“Did you know that Publix gives each child that asks a free cookie from the bakery, a free chicken strip from the deli, and a free balloon?” 

No I did not know that. I thought that was only when I was a little girl. Where I grew up, the Jitney Jungle would give us a free sugar cookie whenever my mom allowed it. I saw the look on the bakery lady’s face and I knew she loved giving them out to us as much as we loved receiving them. Then, a thought popped in my mind. 

Is Publix pro-life? It was a quick stream of thought as I wondered who the CEO’s of Publix were and whether they realized that the culture they created in their grocery store was pro-children, pro-families, and pro-moms. Whether they are aware or not, they are nurturing a culture of Life.  

 Then, it was this past Monday that I happened to stumble upon this video. It’s Publix’s 2013 Mother’s Day commercial. You can watch it below.

I cried after I watched the little girl whisper into her mommy’s pregnant tummy to tell her baby sister her secret: “You’re really going to love Mom.”  There is something about a child speaking life over her mom and her unborn sister that releases hope. There is something about the mom loving her 6-year-old little girl and her unborn little girl in her tummy that releases a breath of fresh air. They are pictures of life. It is almost unheard of on television to see such a beautiful message. The value of honoring and speaking life over moms is a powerful, influential and very necessary message. Moms are in such a war in this generation. Speaking and praying life over her womb is what can turn the lights back on. It’s our blessing them that can release their blessing. 

 As my week moved on I couldn’t help but notice and feel a great hope in my spirit as I saw the other Mother’s Day ads popping up out of nowhere. I don’t know if I simply haven’t noticed them before this year or if there really is something rousing in America to speak Life over our moms. I pray it is the later. I feel a swing in America toward the blessings as we have uncovered and endured so much horror this year. It is time to honor and bless our mommas. Let’s create and speak a culture of honor and life. Give blessings to release blessings. Enjoy the ads below. And if you are a mom or like me you really want to be a mom, I just want to tell you: Blessed are you who have desired life. You are so chosen for this.

Tieks by Gavrieli Mother’s Day ad:

“My mom is a really great snuggler.” – It’s Not Complicated…Moms are the best.
AT&T commercial

“Because P&G brands are committed to helping Special Olympics.”- P&G Thank You
Mom commercial

Their tour began at the University of Cincinnati where 915 “Planned Parenthood pink” crosses were lined up to represent the 915 innocent, pre-born lives lost at the hands of Planned Parenthood every day. Pro-life students have gathered at each of the eight campuses selected for this tour to explain the display and hand out information on Planned Parenthood’s plans for students.

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins explained the purpose of ‘The Planned Parenthood Project’ bus tour with the following statement:

According to our research, 59 percent of 18-24 year olds do not know that Planned Parenthood commits abortions, but that their negativity towards the abortion Goliath increases when they find out the truth. We need to expose the fact that Planned Parenthood is the number one abortion business in the United States, performing almost 335,000 abortions annually.

While receiving $542 million in taxpayer funding, Planned Parenthood made over $150 million in revenue from the 333,965 abortions they performed in just the 2011-2012 fiscal year alone. They are an abortion business, plain and simple. The sad truth is that 44 percent of abortions are performed on women 18-24 years old, so Planned Parenthood has a financial interest in marketing to their best customers. Planned Parenthood targets students with almost 80 percent of their facilities located within 5 miles of a college or university campus. We need to reach these students and inform them of Planned Parenthood’s dirty practices before Planned Parenthood can lure them in.

With the late-term abortionist/infant serial killer Kermit Gosnell trial happening right now in Philadelphia, ‘The Planned Parenthood Project’ is especially relevant. The gruesome crimes of Gosnell are not an isolated incident. Planned Parenthood, which holds itself up as a clean, safe, women-friendly environment, engages in the same disgusting practices.

Hawkins went on to report that just a few weeks ago, a Planned Parenthood center in Delaware that has sent 5 women to the emergency room since January was forced to stop performing abortions because of unsafe and unsanitary conditions similar to the ones found at Gosnell’s abortion center. One nurse of this center said of the operating room, “It’s not washed down, it’s not even cleaned off. It has bloody drainage on it.” She was quoted as saying patients “could be at risk of getting hepatitis, even AIDS.”

And Hawkins further informed us that again, a few weeks ago, a Planned Parenthood official from Florida testified that a baby born alive during an abortion should be allowed to be killed. The Planned Parenthood official went on to say, “We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician.” Gosnell routinely killed babies born alive after an abortion by cutting their spinal cords.  Evidently that is a decision Planned Parenthood supports a “physician” like Gosnell making.

