Heartbeat Press - July 2026 Edition

Lessons From The Well - Seeing Value
    

    In her book "Unplanned," Abby Johnson, the world's preeminent authority on Pro-Life work after abortion, recounts her impression of the Pro-Lifers who picketed outside her Planned Parenthood facility in the early days of her tenure in the industry. As a naive college student who had begun volunteering as a parking lot escort, the constant presence of judgmental onlookers and disruptive prayer warriors left a bad taste in her mouth. To Johnson, the picketers embodied hate and a staunchly anti-feminist ideology that clashed with the worldview she had embraced in college. Planned Parenthood's training, which marked all Pro-Lifers as "the enemy," also colored her perspective. Though Johnson would later realize that the majority of these individuals were a peaceful and powerful presence of conviction, at the time their fault was all but proven by the extremists who screamed at women that they were evil, degenerate people while waving pictures of mutilated baby body parts (which Johnson trusted were fake). As a result, Johnson remained confident in her side of the issue for decades. After all, how could her care of women be wrong if the other side hurled insults and abuse as outreach tactics?

    Softened by 40 Days for Life's gentler approach to ministry (spearheaded by Sean Carney around the same time Johnson was rising in Planned Parenthood's ranks) and a few more decades of experience, blunt acts of Pro-Life action are few and far between nowadays. Most Pro-Life advocates agree that prayer, calm presence, and a listening ear are far more effective while championing life and often encourage those in need to approach them without fear of condemnation. Unfortunately, belligerent behavior and, more often, rampant preconceptions are still sometimes hurled at women seeking answers (albeit in the wrong place at Planned Parenthood). These ungracious tactics fail spectacularly 99% of the time and completely ignore the humanity of women with unplanned pregnancies. At their most vulnerable, these women need love and practical aid, not judgement. 

    For a clear picture of what gracious interaction should look like we can turn to John 4, in which the author recounts Jesus' interaction with a Samaritan woman that was as groundbreaking as it was unexpected. Finding Jesus (a Jewish man) at a Samaritan source of water that she herself had slunk to (as an outcast from her own society), the Samaritan woman didn't expect to have any (let alone a positive) interaction while running her errand. And yet, Jesus spoke to her kindly, revealed His true deific identity, and bestowed profound grace upon her. What makes these acts truly spectacular, though, is the fact that, as God, Jesus knew the Samaritan woman better than she knew herself. Every fault, sin, evil act, and doubt. Her tattered life and her human attempts to fix it. Everything she had ever done that made her unworthy to even grovel in His perfect presence was utterly laid bare in those moments as the God of the universe existing on earth looked the wreckage of His perfect creation in the eye. And despite it all, He still loved her. He didn't love her regardless of everything she'd done; He only loved her, and that changed her life.

    Declaring to the world shortly afterwards, "Come, see the man who told me all I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" the Samaritan woman may not have known exactly how powerful her conversation with the Man from Galilee was, but she knew something had changed, enough that she could feel the weight of the world lift from her shoulders such that she wanted to tell that same world about her newfound peace. The Samaritan woman got a glimpse of heaven, revealed through love, which gave her the inspiration to be different than all she had been. 

    We cannot see the complete ruin of someone's life, and we have no power to correct the small pieces of visible wreckage...but we are called to be Christ's hands and feet on earth, and in that capacity, love, not anger, is required. Returning to Abby Johnson's misconceptions: She recalls being strangely impacted by the presence of the quiet, prayerful, and friendly Pro-Lifer's outside her gate. She couldn't understand how they could be so kind and exude an unquenchable joy to everyone they encountered or how the could show up every day - rain or shine, blue sky or sleet - and still sing hymns, pray without ceasing, and wish her a good morning. It was unnatural but fiercely life-saving and evident of divine peace. When Johnson eventually left Planned Parenthood, she sought out these Pro-Lifers because she knew (despite everything she had done) they truly loved her and would do anything to see her freed from her past. Abortion-seeking and post-abortive women who have encountered this brand of Pro-Life work recount similar stories. Within the movement they found forgiveness and hope because their actions simply didn't matter, only their worth as children of God.

    Do you see God-gifted value in everyone you encounter? Abortion seekers? Pro-Choice Individuals? Abortion Workers? Do you see them as this world sees them or as the beautiful creations of Christ that they are meant to be? Can you love them, sins and all? Every human being has been purposely made and is, therefore, deserving of grace. Implement the lesson from the woman at the well, and dare to see that worth.    

