home at 4 a.m. to fly to Iowa, where not one but TWO
Planned Parenthood sites are CLOSING after one or more
40 Days for Life campaigns! Their last day of business is TODAY and -- all of the
40 Days for Life locations invited us to speak at the
celebration events. (Look for the exciting details about these closures
and more from our trip in an e-mail in the days ahead.) We often talk about heroes. To be a hero, you don’t
have to do a big thing, or a great thing, or even
something that gets a lot of attention. You just have
to do the RIGHT thing. And today, we have examples of 40 Days for Life heroes.
------------------------------------------------------
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
------------------------------------------------------ Connie in Orange County shared the story of a man who
lives about 10 miles from the 40 Days for Life vigil
site outside of Planned Parenthood. He rides his
bicycle to the vigil -- every day -- and remains in
silent prayer for 4 to 5 hours. "What impressed me the most was that he comes on his
old bicycle that is giving him problems and sometimes
he has to stop several times to check on it," she said.
"And he does this every day!" To see a picture from the vigil in Orange County,
please go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2793
------------------------------------------------------
SPRING VALLEY, NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------ At the 40 Days for Life vigil in Spring Valley,
volunteers are faithfully praying across from a
Planned Parenthood facility in weather that has been
cold and windy ("freezing for life," said one of the
vigil participants). A man approached one of the prayer volunteers, wanting
to know why they were there. She told him it was their
calling to pray and be present for those in difficult
situations -- crisis pregnancies. The man thanked her
for what she was doing. Another passer-by then asked for directions to a medical
office -- and also wanted to know what they were doing.
He was given the same answer -- and invited to join the
vigil for an hour. "We are called to be a voice for the most innocent
among us," Eileen said. "For 40 days, we will be hope
for those who feel they have no choice. For nothing is
impossible with God!" To see photos of the Spring Valley vigil, please go to: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2793
------------------------------------------------------
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
------------------------------------------------------ A man, perhaps in his 70s, came to the sidewalk to join
the prayer vigil in Colorado Springs. One of the other
volunteers watched as he walked slowly back and forth
along the sidewalk, praying silently. Finally, the volunteer asked how long he’s been doing
this. He said he's been coming for an hour every day
so far -- and will be back for an hour every day each
of these 40 days. "I told him he was a hero," the volunteer said, "and
the man started to cry." He simply responded, "I believe in this," as he turned
and continued to walk and pray. "I prayed," the volunteer said, "Lord, give us men
like this!"
Today's devotional is from Carmen Pate, a member of
the 40 Days for Life board of directors.
------------------------------------------------------
DAY 9 INTENTION
------------------------------------------------------ Pray that the post-abortive woman would be repentant,
accept forgiveness, be healed and restored, and bring
glory to God with her new life.
------------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
------------------------------------------------------ I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have
not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions
to the Lord," and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. -- Psalm 32:5
------------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate, 40 Days for Life
------------------------------------------------------ Because abortion is legal in America, many have
justified their choice. "If it's legal, it can't be
wrong, right?" We now have an entire generation of men and women who
have never known abortion to be illegal; a generation
of people who have never been broken over their sin of
abortion. As a result, the consequences of unconfessed sin weigh
on their souls, yet they have never connected the dots
as to why their hearts are heavy. No wonder we have
millions of women who are struggling with depression,
addictions, eating disorders and more. Post abortion syndrome is very real but recovery
begins when the individual agrees with God as David
confessed in Psalm 51:3-4, 14, "Against You, You only,
have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight --
that You may be found just when You speak, and
blameless when you Judge. Deliver me from the guilt of
bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation." Brokenness is the key to accessing God's glorious
mercy and healing. Christ came to heal the broken
hearted and He is waiting with open arms to take the
post-abortive woman on a glorious journey of healing
and restoration if she will only run to Him. God will not waste any sin we lay at His feet. Imagine
millions of healed and restored post-abortive women
like myself singing aloud of His righteousness and
giving testimony of His love and forgiveness. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
------------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
------------------------------------------------------ Heavenly Father, we have turned our backs on you and
your principles in your Word. We have allowed man to
usurp Your role as God over life and the number of our
days. But we come to you in brokenness and repentance over
our sin. We cry out for Your mercy and ask you to remove the
scourge of abortion from our land. Use us as your
vessels, Lord, to bring the light of Your Truth to our
nation once again. Because of Christ we pray, Amen.
------------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
------------------------------------------------------ To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/spring2012day09print.pdf
------------------------------------------------------ Yours for Life, Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life PS: If you have stories to share about the 40 Days
for Life campaign in your town, please leave a
comment on today's blog entry at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2793
40 Days for Life 10908 Courthouse Road
Suite 102229
Fredericksburg, VA
22408
US