Phil Yoo, a development coordinator for SFLA contacted our local Birmingham pro-life groups to let us know that The Planned Parenthood Project was coming to our local campus, The University of Alabama-Birmingham. We waited in expectation to see this project on display and today I released a held breath as I saw the crosses lined up for all to see on our campus in the city. The red signs were like banners standing high above the crosses spelling out for all who would look the infrastructure and statistics of Planned Parenthood. Seeing all the facts hanging there in the air was a first for me. I have seen so many different displays of pro-life projects but this display of red and white with pink crosses gave a different blow. It was the blow of real facts and information. It was seeing the numbers of babies in mass before you. There were no bloody pictures like that of the Gosnell case, no photographs of the babies we abort every day in America. It was raw, unrelenting fact. Truth being heralded by the written word and a universal sign that all people understand– a cross in the ground.

Facts like this left a stinging my mind:

“Planned Parenthood provides poor quality, faulty birth control. In 2005, their condoms were ranked amongst the lowest quality on the market by Consumer Reports.”

“Planned Parenthood encourages a daily regimen of birth control, which have dangerous side effects, such as increased risk of cancer and even death.”

“When the birth control fails, Planned Parenthood’s ‘options counseling’ has been used to steer women towards abortion (which they profit from) instead of adoption or parenting (which they don’t get paid for) according to former employees.

“Planned Parenthood makes an estimated $150.6 million in revenue per year from abortions.”

“In the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood received more than $542 million in US taxpayer funding.” Yep, that is your money from your pocket.

“In 2011, Planned Parenthood facilities performed 333,964 abortions, their largest annual total ever.”

“Planned Parenthood commits 915 abortions every day.”
“92% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services were abortions in 2011.”

And because Students for Life of America is an organization of hope, they offered information for where people can go for real help:

“There are over 8,000 federally funded Community Health Centers across America that provide all the same services as Planned Parenthood, but don’t sell abortions. Services such as STD testing/treatment pregnancy tests, and routine gynecological exams.”

“Go here to locate one: www.nachc.com/findahealthcenter.cfm ”

“There are over 3,000 not-for-profit pregnancy help centers across America that provide free pregnancy tests, confidential counseling, free ultrasounds, parenting classes, and material support for young mothers and couples. Go here to locate one of these centers: www.optionline.org or call them at 1-800-712-HELP.”

I am faced daily with the reality that babies die every day simply because people lack the knowledge that would cause them to act. Where there is no knowledge, people perish. I am praying that on the campuses where our young generations are being taught and trained for their vocations, they will have see this project, pause, learn, and take in the revelation of Life. Pray with me for the college campuses of America to be blessed with the revelation of knowledge and wisdom in the sanctity of human life.

 “My people perish from a lack of knowledge.”  Hosea 4:6 

Alabama’s closed abortion center, New Woman All Women, is still performing abortions regardless of their license having been revoked for over a year. The Alabama Department of Public Health inspected the facility and found atrocious violations including two patients who had to go to the hospital following an overdose of a drug during their abortion. They immediately revoked their license and ordered the clinic to shut down, yet, in total disregard to the law concern for women’s health, they unapologetically are continuing to practice abortion in this building anyway. 

On March 26^th, the Alabama Department of Public Health filed a civil complaint after thousands of Birmingham civilians called and addressed their moral outcry concerning this felony. Even a local radio station was asking the people to speak up for what is going on in our city. ADPH filed this civil complaint in Jefferson County Circuit court seeking to stop the operation of an unlicensed abortion clinic in Birmingham. The complaint states that New Woman All Women Health Care does not have a license yet it is offering abortions provided by abortionist, Dr. Bruce Norman.

What argument could they possibly have against the legal penalties for their actions? I pray it moves you to tears and to your knees in prayer. 

Their excuse is heralded by Scott Morro, abortionist Dr. Bruce Norman’s attorney. Morro states that Norman doesn’t need an abortion provider license because he performs a number of abortions under the threshold the state licensure requires of an “abortion or reproductive health center.” Any facility that performs 30 or more abortions per month during any two months of a calendar year requires a license. Doctors performing under that amount do not require a license. Additionally, they shield their claims beneath the façade that they are a “start-up doctor’s office.”

Lets ignore the fact that the Alabama Department of Public Health shut them down (this same building, this same owner, and this same abortion doctor) for health violations. It is clear that Derzis, Norman and the rest of their personnel care only for their abortive profits. Birmingham civilians are doing all they can to raise outcry and pray for the ending of this outrageous denial of state regulations.