Sources: John 4 (ESV), Unplanned by Abby Johnson 

Photo Credit: Peculiar Faith.com 

Heartbeat Press - November 2025 Edition

Heart and Soul Work - The Story of Haywood Robinson and Noreen Johnson, Part 2   

    Previously on Heartbeat Press... After a whirlwind career as one of only two abortionists in a small Texas town, Dr. Haywood Robinson found conviction and saving faith after a soul-stirring experience, and felt that he could no longer commit abortions. Shortly after that, Dr. Robinson found a new calling within the Pro-Life movement with 40 Days for Life and has gone on to speak for life and pray outside of abortion clinics (including the very facility in which he used to practice). However, Dr. Robinson's wife, Dr. Noreen Johnson, did not share her husband's profound conversion and, while he found rebirth and forgiveness, she continued to actively support abortions, seeing them as empowering for women and a necessary service that she was proud to provide. But Dr. Johnson's heart might not have been as cold as many accused it of being, and a little spark of her husband's new purpose for life may just have found a place to grow in Dr. Johnson's own heart.
    Born in the Caribbean country of Trinidad in 1951, Noreen Johnson first found a passion for medicine while dissecting frogs in school. She loved the precision of the work and found that she had the skilled hands of a surgeon. Following this passion as she grew up, Johnson enrolled in medical school as soon as she could, immigrating to the United States in order to train at Howard University, and very quickly earned a place as a senior resident at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital. She loved her work and, as an added bonus, met Dr. Robinson at the same time, with the pair marrying soon afterwards. However, this fruitful time in Dr. Johnson's life also had a dark side, though she didn't see it as such at the time. As part of her standard medical training, Dr. Johnson was casually introduced to abortion and the possibility of moonlighting at abortion clinics once proficient in the procedure. Jumping at the opportunity to make money and use her dexterity skills, Dr. Johnson highlighted later that this initial and seemingly small decision was the first step towards a desensitization that caused her to see babies and mothers as mere transactions instead of beautiful creations of God.
    Moving to Texas to set up a practice with her husband, Dr. Johnson estimated that, over the course of her career, she committed over one thousand abortion (including one carried out on her own sister) and that, as time went on, each one became more and more removed from any sense of guilt or hesitation because her clients were so thoroughly dehumanized in her eyes that they became nothing more than work to check off quickly. She also noted that most of the abortions that she committed in Texas where done secretively. Even though abortions were legal across the United States at the time, Dr. Johnson was concerned for her reputation and did not want to be known as "the town abortionist." So much so that, when a patient she hadn't personally referred for the procedure showed up in her office one day, she determined to quit doing abortions altogether. Not for the sake of innocent babies or because of a moral conviction, but simply because her spotless character was on the verge of being muddied.
    Even after giving up active abortion practice, Dr. Johnson still considered the procedure an essential one that should be offered. She was not Pro-Life by any means and found it quite jarring when her husband had his own faith conversion and started leaning in that direction on the life issue. But, even as she rolled her eyes at Dr. Robinson's new passion, the Lord was working on Dr. Johnson's heart also and, while Dr. Robinson's may have been the first to change within the couple, her conversion, when it happened, was the more powerful of the two. In an interview with Live Action News' Lila Rose, Dr. Johnson recalled that the example of her husband reminded her of her own Christian upbringing and early salvation, which in turn brought the realization that she had committed abortions and a feeling of guilt over them for the first time in her life. In a moment (and with eventual counseling by Pro-Life advocates), humanity was obvious in all the children she had killed and all the women she had scarred. Her heart began to ache with the thought that "every human life is worth something in God's eyes" and the offense that the murder of just one of His children causes for the Lord.
    Joining Dr. Robinson in redemption, Dr. Johnson felt a need to atone for all the harm that the couple had caused. They went through the process of learning to rehumanize the abortion victim (child or mother), they began praying outside of abortion clinics, and they joined 40 Days for Life, where they were heavily involved for many years. But, most profoundly, part of Dr. Johnson's personal road to redemption required the visualizing of every baby who had died by her hand (giving each a name and a purpose that had then been taken away). While painful, this exercise was also freeing, as it made people out of every child and showed Dr. Johnson just how much grace the Lord had for her. So much that He could forgive every murder she had committed and still have a place in His heart to lover her fiercely forever.
    Dr. Noreen Johnson passed away in 2021, at the age of seventy, but her life's message - that anyone can find redemption and that restorative action is possible - will far outlive her. Love radically changed Dr. Johnson, which she then bestowed on others around her. That, as her heart and soul, will be how she's remembered from now on. 

