I do for my children?
    Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?

I am the one who made the earth
    and created people to live on it.
With my hands I stretched out the heavens.
    All the stars are at my command. 
(Isaiah 45:9-12 NLT)

For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 Voice)

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child?
    Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
    I would not forget you!

See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.

(Isaiah 49:15-16a NLT)

“The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.” 

As Christians, we count the Word of God as truth, and we know that by attempting to change God's designed family, essentially we have told God he had it wrong.  We know God is mocked when people say marriage isn't just for man and a woman - because their way is better.  We know any attempt to make things fit to human standards and not God's - is only to fulfill selfish desires.  We know that picking apart scripture to twist into our own wants is a sin that we fear; it should make us afraid for those who've chosen acceptance in their worldly ways because they no longer fear God but only man's disapproval.  We are not surprised that from this godless world fathers are mocked as weak and unimportant, children are burdens, and mothers are celebrated when they kill their unborn as empowered feminist.  We see what was once beautiful has become corrupted and perverted.

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NLT)

"We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other.” Mother Teresa

We know that hard work pays off, so why is it a surprise that with time, the fast and painless way is only temporary and any ‘results’ just fade away.  How many women have been deceived into believing that an abortion is quick and easy fix, that your ‘problem’ will just go away.  But how many of these women are haunted by nightmares, wracked with guilt, emotional scars and pain?  Women are naturally nurturers,  everything about an abortion, is at odds with our very human nature - to protect, love, comfort and care for our children.  Is this really empowering women or is it just another way to enslave women - even statistics show that women who aborted are at a higher risk of suicide.

“The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child. The mother doesn't learn to love, but kills to solve her own problems. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.” Mother Teresa

For those who don’t count themselves as followers of Christ, they see the majority of Christians as uptight, self-righteous, hypocrites forcing their views on everyone else.  But those who truly follow Christ, don't judge others, we know we are far from perfect, we just want to share with others what they are missing by not knowing Jesus as their personal Savior.  If you knew something was so amazing that it could free you from your worst sins, give you new life and bring you joy and peace that the world can't give you - wouldn't you want to share it?  Or if you knew something was bad for you and could harm you - you’d want to warn others -  society understands that's what concerned friends do, they care about others and want the best for them - Christians are the concerned friends of the world.  In the case of abortion we know that someone has to be voice for those who aren’t given a chance.  Isn’t that why so many people rush to defend an innocent - whether it’s a small child, a puppy, or some endangered animal?  So when someone tries to tell us that because a baby is in a woman’s body, it’s her choice - those of us who have been given new life through Christ recognize the voice of Truth - our good Shepherd, and recognize the deception of the enemy. 

The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance.

 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep in His care. The hired hand is not like the shepherd caring for His own sheep. When a wolf attacks, snatching and scattering the sheep, he runs for his life, leaving them defenseless. The hired hand runs because he works only for wages and does not care for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me.  (John 10:10-14 Voice)

"Abortion kills twice. It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother. Abortion is profoundly anti-women. Three quarters of its victims are women: Half the babies and all the mothers.”  Mother Teresa

Before my promotion to E4 Specialistthe 'boyfriend' who is now husband, with out first son

our family volunteering at our church's kids camp this summer

 I'm blessed to be married to this man, for better or worse, God has a plan for us - it's up to us whether we follow it or not.

Are You Working for God or the Enemy?

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. 

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).  I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.  (John 10:10-11 AMP)

The lies of the enemy…how often have we heard it’s rude/not polite/not proper to discuss religion? Keep your religion to yourself, it’s none of your business what someone else thinks or believes.  How often have you felt the need to ask someone if they know Jesus, but have been more afraid of being embarrassed to bring it up?  Why do you think the enemy wants us quiet, why would be afraid to share the greatest thing that has ever happened to us?  Have you ever prayed for a lost friend, prayed that a laborer would come across their path?  How do you know that you aren’t the laborer someone else has prayed for? 

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.  (John 3:16 AMP)

Good deeds won’t get you into Heaven, if you never proclaimed Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believed it with all your heart, then you are going to Hell <period> 

then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 

Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”   (Acts 4:10-12 NIV)

I’ve heard from people’s near death (or death) experiences that the people that were laborers for God that came across our path greet us in Heaven.  The thought brings me much joy, thinking on the kids that I am honored to volunteer with at our church and then I experience a terrible sadness thinking what about the people that we didn’t speak to about Jesus when we had the chance?  What if the scenes played out in front of us of all the missed opportunities, a leading to share Jesus with someone, to offer a prayer for a stranger, to help someone in need - when God designated us as a laborer or worker across a lost soul's path…how heartbreaking would that be, how many people did I fail, how often did I let God down?

The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.   (1 Corinthians 3:8-10 NLT)

Am I more worried about what a stranger, an acquaintance, a friend, or a family member thinks of me than what God thinks of me?!?

Believe me, I know, I know that we need to share God’s love with people - not scare them out of hell with fire and brimstones and guilt of their sins.  I’m not talking about standing next to someone in the line at the movie theater and asking if they’re going to hell.  I’m talking about when we’re someplace and we get an urging from the Holy Spirit - as Children of God, the Holy Spirit is in us - we all get His leading - it's just that a leading, we have the ability to follow God's direction or reject it.   Beth Moore tells the story about how she was in an airport and she was led to brush an old man’s hair - the old man was not particularly clean and rather unkempt, sitting in a wheelchair when she got the leading.  She said she was arguing in her mind with God that He does not want her to do that, please God don’t make her do that…but she knew it was God, and she knew God doesn’t tell us something without reason.  So she went up to the man and asked if she could brush his hair, and after a bit of shock at the request, the man allowed her to and also began to cry.  She asked him if he knew Jesus and he did, he said his bride wouldn’t marry him unless he knew her Savior.   He said he hadn’t seen his wife in months due to his open heart surgery and how he was just sitting in that airport thinking about how he looked and how he didn’t want her to see him this way when Beth walked up to him.  How many people do you think in that airport stopped and watched, how many people at that moment, didn’t just see someone who professed to love Jesus - but actually showed she loved Jesus?  You see that's how we can plant a seed for one person, water a seed for someone else and God can grow that seed for another.

Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?

Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.

If you had known Me [had learned to recognize Me], you would also have known My Father. From now on, you know Him and have seen Him.  (John 14:5-7 AMP)

Jesus told us that we would be known by our fruit, I know I want to live a life that shows everyone I come into contact with, that I don’t just say I’m a follower of Christ - that I live as a follower of Christ.  Sometimes, I may find myself in an awkward circumstance when I feel that small tugging on my heart to share my Jesus, I pray I’m never embarrassed to follow where He leads me.

Beth Moore’s airport story