The blows kept coming this week when news reports on Monday informed us that Mississippi’s last abortion center, also owned by Diane Derzis, halted obligation to law because federal judge, Daniel P. Jordan III temporarily blocked Mississippi from revoking the license of the state’s only abortion clinic while it tries to fulfill a 2012 state law. This law, HB 1390, requires all OB-GYNs who do abortions at Jackson Women’s Health Organization to have privileges to admit patients to a local hospital. This abortion center was denied by 7 area hospitals. It is Derzis’ opinion that the hospitals merely do not want to deal with people praying and protesting outside of their hospitals. However, it is known locally (I was raised there and my family still lives there) that the hospitals do not want anything to do with abortion. Mississippi is a pro-life state and even their governor, Governor Phil Bryant is known for wanting Mississippi to be the first state that is abortion free.  Governor Bryant quoted by CNN states,

 ”I believe that all human life is precious and as governor, I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and unborn are protected in Mississippi,” he said.  

Mississippians are praying that this is merely a short stint in the action of revoking their license and shutting down the last abortion center in Mississippi. Judge Jordan’s ruling Monday canceled a license revocation hearing that had been set for Thursday, April 18th. In the meantime, Mississippi Right to Life leaders said they are filing a complaint with the state Health Department, saying the clinic fails to provide statistics about pregnancies it terminates with abortion-inducing drugs. The group’s president, Barbara Whitehead wrote in a letter to the state health officer:

“JWHO has been advertising and performing non-surgical chemical abortions for several years and has never reported any of them to the state. Thus, JWHO is in non-compliance with state law.” 

Health Department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said that the state’s health officer, Dr. Mary Currier, had acknowledged the Mississippi Right to Life complaint and they were looking into it.

The owner of these two unapologetic abortion clinics, Diane Derzis speaks out to The Associated Press with this quote:  “This is just a battle in the overall war. It takes a little of the pressure off,” said Derzis, who also owns women’s health clinics in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia.

She is right. There is a battle raging in this war for keeping the sacredness of Life. And we are praying that this is America’s Battle of the Bulge where the courage, prayers and fortitude of the pro-life American people will stand against great adversity of murder in the womb. We are praying that the excellence of the governmental response will ultimately mean the victory of freedom over this tyranny. I do not use the word tyranny casually. I believe it is tyranny when the baby in the womb is ruled without an option for life. If our government will not respond, I am positive the Judge above all judges and the King above all kings, and the Government above all earthly government will move on behalf of the prayers of His saints. This is our battle…the most honorable and bloody battle our generation has ever seen. And when this battle is won, I am praying it will declare the end of this war on the womb. 

Please join us in crying out for Alabama and Mississippi. Let’s make a path in North America for Life!

“You want to see our prayers?” Brizza sweetly asked. I smiled, “You wrote them out? Yes, I do!” She picked up her poster as her brothers and little sister followed after and lifted theirs. I don’t know what I expected to see. I guess I was thinking of the drawings I see on Sunday when the children run up to me proudly showing their flowers, hearts and crayon sketches of their family, but my heart dropped into a puddle. As I read the posters I didn’t know whether to cry or be in awe of their truth and sincerity. Children’s prayers and thoughts on abortion drawn and written— it was beautiful and heartbreaking. Simple, yet intense. I had never seen anything like this before. I wanted to share them with you today so you could experience Birmingham’s youngest sidewalk counselors. Their prayers written out on their posters counseled even me that day. I saw the truth of abortion through the pure and lovely eyes of a child. It reminded me again why we pray so fervently for its end. With permission of their mother, I am sharing their prayers here.

Just a few short weeks after our first meeting, I saw my four little friends again at a prayer meeting in front of the late New Woman All Women abortion center. We were praying about the illegal abortions going on in the closed building. When we came to the end of gathering, Father Terry Gensemer of CEC for Life asked if anyone had anything they wanted to say. 10 year old Brizza walked forward in a crowd of all adults and spoke from her heart about the reality of abortion. “If you just think about the amount of abortions each day, I mean if you just think about it, it just might make you cry…” She is talking about the reality of 4,000 unborn babies being killed each day in the United States.

A new generation is being birthed into leadership and voter registration. It’s the generation of Brizzas that will come into those roles in just 8 more years. I find hope in these children’s prayers. Jesus is raising up a generation with pure vision and clarity for a culture of Life, a generation that thinks about abortion. A generation that feels it enough to cry.

New Woman All Women abortion center’s license was revoked nearly a year ago but it was uncovered by local grassroots prayer efforts that the center is, in fact, offering “back-alley” abortions. On March 9^th, Father Terry Gensemer of CEC for Life and other sidewalk counselors witnessed abortionist Bruce Norman, at least one nurse, and a clinic escort all present at the New Women All Women abortion center building with a full parking lot and women going inside. Gensemer reported that Operation Rescue had “gone undercover” and been offered abortions on several occasions at the abortion center. I was also informed on Tuesday after the press conference that the initial lead that NWAW was involved in illegal abortions was due to a girl coming into our local crisis pregnancy center informing them that she was in fact offered an abortion by NWAW and it wasn’t closed.  NWAW has also maintained its website since the shutdown, which clearly advertises as an Alabama abortion provider. They have never even changed their business voicemail, which lists abortion services, fees, and office hours.