Sources: Live Action News, Jones Washington Mortuary.com

Photo Credit: MCC Mid Clinic.org  

Heartbeat Press - November 2023 Edition

Abby Johnson - Beauty from Ashes 

    After walking out of her abortion clinic for the last time in 2009, Abby Johnson had no idea what the future would hold. She knew she could never enable another abortion and she had been "taken in" by Pro-Lifers at the local Coalition for Life, but, despite those small favors, she couldn't help but think that there was no possibility of redemption for a woman who had wholeheartedly sold abortion for years. Try as she might, Abby couldn't find any clear steps towards healing and forgiveness. Months later, there were still no clear answers, but Abby had begun telling her story at Pro-Life conventions in the hope that her testimony would bring healing to other women. It was at one of these conventions, Unidos por la Vida (United for Life) in Los Angeles, while walking through a back hallway, that Abby first met Annette. 

    As a current employee of Planned Parenthood, Annette had been reluctant to attend the convention even when her boyfriend insisted for the sake of their relationship. But, once there, Abby's story had so moved Annette that she had desperately sought her out afterwards. Barred from reaching Abby directly, Annette shouted Abby's name, desperately trying to get her attention. She didn't want to work for Planned Parenthood anymore and knew she couldn't stay but she had no idea how to leave. When Abby came over and reached through the gate to give Annette the warmest hug she had ever experienced, she knew she had just found her lifeline. 

After the convention, Abby badly wanted to help Annette leave her situation, but, after hours of searching the web and calling every resource she knew, Abby couldn't find one ministry that offered help for abortion workers who wanted to leave the industry. In fact, many organizations specifically condemned abortionists for their actions, refusing to show them any compassion. This reality cut Abby to the quick, not only because it left truly repentant abortionists no options (though their awakening should have been a joyous occasion), but also because it revealed a horrible double standard in the Pro-Life movement. Pro-Lifers had whole-heartedly accepted Abby when she had sought an escape and she was now thought of as a powerful voice in the fight for life, but only a few months prior she had been no different than Annette, trapped in a tense situation with no one reaching out to help her. Would the Pro-Life movement deny all the powerful testimonies that could result from mercy-driven repentance because it had forgotten simple truths like those found in Micah 6:8? Was Abby the only exception? 

    Then it struck her. If the Pro-Life movement was to see all the good that could come from individuals leaving the abortion industry, it needed to know that workers were actually seeking an escape. To do that, workers needed support so they could feel empowered to leave and Abby, as the poster child for abortion repentance, could provide that support. In November 2011, And Then There Were None, a non-profit organization specifically geared towards abortion workers with the goal of helping them leave the industry, was born. The organization's on-going ministry has shown mercy to hundreds. Its outreach has proved to the Pro-Life movement that redemption is possible for anyone and that mercy should be a key aspect of the fight for life. And, more than anything else, And Then There Were None has nurtured Abby's own healing, proving to her that she was redeemed for a reason.

    On the morning of May 4, 2019, Abby found herself reflecting on the unprecedented course her life had taken over the past ten years and the Lord's mercy that had permeated every moment of that time. Reflecting on her past was not new to Abby. She had parsed through it many times since leaving Planned Parenthood in 2009, but on this specific day the blessings of her transformed life were culminating in a very special way. By all rights, she shouldn't be where she was on that morning. She shouldn't have experienced the grace and forgiveness that had so totally overwhelmed her life. But, here she was, sitting in the back of a mobile ultrasound van in Times Square, New York, ready to proclaim the Pro-Life message in the most profound way.

    The sound of a heartbeat, steady and strong, reverberated through every corner of Times Square. The third trimester ultrasound of Abby's seventh child was being witnessed by millions, Pro-Life and Pro-Abortion alike, as a striking testimony to the humanity of the preborn. And all Abby Johnson could do was cry tears of joy. For her child, for everyone who could hear his message, and for herself. The woman who had once carelessly sentenced thousands of children to death was now the vessel through which their humanity was being proclaimed. The Lord had truly raised Abby out of the ashes of her own choices and was working through her in a spectacular way.  

