Just For Fun–Gift Card Giveaway

This is Sanctity of Life Month:

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is held on the closest Sunday to the anniversary of the Jan. 22, 1973 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize abortion in the Roe V. Wade case.

There are about 46 million abortions a year worldwide and about 126,000 abotions a day, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion organization.  According to Focus on the Family, 44 percent of all American women will have an abortion at some point in their lifetime.  More than a million American women will have an abortion this year.

Here are a few quick facts regarding life.  Surely life is precious in God's sight.  May we use ours for His glory!

• Day 1 - conception takes place.
• 7 days - tiny human implants in mother's uterus.
• 10 days - mother's menses stop.
• 18 days - heart begins to beat.
• 21 days - pumps own blood through separate closed circulatory system with own blood type.
• 28 days - eye, ear and respiratory system begin to form
• 42 days - brain waves recorded, skeleton complete, reflexes present.
• 7 weeks - Thumbsucking may be present.
• 8 weeks - all body systems present.
• 9 weeks - squints, swallows, moves tongue, makes fist.
• 11 weeks - spontaneous breathing movements, has fingernails, all body systems working.
• 12 weeks - weighs one ounce.
• 16 weeks - genital organs clearly differentiated, grasps with hands, swims, kicks, turns, somersaults, (still not felt by the mother.)
• 18 weeks - vocal cords work – can cry.
• 20 weeks - has hair on head, weighs one pound, 12 inches long.
• 23 weeks - 15% chance of viability outside of womb if birth premature.*
• 24 weeks - 56% of babies survive premature birth.*
• 25 weeks - 79% of babies survive premature birth.*

(*Source: M. Allen et. al., "The Limits of Viability." New England Journal             
 of Medicine. 11/25/93: Vol. 329, No. 22, p. 1597.)
Someone Cares

Psalm 139

(A Paraphrase)

Lord, you know me, you know all about me
You know when I sit down or stand up and even each thought is known to thee.

When I go out or when I lay down, you know my way
Even before I speak a word, you know what I’m going to say

You put a hedge around me and always hold my hand
Your greatness is amazing and I just can’t understand

Your spirit is there wherever I go
Whether heaven above or the earth below

If I fly as a bird or cross the wide sea,
Still your hand holds and continues to guide me

The darkness and the night, they cannot hide me
These are the same as light to thee.

You fashioned me and covered me inside of my mother’s womb
You created me there with just enough room.

You alone could see me in that secret place
You wove my parts together from my feet to my face.

From morning to night, I am always in your hand.
You thoughts of me are more than the numbers of the sand.

I will forever praise you for the plan you have for me
Not just here on earth, but for all eternity.

-E.L.

... in his favour is life: . . . Psalm 30:5

When giving speeches for the Pregnancy Resource Center, I would often include this in my speech:

Would you consider an abortion in the following four situations?

1. There's a preacher and wife who are very, very poor.  They already have 14 kids.  Now she finds out she is pregnant with the 15th.  They are living in tremendous poverty.  Considering their poverty, and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion?
2. The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB.  They have four children.  The first is blind, the second died, the third is deaf and the fourth has TB.  She finds she is pregnant again.  Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion?
3. A white man raped a 13 year old black girl and she got pregnant.  If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?
4. A teenage girl is pregnant.  She's not married.  Her fiancee' is not the father of the baby, and he is very upset.  Would you consider abortion?

     In the first cast, you have just killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists in the 19th century.  In the second case, you have killed Beethoven.  In the third case, you have killed Ethel Waters, a well known black gospel singer, and if you said yes to the fourth case, you have just declared the murder of Jesus Christ!

Well how about this one?

Here is a Mom and Dad.  They have one girl, 18mo. Old. Mom is pregnant again.  Mom and Dad’s relationship has not been the greatest and Dad is not happy about the pregnancy.  There’s a good chance that this child won’t even have a dad or a very good home.  Should the child be aborted?  Well, dad thought so.   He forced mom to take a pill to abort the baby.  Mom got very very sick and had terrible cramps.  Surely, the pregnancy would end.  But God had other plans.  We don’t know why God places certain people in these circumstances, but He ultimately has a purpose.  The pregnancy did not end and another baby girl was born into this family.  The Dad did not stay with mom long and he left Mom with two baby girls to care for on her own.  That is not the end of the story.  

This baby girl who should have been aborted grew up and married a preacher.  She has been a godly example to many ladies and has raised three godly daughters of her own.  She is not just some person that I read about in a book.  She is a friend of mine and has been a great influence in my own life as well.  God had a plan for her as He does for all of us!

We are created