Pro-life attorney from Life Legal Defense Foundation, Allison Aranda, had contacted Alabama Department of Health several times regarding these new developments, submitting evidence and inquiries.  As of March 18, Alabama Department of Public Health had remained silent.  So we took it to the power of the public’s moral outcry. On Tuesday, March 19, at 11 AM, there was an emergency press conference across the street from the New Woman All Women by our pro-life community of Birmingham.  The purpose of this press conference was to expose the abortion clinic’s attempt “to operate as an illegal back-alley abortion mill and to demand immediate legal action from the Alabama Department of Public Health.”

We asked that our state citizens of Alabama would begin to flood the offices of the Governor, the State Attorney General, the District Attorney, and ADPH Legal Counsel with phone calls and emails requesting an immediate shutdown of New Woman All Women abortion center and a full investigation of their unlicensed activities. Social media was exploding with outcry to call our state offices with requests to investigate. Right after the press conference, the local Christian radio station, WDJC with the Ronnie Bruce Show, was giving live calls to state officials to show listeners how easy their phone call to officials could be. I was overwhelmed with hope when I saw the grassroots action of our pro-life community come together at every level. I headed down to Planned Parenthood, our opened abortion center, in downtown Birmingham to go and pray for bit while I was in the area for our local 40 Days for Life effort. What I saw encouraged my heart even more. There were three families represented there on the sidewalk during the lunch hour when I arrived. Their children were all over the sidewalk praying. I knew something had shifted in our community that day. Grassroots prayers of the local churches are the only way to end abortion. It is changing the atmosphere of Birmingham and putting even more watchmen on the wall to stop it.

We gained great victory from the pro-life public press conference. By Wednesday, March 20^th, the ADPH responded by releasing a statement that said, “The Alabama Department of Public Health is conducting an ongoing investigation into whether an unlicensed abortion/reproductive health center is being operated at 1001 17thSt. South in Birmingham… ADPH does not comment on the status of open investigations.” Father Gensemer was also contacted by Kevin Turner, a representative of the State Attorney General’s office, to express that “Attorney General Strange and his office are actively looking into the matter.”

Our community is encouraged so far by the ADPH and Attorney General’s office being both engaged in this matter, but New Women All Women is still conducting illegal abortion business as far as we know. I was informed by Sarah Howell, CEC for Life’s assistant and my personal friend, that we are giving ADPH and the Attorney General some time to fully respond, but if they do anything less than shut them down then our community will take further action. They will be holding another public press conference across the street of NWAW next Thursday at 11:30am for further response. We are asking for people outside of Alabama to join us in praying for justice to come. We want this abortion center shut down for good and swift justice for those who have illegally acted against our state. Please join us during this time of intense outcry for Life in our state.

Let me take you on a dream stream. A “prophetic swirl” that if measured carefully will encourage your heart to pray even more in this hour that is so close to the ending of abortion. Here is how it begins: I was 7-years-old when I stood in front of my first abortion center in Jackson, Mississippi to pray for the babies. It was Jackson Women’s Health abortion center. I was standing with my daddy and holding his hand as he explained to me why we needed to pray at our local abortion center. You see, my dad was my Mordecai raising me up and telling me my 7-year-old voice mattered to God. Fast forward 18 years. I’m a young woman living in Birmingham, Alabama with the honor of leading Bound4LIFE Birmingham where other men, women, and children put their voice before God to end abortion.

Back in 2009, I had a pivotal dream that I was “cheering” for Mississippi only to find out a few days later that one of my best friends, another Bound4LIFE Chapter Leader, had a similar dream that she, too, was cheering for Mississippi. We knew from that dream that we must focus on partnering in prayer for Mississippi to end abortion in their state and cheer them on in their efforts.

Last year on April 4, 2012, we began to see the Mississippi dream come to life. State lawmakers passed a bill, HB 1390, requiring any physician performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified OB-GYN and to have admitting privileges at an area hospital. That would immediately disqualify all the abortionists in the state’s only abortion facility, Jackson Women’s Health. Essentially, this law would shut down the last abortion center by cutting through the “red tape” of Roe v. Wade. The bill was sent to Governor Phil Bryant who had openly declared that he wants to see Mississippi become abortion-free.

God wasn’t finished. On Good Friday, April 5, 2012, the pro-life community of Birmingham received an email from the Alabama Department of Public Health upon their investigation of New Woman All Women abortion center. Their investigation revealed significant failures in maintaining compliance with the Rules of the Alabama State Board of Health for the safe and effective provision of care. Based on these findings, a license revocation hearing had been scheduled for April 19th, 2012. However, a settlement was reached that required the operator to relinquish their license on or before May 18, 2012. This closed New Woman All Women for the time being from practicing abortion procedures.