Sources: Fierce Mercy, Wikipedia, And Then There Were None, Biblia.com 

Photo Credit: Liberty University 

I Love You More - Sanctity of Human Life Day 2022

In honor of Sanctity of Human Life Day
and in memory of the estimated 62 million lives lost to abortion. 

The sun is bright and the day is new,

You know me and I know you.

Hello little one what a bright smile,

Innocent and pure without any guile.

Little child how sweet you are,

Your spirit is bright as a shining star.

Bubbly and vibrant spilling over with joy,

It takes the heart with an easy ploy.

My sweet child I created you by hand,

Imagined you wonderfully perfectly planned.

An image of me but so preciously dear,

Cling to me child you've nothing to fear.

Little one I've known you ever so long,

I formed you with joy and a triumphant song.

I knit you together with careful craft,

I smiled so wide when I first heard you laugh.

I created your smile your heart and your hands,

Gave you a future and planned big plans.

My own little child a creation so dear,

Never forget that I am always near.

I love you my child without any doubt,

Now go and speak it from the roof tops shout.

Know in your mind your heart and your core,

You're my child and I love you more.

     

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Abortion Estimates

Choosing Life

Abortion Will End

Let Them Live

Abby Johnson

A Journey In Summer

Many say that summer is supposed to be the best time of the entire year and, for the most part, I agree. While I prefer the cooler weather of spring to the humidity of summer, I enjoy taking advantage of all the activities summer has to offer. I spend a great deal of time outside in the fresh air enjoying the sunlight, I take walks and ride my bike with my sister, and every so often I take trips to the pool or beach to bask in the cool water.

When I get the chance, I relax, but for the most part much of my time is filled up with volunteer work. For the majority of my summer, I am usually up at a Bible camp serving on staff; I really enjoy getting to positively impact the campers that I come in contact with and over the years I feel that this volunteering has helped me grow in my personal faith and has created a servant's heart within me. I wouldn't want to spend my summers doing anything else.

Last summer, I spend much of my time at Bible camp as usual; I spent my time volunteering and was surrounded by positive and Christ-focused people. I was immersed in Bible material almost twenty-four-seven, and thank goodness I was because just before summer started I had a very unpleasant experience that deeply impacted me for many, many months. This experience changed me as a person and, if I hadn't been around good Christian people and the Bible all summer, it could have scarred me much more deeply than it did.

In a way, I went on a journey last summer. I didn't travel very far physically, but I went very far mentally and emotionally - farther than I ever wanted to go. I never thought I would write about my journey, but once I thought about it a little more, I realized there are probably hundreds of people who have gone through the same things and would benefit from any advice I can give them. The journey I went on was long and painful, and it left deep, deep scars. But I have a feeling talking about it will ease the painful memories.

My journey actually started back in April of 2019, when a person very close to me hurt me very badly. For the sake of this person and other people involved, I will keep "their" identity secret (using plural pronouns to aid in that process), and I won't say exactly what "they" did. The important thing about this post is what happened to me after I was hurt and how God helped me come out of it. Knowing what the person did to me specifically won't change the important part of this post so that will remain confidential -  between me, the person who hurt me, and the few people who saw the whole thing unfurl.

This person was very close to me and I cared very much about them; this person was one of my close friends so it was extremely shocking when, in early April of last year, they began acting strangely and became distant. All of a sudden, it didn't seem like our friendship meant anything to them. One month passed, and then two. Every time I talked with them, they pushed me further and further away. I started every conversation, I set up times for us to get together to hangout, and it seemed that I was the only one putting any effort into maintaining a friendship.

I don't think my readers can fully comprehend how painful this situation was for me; you, of course, weren't there from the beginning of the friendship and don't know how wonderful it once was. So you may find it surprising or confusing to hear that, after half a year of my friendship going south with no real hope of saving it, I decided I needed to take a step back until they were ready to continue a fifty-fifty friendship. It may seem strange that I had to back away from my friend, but after months and months of striving for an ideal that just wasn't happening, my mental heath was suffering and I found myself falling into depression for the first time in my life. I just couldn't fight my friend anymore, and I decided that if they didn't want this friendship, I would let them live their life without it. I wasn't going to keep them when they didn't want to stay.

