legacies of love

Well, it is summer and as the year drew to a close, our Pro-Life club (Bobcats for Life) had an abundance of wonderful ideas and plans for this upcoming school year. I am so excited to already be planning events that will take place from August until January.

Dominika & I presenting on aborted
fetus disposal (with the help of
youtube.com/frfrankpavone)

I spent the first week of June in Houston training with Texas Right to Life, a wonderful Pro-Life organization. Every summer they provide training for the students who are a part of their Generation Now scholarship program and it has been such a blessing. The training not only strengthens us, the students, as leaders on our campuses, but it gives us a whole new community of love, support, prayer, and such a great group of friends who can share in each others' frustrations and successes.

I feel so reenergized after training and hearing from some incredible speakers including a Catholic bioethicist and director of Human Life International of America, a Catholic anesthesiologist and mother, a woman conceived in rape, a woman whose mother tried to abort her in 1969 but survived the saline abortion, a public speaking expert, a post-abortive couple who have started an organization to help women who are post-abortive, a woman who was adopted and started an organization to promote adoption, a chiropractor whose wife and 2 of his children are adopted, a Pro-Life graphic designer, 2 beautiful ladies of the Texas Right to Life legislative team, a mother whose unborn child was diagnosed with Trisomy-18, and a man whose life was spared by a notorious abortionist.

Our group with a man whose life was spared by Dr. Tiller

One recurring idea that I found in some of the stories that were shared with us was legacies of love. The man whose life was spared by the abortionist later went on to be adopted by a loving family, meet a beautiful woman, and they now have 2 children of their own. Had he been aborted, not only would his own life have ended but his adoptive family, future wife, future children, and future grandchildren to come would have been deprived of their happiness and even their very own lives. Aborting a child is more than just ending one life, it is ending a legacy. Likewise, from the man whose wife and 2 children were adopted, imagine where he would be had the mothers of the people he loves the most had not chosen life. Adoption is a loving option and without it, where would this man be?

Just a little thought for now. Here's a few pictures of other events of the week!

Dominika and a sweet friend we made volunteering at a home for young people living with Autism

The girls crammed into a phone booth outside The Black Lab

My fellow Bobcat, Jonathan, and I with Elizabeth Graham

My sweet friend Dominika and I before the Scholarship Dinner

there's no such thing as free lunch, but there is such a thing as free silly bandz

I haven't updated in a while... so incredibly busy! The semester is winding down and I've decided to switch my major to Social Work. Excited about that, but that's another story for another day.

I love when I go to check the mail and my favorite Pro-Life organization has sent me Pro-Life cups and notepads and sillybandz :)

just a few little thoughts

Whether you identify yourself as Pro-Life or Pro-Choice or if you are unsure, you still have to be respectful with your thoughts.

Granted, I am guilty of not being as respectful as I ought to be at times, but lately I feel like I am really learning (thanks in part to a section on common ground in Fr. Frank Pavone's book Ending Abortion) how to conduct myself, express myself, and understand others and where they're coming from.

Clearly I am a supporter of Life and respect for life from conception until a natural death- which means I am against abortion and against the death penalty- and I believe I have a good understanding of the issues at hand. For me, I've found that people who support abortion haven't been exposed to some truths about abortion. I remember, while being very underinformed about abortion, thinking that it should be a woman's choice... I mean, what if she was raped? or what if the baby would die right after it was born? or what if the baby was going to be disabled? All of these questions' answers were slowly revealed to me and over time I believe I have come to see the truth and understand the ethical issues that we, as human beings, are facing with an injustice like abortion present in our world. I feel that I have also considered the points that the "opposition" (using quotes on that one... opposition implies that it is an "us versus them" thing and really, the more I think about it, the more I think that it isn't an "us versus them" issue) cites, such as poor living conditions for mothers in crisis pregnancies that cannot afford to keep a child or add another child to their family or couldn't continue their education with a baby, but I've found loving and lifegiving answers to those issues in my journey to understanding Life.

While on the topic of loving answers and approaches, I just have to say something about the use of graphic imagery. I believe people who use graphic displays have good intentions but I don't believe it is as loving or sensitive as other approaches could be. As a pro-lifer, seeing the images breaks my heart in a deep way that it almost needs to be broken sometimes so as to not forget the true gravity of this injustice, but were I not pro-life... I might be so turned off by the grotesque, graphic nature that I would reject the message.

Just some frustrations. As if abortion isn't bad enough, the banter between "sides" of the issue is hurtful as well.

worth the blister

Aside from getting super stressed out beforehand, both our Pro-Life activities went well this weekend!



we got roses- haaaay!

 

Friday, we had a BloodMoney movie showing at the church and over 20 people attended! We had pizza and set up couches and comfy chairs and a projector and it was a great night. I think a lot of people were really taken aback by the corruption of the abortion industry. It definitely impacted people. I highly recommend this documentary!



Saturday, 17 of us attended the Diocese of Austin Pro-Life Gala and, although it was very frustrating as students kept backing out and then flaking and then recommitting and then backing out, it ended up working out! We got to hear from Sally Winn from Feminists for Life which was a really awesome opportunity. I really enjoyed the message she had to share with us about the roots of Feminism and what it really means to be a Feminist.

 We left to volunteer at 10 in the morning (had a few errands to do before) and didn't get home until 11 at night, so it was a long day. 7 of those hours were spent in my 2nd favorite pair of heels and, although I love being tall and wearing those shoes, my feet were acheing like cray cray by the end of the night. Now, I have a giant blister on my toe... but it was totally worth it.  







some of us with Bishop Joe at the Diocese of Austin Pro-Life Gala

on this perfect day

Today the doorbell rang and my roommate and I looked at each other like uhhh how about YOU answer that... and I ended up answering it. I crept up to the door to peek through the peephole, thinking it would be someone creepy, but it was the UPS guy... with a package... FOR ME!

Turns out... it was this! What a great suprise.