This is where it gets even more personal for me. It just so happens that the owner of that abortion center in Jackson, Mississippi is the very same woman who owns the abortion center in Birmingham where I prayed, and the location whose license was revoked. God strategically positions His intercessory voices. Jackson and Birmingham’s abortion center owner has been called the “Abortion Queen” by the media. What they didn’t know was that God was preparing a Hadassah at age 7 and tens of thousands more exactly like her. They wear a better crown, and they have the King’s signet ring to reverse the evil of this woman’s blood thirsty reign.

That same Good Friday in 2012, Esther’s from across the country gathered to Dallas, Texas to fast and pray for the ending of abortion at a solemn assembly called The Esther Call. There we welcomed 39 women who had just marched all the way from Houston where the nation’s largest abortion center stands (78,000 square feet); 39 women for 39 years of abortion. Their 21-day journey ended at the Federal Court building in downtown Dallas where Roe v. Wade began. Every one of their steps was meant to claim back the ground the enemy had stolen. There we all gathered for a Good Friday communion service and applied the blood of Christ to our national sin. History was made that day.

The timing of Mississippi’s HB-1390, the license revocation hearing for the Birmingham abortion center, and The Esther Call all converged in a “kairos” moment. God was laying before us the establishment of the ending of abortion in this nation. For the first time since Roe v. Wade, abortion could end in one of our states and do away with the business of one our nation’s many abortion queens.

The reverberation of the events and prayers of last April have set the stage for breakthrough this year. At The Esther Call I began praying Psalm 139 over HB-1390. It was a bill that would end abortion in Mississippi by what many refer to as “red tape.” Nine months later, January 2013, I joined with Matt Lockett, the Justice House of Prayer DC and Bound4LIFE staff in our “Divine Deadline” 21-day prayer and fasting assignment leading up to the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We understood at the end of the fast that we must pray that the deadline for Roe v. Wade would be up. We understood that if abortion missed its divine deadline, then we would see victory like never before. This immediately became a powerful point of agreement in prayer as many began to pray for the divine deadlines to be enforced.

Then, just days ago on February 8th, I received word from Life Legal Defense that New Woman All Women abortion center in Birmingham, “did not submit any new documents since the January deadline. Therefore the license was denied as incomplete.” The deadline to complete the application – the third deadline they had been given by ADPH – was February 5th, 2013. This means that the most recent application for the reopening of the New Woman All Women abortion clinic in Birmingham has been denied. New Woman All Women abortion center will not reopen.

They missed their deadline! They missed their deadline due to red tape. I believe it goes beyond their understanding of governmental red tape as the cause. It was the prayers of all of those who pray for life in our country and from the red tape across Bound4LIFE intercessor’s mouths praying for Life in our nation.

What has this to do with the last abortion center in Mississippi? On the last day of our Divine Deadline prayer and fasting assignment an article was released from a pro-abortion writer that struck the very core of my heart, my Mississippi dream, and the red tape across my mouth all at the same time.

The article stated:

Mississippi already has one of the lowest abortion rates in the United States, with just 5 percent of women electing to end their pregnancies—compared to 19 percent nationally. It is one of just three states—along with North and South Dakota—that have only one clinic and zero providers who live in-state. The Center for Reproductive Rights has challenged the new law, and the state department of health has given the clinic until January to comply. If it fails, Michelle Movahed, an attorney at the center, worries that the closure could set off a domino effect, with more and more legislatures using red tape to close clinics, in effect nullifying Roe v. Wade one state at a time. “Mississippi is the dream for what anti-abortion groups are trying to have happen.”

What a profoundly prophetic statement straight from the mouth of the abortion center’s attorney. “A domino effect for red tape to close clinics.” Check. “Mississippi is the dream.” Check, check. This is what I consider to be confirmation of the prayers of the saints and the convergence of our time with God’s divine timing. We are on the precipice of seeing the abortion end one state at a time due to God’s dream for us, His red tape of justice, and His divine deadline. Pray with us, Church! Don’t miss out on partnering with the dreams of God and declaring His divine deadline for the ending of abortion.

You have a glorious part in this dream stream. Will you pray?