Even after I resolved to step back, I was still depressed. It took a lot for me to talk to my friend and tell them everything they had put me through during the previous months. Even now I don't think my friend truly realized how badly their indifference had hurt me me until I told them. I still want to believe that they didn't intend to hurt me, but by the time I learned the whole truth and owned up to what was happening, it was too late. The damage had been done and my heart was broken. My mind just couldn't comprehend why my friend - my very dear friend - had decided to take my love for them for granted. As I spoke to my friend for the last time, asking them to think about what had happened and to consider fixing what they had broken, my mind screamed. It screamed louder than my heart that was begging me not to end the friendship; it asked a million and one questions. "Why did they bring this upon us?" "Isn't there any other way to find healing?" "Will they even remember the time we were friends or will our time together just be another passing moment in their long life, something to look back on with indifference when they get old?" The day I asked my friend to think about what had happened between us was the last day I spoke to them; it was the day a beautiful friendship that I had worked so hard to preserve died. It was the day my heart felt numb.

The day I left my friend was also the beginning of a long journey of recovery for me. I never saw it coming but months and months of fighting for my friendship had badly damaged my heart and soul. For the first time in my life I felt like my emotions had been completely and utterly tangled up; I couldn't untangle them no matter how hard I tried. I felt like a part of me had gone missing and I didn't know where to look for it. I wasn't even sure if I wanted my missing part back. Nothing seemed worthwhile. Everything seemed out of place; everything was shattered into a million pieces.

I had never dealt with severe depression before so I had no idea how to go on living, let alone get myself out of it. To me it seemed like my whole life had crumbled in around me with not even a smidge of hope for escape. And all this because of one friend. One friend who had meant the world to me, a person who had found a place in my heart only to tear themselves away like my friendship meant nothing to them; my heart couldn't move on. So for months I continued in my depression, jumping through all five phases of grief one after the other. My heart felt them all: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It was an endless cycle that only destroyed me further. Needless to say, most of my summer and a part of my fall were filled with nothing but heartache. There were good moments, but underneath there was always the underlying pain of letting my friend go. There was nowhere to go and my journey seemed to have stalled in the most terrible place possible.

If I had been told right after I started my journey of healing that God had a reason for everything I was going through and that I would come out of it eventually, I wouldn't have believed it. My pain was too fresh and too deep for me to imagine anything besides what I was going through. I wouldn't have believed that my life would go back to anything resembling normalcy. How could it?

But I believe now that God had a plan because I saw myself change and heal even though I didn't think it was possible. God wanted me to trust him more; he pursued me endlessly to let him handle the hard moments in my life but I hadn't listened. I'd been too comfortable in a reality that was peaceful and perfect. God knew that I would never surrender my moments to him on my own so he created a journey for me that would bring me back to him. To our human understanding, God is very unfair but that's only because we can only see his plans from our perspective. It seemed unfair to me that God would use my dying friendship to bring me back to him, but I couldn't see what he was doing deep down in my life while my heart was breaking. Even though I didn't see it right away, he was making me new from the inside out. Through the heartache and the pain, he was teaching me one or two things about trusting him and persevering through hard moments. He taught me that I needed to be my own person outside of my friendship - that I had let my love for one person consume my being, and that I couldn't find myself once that friendship was removed.

God used my pain to make me a stronger person. He also showed me just who in my life truly cared about me. He brought my family closer and closer to me and enabled them to lift me up to healing during the worst moments of last summer. And, finally, God reawakened a yearning to know him more deeply within myself. He showed me that he is the only thing worthy of my undying devotion. I had been ignoring my relationship with God and was, therefore, depriving myself of his constant peace and love.

Losing my friendship was terrible; it hurt more than anything I had ever experienced before. If I could go back to a time when my friend still cared about our relationship and tell them just how much they meant to me, I would go in a heartbeat. At the same time, I don't regret losing the friendship, because, even though I went through months of depression, heartache, and sadness, the journey that I went on made me stronger. It strengthened my faith in a God that never let me go, and it taught me who I am as a person.

My journey isn't over yet. I still miss my friend sometimes and the scars I gained from my journey will always be with me. But now I know what I'm made of; I know I can make it to the other side of the battle still standing. I know that now and forever I have a powerful God standing beside me who will always fight with me.

Though we will all have dark moments that will change who we are, remember that there is light at the other side of the tunnel. A resolution is coming; you just have to keep moving towards it. Only those who trust in God will see the end of the battle and will come out of it standing. I'm standing on the other side of my battle, near the end of this particular part of my life's journey. My wounds are deep and my scars are on full display, but I'm still standing...because my God is standing with me.

Photo Credit:Stocksy United 

An Easter Poem

There came a morning three days hence,
A sweet soft dawn that smelled of incense.
Quiet was the sunrise bright and calm,
It rose slowly whispering a psalm.

A dazzling morning rose quiet and clear,
As if something wonderful was quite near.
A hush in the fragrant air could be heard,
Nary a note was sung from any bird.

Watching and waiting a lone garden stood,
Something was happening the garden knew it would.
As spring comes after winter beauty again,
Life would come after death and shout amen.

In that small garden love would not be denied,
In a small tomb life awoke from deep inside.
A breath of life and forgiveness was breathed,
The salvation of all was bought and unsheathed.

The door to the tomb could hold it no longer,
The glory of the Lord alive and ever stronger.
The stone rolled away sealing death off,
Hell and the devil utter no scoff.

Out he stepped shining like stardust,
His voice spoke in volumes like a wind gust.

Bright as the sun beauty unfurled,

He stretched out his hands holding the world.

Christ Jesus so dear true love forever,
He died to save us our chains to sever.
On Easter morning his triumph was true,
He loved so he came for me and you.

Oh what a savior to suffer such hurt,
And for a people to raise out of the dirt.
His heart full of love he cares for us still,
He came to save us our hearts to fill.

He rose out of death and left it behind,
His power and smile ever so kind.
He gazed at the world and said it is finished,
Love so amazing it will never diminish.


Photo Credit: Pinterest 

A Good Friday Poem

Grey and dark the sun shown cold,

Rolling rain clouds a sad story told.

Innocent blood spilled the guilty stained,
Where once there was light nothing remained.

Oh what a day awful and yet pure,
Creating a melancholy nothing could cure.
Held on high a sign of true love,
Darkening the bright skies up above.

Only a few stayed to see,
In their hearts they asked how could it be.
Terrible awful hardly dared thought,
Looking up in vain hope they sought.

Terrible and tragic the sight that they saw,
A man held high he died without a flaw.
The Christ they knew and loved so dear,
There was nothing now just death and fear.

Christ on high with arms outstretched,
A symbol a memory in stone etched.
He came to the earth only to save,
Offered up to die his life he gave.

Killed by the people he never knew wrong,
His final breath left a sad song.
Awful and dark the day he died,
The angels saw wept and testified.

Was hope gone was any to be found,
None there seemed as Christ was placed in the ground.
Nothing to look for death seemingly had won,
Was this all there was Jesus' work done...


Photo Credit: Fine Art America 

A Personal Valley

I recently experienced a bit of poetic irony in my life. And, oh, how I "loved" it.

Not five minutes after I posted my last essay, "Bad Days," on this blog, my life hit the skids. Now, before everyone panics and starts asking me what horrible ordeal I went through, let me clear some thing up. In the grand scheme of the universe, the skid that my life hit was not overly terrible. I am still physically healthy, my family is all intact, and my house is still standing. But I wasn't expecting the skid that I hit and it threw me off balance.

Five minutes after I posted "Bad Days," my daily routine was thrown out the window. I, like every other human, am a creature of habit, I need my life to be somewhat orderly, with something resembling a schedule in my daily life. And recently that just hasn't been possible. Everywhere I turned, a new and unexpected wrench is thrown into the works: I was asked to work a lot of extra shifts, a missions trip I'm going on is happening soon and I'm not prepared, I'm trying to keep up with two blogs on a semi-regular basis, my weekly commitments keep getting rescheduled, and to top it off the weather in my part of the world has been terrible recently. While none of these are terrible, I didn't see them coming and they frustrated me.

As I was stewing in my frustration last week, I began to think - mainly about how crummy I felt and how nice it would be if my schedule could get back on track. But besides that I had a realization. I had been so focused on how crazy my life had been and how stressful each subsequent day was that I had completely forgotten my own advice. In the midst of my stress, I neglected to see that I had entered a valley. I walked right into it without seeing it and then proceeded to get angry when my life wasn't going the way I wanted it to. I stood at the lowest point I could find and shouted my frustration that I wasn't on top of a mountain. My anger clouded my vision so much that I forgot I was not alone it this most recent valley. If I had only looked next to me, I would have seen God waiting at my side, just waiting for me to ask for a helping hand. I made the mistake of shouting at God instead of asking for his help. The harder I tried to climb out of the valley by myself, the deeper it got. The deeper it got, the angrier I got at God. But all the while I just needed to remember that he's always there.