A few weeks after being married to Matt, I had gathered myself to set some in-home goals of which he had no idea; goals only mentally noted. But I was determined to fulfill them with the same easy grace that came with being in love with Matt. One of these simplistic goals was to get up at 6am when he does. My aim was to have my devotion time, share a cup of coffee with him and on occasion make a southern breakfast to set us for the day. This has yet to happen. In fact, if I’ve done anything, I’ve captured the art of disheveled disaster in the mornings. One particular morning, I had gone to bed with wet hair the night before, being too tired to dry it before bed. I had stayed up late cleaning and so an extra weariness was under my eyes. Matt woke me before he left for work that Friday morning (my off day from work) and I shot out of the bed in an effort to be fully awake to spend about 30 seconds with him before he walked out the door for the day. My reflection from a mirror on one of the walls caught my attention. “Lazy wife”, “walking tornado”, and “only thing missing is a Kool-Aid stain above my lip” ran through my mind. My heart sank into my toes as I locked eyes with my perfectly groomed, V-neck sweater with button down shirt, walking 1940’s poster boy of clean-cut, husband. I’m thinking he is thinking, “Who is she and where is my wife?” Just as I’m about to open my mouth to make fun of myself, Matt pulls me to him looking right into my eyes and says, “You’re beautiful.” And just in that same moment a miracle happened: I believed him. 

I’ve found that sometimes when Matt speaks it is he but it isn’t him. It is like Jesus is speaking to me. I have assumed this is one of the mysteries of marriage being the symbol of Christ loving the Church. And since that day, that phrase has stuck with me in the most powerful ways.

I’ve been praying for the ending of abortion since I was in elementary school when my dad taught me about the injustice of the legal killing of innocent babies. And I feel like I truly began my calling as an abolitionist in 2008. Since then, I can honestly say that I’ve set hundreds of goals, both mental and written, for ways to be an answer for the ending of abortion. Prayer, fasting, speaking, leading, crying, teaching, and asking. It is a continual process filled with my own personal disasters. I’ve called for prayer meetings when not even one person came…that happened for the majority of my prayer meetings for an entire year once. I have counseled and prayed with women who chose to have an abortion, anyway. I’ve lost friends, dear friends, because my life calling is “too extreme.” And I can’t tell you the amount of times that I have failed an important fast because of moments of weakness, only to have to start over, again.
Now imagine hearing the voice of Jesus in each of those failure moments…you know, that moment when you look at yourself and your efforts in disgust. Heart hits toes. And then, He says this: “You’re beautiful.” Now, imagine this miracle: You believe Him. Wouldn’t that change it all? I can tell you this, to this unqualified walking disaster from the red clay of Mississippi who constantly feels like a child with that invisible Kool-Aid stain tattooed above her lip…it changes everything. He looks past my weakness, my failed efforts, and says I’m beautiful. He says I’m right for this task. I’m a giant like Gideon. In fact, He prefers the disasters. It’s a pre-requisite so that everyone around you knows it must be God when miracles happen, babies are saved, legislation shifts pro-life, and people show up to the prayer meetings. This entire revelation can be summed up in this verse: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

So take up the cross once more. Dig deep, love greatly, and leave the failed steps behind as you move forward in His strength. Your weakness is perfected through His power. The justice for the unborn, unadopted, and the Great Commission is your calling and you are right for the task. You’re a giant like Gideon. He says, “You’re beautiful, Church.” Believe Him and start again.

Foster care isn’t as recurrent a table topic as adoption. It isn’t as beautiful a term, either, at first glance. When I hear of foster care, I think along the lines of worn-down houses and disturbing interludes of “It’s The Hard Knock Life.” Maybe that’s why I have such a passion for being a part of it and heralding to make it the beautiful term that it was meant to be to American families. I have several heroes in my life that have shown me the unbelievable beauty of foster care. And one of these heroes just happens to work for my husband. Her name is Wendy Russell and she is a wonderful wife and a mom to two children. And it just so happens that outside of their working jobs, she and her husband are foster parents. In fact, they have been a foster care family for years. She was beyond thrilled when Matt told her that as soon as we were married, we wanted to train to be foster care parents. I was not prepared for what Wendy would share with Matt and I just a few weeks after we’d been married.

Matt came home from work with a stack of album-sized books in his arms and said, “Wendy wanted you to see these. These are all her babies that they have cared for… “Matt, seeing me immediately begin to cry, added, “I knew you’d cry. They’re so sweet.”

Matt and I sat down turning each page and being completely drawn in. We were in awe of the implausible honor of caring for these precious ones. Seeing the details of the Russells’ home life on the pages of the albums with each child was a glimpse of the loveliness of the Church come alive. This is what the active, living gospel of Christ looks like…or just one of His millions of faces…but, oh, one of the most glorious ones I’ve ever encountered.

One of the personal covenants I’ve made with God is to be willing to be the answer to my own prayer. I believe as a Christian, I not only pray for Life, but I also give myself in the way of being an answer to my prayers for Life! In fact, I wear a red Life band to remind me of this personal covenant. (Read about a three part commitment represented by a red Life band here.) So for 2013, our Brumfield New Year’s Resolution is to be a foster care trained family so we can be a family to a child. We’ll be hosting a small group in January at our local church through Lifeline’s Children Services. It will be an incredible opportunity for Matt and I to be trained and welcome in others who would like to be trained along with us!