I cannot put into words how humbled I was by the realization of my mistake. How could I have forgotten my own advice so fast?  Why had I gotten so angry? There was nothing to do but let go of my stress and let God carry me to the closest mountain. I wish my vision had cleared sooner, but because it didn't God was able to show me how much I screw up on a daily basis and demonstrate his love for me. He used a valley to teach me a valuable lesson. The hardest climb up a mountain can reveal the most beautiful view from the top, but you can only get there by being carried by a wonderful loving God.

Bad Days

Have you ever had a day like this? You wake up in the morning and from the very first moment, everything seems awful. You want to crawl back under the covers, close your eyes, and shut out the pending awful day, but you know that life has to happen so you force yourself to get up. After leering at yourself in the bathroom mirror and pulling on the most comfortable clothes you can get away with at work or school, you drag yourself to the kitchen for breakfast. But the awful day has just begun, so within two minutes you manage to spill coffee in your lap, knock over your bowl of bland cereal, and accidentally kick the cat or dog across the room.

With a defeated sigh, you mop up your mess and head out to your destination, dreading any and all human interaction. As soon as you step past your doorstep, a wave of inconvenience hits you in the face and sends you reeling. Your car won't start or you forget to stop at a stop sign and end up getting a ticket from the police officer who seems determined to add on to this horrible day by being a stick in the mud. When you reach school or work, you end up being late because of the ticket and every annoying person comes out of the woodwork to torment you. Everywhere you turn, one thing after another gets in your way, making you dread your life, and making you wish you could revert back to the age of five.

By the time you stumble back into your house at six o'clock, having been further inconvenienced by rush hour traffic and a driver going as slow as possible while in front of you, you are ready to collapse into bed and resign yourself to the promise of a better tomorrow. But it is not to be. Within moments of kicking your shoes off, the phone rings; it's your boss scolding you for leaving work when you had a stack of paperwork to finish. While you don't have to come back to the office, he tells you sternly that you have to come in early tomorrow and finish the work. You knew this day wasn't going to go well and now the horribleness has bled into the next day. So you hang up the phone, place it gently on the kitchen table, take a deep breath, and proceed to scream as loud as you can into the mocking calmness of your house. While this does release some stress, it also scares the neighbors who call the police. An hour later, you're still explaining to the officer who knocked on your door that you're just having a really bad day.

While this version of a bad day might be a little over-dramatic and I may have thrown in every bad day stereotype to get the point across, I think you all know where I'm coming from. Bad days happen - times when you just wish that the world would stop turning and you could go back to yesterday. During a bad day, you just can't seem to be positive about anything, everything seems terrible, and nothing would make you happier than if everyone left you alone. But there is a way that you can get through bad days.

The next time you experience a bad day, try saying this to yourself, "Jesus is always with me in the mountain and the valley." This might sound silly, and you don't have to say it out load, but it really is true. Jesus is with us in all our troubles. Big or small, he's there to see every moment. Life really is a journey, and on the way everyone will go over high mountains and low valleys. While it can be really easy to remember that Jesus is with us as we stand on the top of a mountain looking out over wonderful things, all of us forget to call out to Jesus in the valley when we need him most. I have never come to a valley and remembered to call out to Jesus before I walked into it. All of us do this on a daily basis. But no matter what we do, every time we forget to call out to Jesus, he is with us anyway. He loves us so much that he is always by the side of the people who forget he's there. In every valley, Jesus is with us waiting for us to remember him; he loves us and wants to carry us to the next mountain. So no matter how low the valley, no matter how hard the climb up the mountain, and no matter how bad the day is, remember, our savior is always there. Loving us, waiting, caring, Jesus.

Forever Loved

I've seen the heavens open wide,
Cascading clouds falling to the sides.
Upon the earth it cast a glow,
And from above glorious light did flow.

There it came with brilliant song,
The voice I've waited to hear for so long.
A beautiful kind and loving lilt,
It tumbled and spun to earth on a tilt.

Soft as silk white as snow,
It rained on my ears far below.
I've heard my Saviour's voice from the sky,
My heart skipped a beat and longed to fly.

He called my name and saw my eyes,
He turned them upward without disguise.
He's seen my face sorrows etched,
And yet to earth he came my soul to fetch.