Lifeline Children Services is an astounding agency that has joined forces with other local agencies, churches, and the Department of Human Resources to recruit, train and license foster families for children in the State of Alabama foster care system. The necessity for licensed foster families has become extremely needed as the number of children needing placements has continued to increase. With so few families available to take in children who have been at risk in their birth families’ homes, children are being placed into overcrowded foster homes. This obviously deters them from receiving suitable care and does not promote the best interest of each child.

Lifeline’s commitment to those involved is to train prospective foster families, conduct their home studies and licensure, and monitor them once they have children in their homes. Opportunities to work alongside birth families are essential in foster care, so this ministry reaches beyond the walls of the foster home. Lifeline even states on their website: “For many children who have never been exposed to the Gospel, our foster parents are the hands and feet of Christ on a daily basis.”

They explain that even if you feel you are “not equipped” to foster a child, there are countless opportunities for you to aid children and foster families. Whether by taking a meal, giving foster parents the night off, or donating a car seat, your acts of service will be greatly valued by those receiving them.

This is just one of the agencies available to train you as a foster parent. I encourage you to find your local child services agency and ask how you can be trained or be a part of helping this amazing ministry. Make your 2013 New Year’s resolution to help a child find a family. Better yet, be that family.

“God sets the lonely in families…” Psalm 68:6

Now that you understand the gravity of gatherings, food, and tradition where I’m from, you’ll understand the gravity of my dilemma as I continue. This past Thanksgiving was my very first Thanksgiving as Mrs. Matthew Allan Brumfield. Being that Matt and I had worked out a “your family” and “my family” holiday schedule, this Thanksgiving would be my first holiday without my mom, dad, and one of my sisters. This would be my second Thanksgiving without my sweet G’mama. The only part of my family that I could present to my new extended family, along with myself, would be our G’mama’s special Spinach Madeline recipe. I could not wait to prepare this exceptional tradition with love, happy tears, and double the recipe.  But I was unprepared for the breakdown at Publix that so quickly crept up on me as I gathered the ingredients. Thankfully, my better half was there with me to calm the storm and divert my outburst.

I came to the most sacred part of the recipe…the cheese. It’s not just any cheese. This is a specifically spreadable and whipped cheese with a touch of jalapeno. I asked the grocer boy where I could find this type and he points only a few feet away. I see the “Kraft” brand I won’t buy. Kraft is one of the many contributors (along with Frito-Lay, Nestle, and Cadbury) of aborted stem cell research, as well as, other companies listed here (though PespsiCo/FritoLay has been removed because their shareholders made such noise about it, they stopped). I began to really learn about this grotesque scandal in the food industry and beyond through Susan Tyrell’s “The Industry of Death”series that so radically opened my eyes to the aborted baby research horrors going on behind our backs. I scanned the shelves looking for an off-brand substitute. Nothing.  Just Kraft brand.  I’m guessing this is when an emotional overload kicked-in containing the grand summation of missing my G’mama, not seeing my parents for Thanksgiving, anger at America’s lack of moral outcry for the injustices against our unborn, and not even being able to make a simple traditional recipe in its original candor to offer my new in-laws.

I find myself screaming out, “IT’S A MONOPOLY!”

I choked back tears before my new husband wondered if he married a woman who might tie herself to the Kraft shelf with a sign that said, “There is a drop of baby blood in every slice of their cheese.” End exaggerated image in my head as Matt asked me why we have to have that type of cheese.

I looked at him and said, “Well this is the kind we use for Spinach Madeline. There has to at least be an off-brand I could use for it to taste fairly right.”

My noble problem solver asked the (probably) frightened grocer boy where we might find another selection of cheeses. I scoffed knowing it wouldn’t be right. The cheese would be all wrong for my already compromised Spinach Madeline.

I reluctantly followed Matt to the “other” cheese section. I’m barely involved as we look over the unsuitable cheese consistencies.

 Then Matt asked, “What about queso?” I just looked at him and thought of my greater bachelorette moments of eating rice and poached eggs for dinner because it was the only thing I had in my pantry. This seemed like a similar moment. I don’t have a suitable substitute so I’m serving “rice & eggs” for dinner. Thankfully, Matt has a spiritual gift for giving me fresh perspective.

 “It’s the same consistency in its unheated form. And you can add jalapenos. This looks like a really nice brand, too.” That settled it and we left with all the ingredients plus the “rice & poached egg” queso substitute.

I woke up early the next morning to prepare my version of Spinach Madeline for our first Thanksgiving. I put on my apron and cried as I began cooking. I missed G’mama so much. And this year, I won’t even be able to taste one of my favorite dishes she so flawlessly prepared holiday after holiday. What would she say if she was here?

To my amazement, as I melted the butter, sautéed the onions, and stirred the cream…the smell was so familiar. I smiled as I could almost see her with every aroma wafting up from the stove. It was like it was the same, but I knew it was even better. I had honored the recipe but I had stood up for justice. As I slid the spinach Madeline into the oven, my cell phone rang.

It was my parents calling to tell me “Happy Thanksgiving” and hear about what I had cooked for my new family. I recounted my situation with the Kraft ingredient, my breakdown at the Publix, Matt’s suggestion of which I was less than enthused, and ended with how much I missed G’mama. But then I admitted, “I really think it may be better than before. I tasted it before I put it in the oven and it was delicious.”

I heard my daddy say, “Honey, G’mama would have been so proud of you.”

Tears fell. That’s all I needed to hear.

My mom cheerily added, “Send me the new ingredient! I want to use it, too!”

And so, in honor of my sweet G’mama, this is what her Spinach Madeline taught me:

Family traditions can start at any time, be free to start your own. Recipes can get better with time and even better with some change. Standing for justice is always inconvenient but the reward is great. Food is just an expression of the gathering, the family is the heart. And my favorite of all, “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” -Matthew 5:6

I started walking and watched for his eyes until I saw the realization that I was walking towards him settle in. He was on his cell phone when I walked up and he politely covered up the mouth piece. He didn’t say a word and just waited to hear what I would say to him.

“Hi. I came over to see you if I could pray with you.”

“What?” He asked looking confused.

“I came over to see if I could pray with you.”

“Yeah, ok. Hold on one second.”

To my total amazement he told the person on the other line that he had to go and he would call them back in a few minutes. Clearly, the boy with the baseball cap with traces of smudged eyeliner on his lids from the night before was not afraid of the weird prayer girl. I don’t want to be the weird prayer girl nor do I like people thinking that of me. But what I do want to be is the prayer girl who follows when the Spirit leads and loves people like Jesus does. This was an amazing moment. The boy with the baseball cap and smudged eyeliner said “yes” to me praying with him. I couldn’t wait to see what God was going to do.

“So what’s your name?” I asked so we didn’t have to be total strangers.

“Israel,” He said matter of factly.

“Your name is Israel? Seriously?” I said in bewilderment.

“Yes,” he said smiling, now.

God had me leave the abortion center sidewalk to go and pray for Israel. I thought it was amusing, but at the same time, incredible. I was praying for Life to come into the city so God sent me one more city block down to pray for a life named Israel. He is God’s child, too, and needed prayer as much as the babies and parents across the street that day. It’s a gift to pray for Life and lay your hands on the shoulders of the person you’re praying for. It’s an intercessors dream come true. I asked permission to place my hands on his shoulders and without knowing anything but his name and without him knowing anything about me but mine–Israel said it would be fine. I began asking God to show Israel the life that God had planned for him before the foundations of the earth. We prayed for Israel’s identity to be found and that Jesus would reveal Himself to Israel in a powerful way. We prayed for Israel’s gift of art, one of many gifts God placed inside of him. We prayed that the music Israel listened to when he draws would uplift, inspire and give life to him. And we thanked God for the perfect design of making Israel a man… that he was made a man on purpose, for a great purpose. That was the most powerful prayer of all. My heart raced and tears plummeted as I echoed that prayer out of my mouth. Only to look up and see the man before me curled up with shoulders shaking and tears in his eyes, as well. When prayers like that hit that deep, it is important to repeat until you feel a peace. I kept speaking the beauty of Israel’s design. I kept thanking God for Israel being a man. It was one of the most strikingly simple and powerful prayers I’ve ever had the honor of praying.

When we finished praying, Israel thanked me. I asked if I could have his number not to bother him but text him so encouragement from time to time. Now, I don’t usually do this but again felt a peace in my request. He thankfully agreed and we exchanged phone numbers. And every once in a while for a year, when I thought of Israel, I said a prayer for him and sent him an encouragement. Mostly, I never got a response. But I think of Israel almost every time I go to that Planned Parenthood abortion center. God reminds me that my prayers of Life go beyond the womb, beyond the abortion clinic workers, beyond the moms and dads, and beyond government. My prayers of Life are for every human life,  in every situation, and in every battle.

That was two years ago this fall and while I was sitting on the couch a month ago, I received a text from my friend.

“Natalie? I don’t think you remember me but my name is Israel.”

He has no idea the impact his precious life has made on mine. But Israel told me that day the impact that praying life impacted his.

“Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. It’s because of my dear servant Jacob, Israel my chosen, That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,
and given you this privileged work.”
Isaiah 45:3-4 The Message