His love so dear I can't explain,
But yet to tell I'll endure many a pain.
I love my Lord his story to tell,
And so I'll speak it my voice a bell.

He's come to me a love forever,
Parted from me he shall be never.
My heart is his it shall always be.
Forever in love with the rescuer of me.



Photo Credit: Pinterest.comhttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/352617845804016421/?lp=true

Prayer Blog - Hopelessness

It is really quite sad to see someone who has no hope. A person who is so sad or angry that they have lost all faith in the world around them and the people in it. It's much easier to become hopeless then you might think; in fact I can safely say that every one of us has been hopeless many times in our lives. Times when we just give up trying and resign ourselves to melancholy.

I believe that there is one simple reason for hopelessness and one simple fix. We have lost sight off what really matters: God created us to be perfectly happy and to be joyful in his love, never wanting for anything except him, casting our eyes to him. But, because of this fallen world, our vision gets clouded more often than not; our worldly problems overshadow God and as a result we become hopeless. Cast your eyes once more to God, give him your problems, and you will have hope.

Pray - 

Dear Lord, please give us your strength. Let us once again desire to see you and know you. Let us put aside our worldly problems and hopelessness and look for you with all our heart. And, dear Lord, we pray for those who do not know you and therefore have no hope at all. Dear Lord, reach them please; give them a reason to hope again.

Saved for a Purpose

Jesus came to earth to save his Father's creation: the world that he cared about and the people he loved so much that he was willing to die a horrible death that he didn't deserve. We can rejoice. We were lost and are now found, we were orphaned and have been given a family, we had a debt that we could never pay and Jesus paid it.

But this is not the end of our story; it is the very beginning. We have a job to do. Jesus called us to be a light to the world and a lifeline to the lost; we were saved for a purpose. In the world right now, there is estimated to be 6,500 unreached people groups, amounting to around two billon people who still need saving. They are living their lives either hopeless without redemption or having no idea of the terrible price that hangs over their heads.

Two billion people with problems and fear and no hope, and God loves them all. He knows their names, their faces, every hair or their heads, and he wants to welcome them into his loving arms. And so he is sending you to bring the good news of hope and redemption to the world; unto the nations we go with faith in God and love in our hearts.

"Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles." ~ Acts 22:21

Prayer Blog - Beautiful Morning

Morning. The time of day when the world is just beginning to wake up from its hours of sleep.

What do you do in the morning? Probably the following: jump (or slide) out of bed, shower and get dressed, brush your hair and teeth, and then slide into the kitchen for breakfast. After eating your cereal, toast, or pancakes, drinking your coffee and brushing your teeth again, you either rush to find your shoes, jacket, and work papers, or plop down in front of the TV for a few minutes before getting in your car and driving off to work.

This is what your morning is generally like and it is a good way to start the day. But there is another way you could be spending your first waking hours.

When you wake up, have you ever pulled open the window and just breathed the fresh air? Have you looked at the beautiful sunshine, and have you considered who made such a gorgeous world for you to live in? Too often as busy human beings, we rush off in the early morning without seeing the newborn sun that paints the fresh green grass, or hearing the morning dove cooing to the buzzing bee. I suggest we try to appreciate our world much more, taking some time to step back and enjoy God's creation. And what better time to do that than in the beautiful early morning?

Prayer:
Dear God, what a beautiful world you have created for us to live in! Everything in it - from the smallest blade of grass to the highest mountain peaks - shows the obvious hand of a maker who cared and wanted to create something beautiful. Help us then, Lord, to be grateful to you and to appreciate the world you gave us. Put it on our hearts to take time out of our busy mornings to look out the window, to see the new morning and all the beauty in it and think, "Thank you, God, for this beautiful morning."

The Magic of Christmas

Tinsel, snow, big light up displays, holiday parades, red and green wrapping paper, and of course PRESENTS! Every one of these things is part and parcel of the big Christmas shebang. Over the years, the spectacle of Christmas has gotten bigger and bigger and the true magic of the season has been lost.

But what is the true magic of the season? Is it the huge Christmas trees in your city park? No. Santa and his elves? No. Is it the tapioca pudding? Not even that! The true magic was over 2,000 years ago. In a little town full of unimportant people, a very tired couple walked into Bethlehem; the woman on the donkey was about to give birth. No one would give them lodging so they made do with a stable. There Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, the most important man in history to that date and the most important to ever be. This small baby boy would save the entire world. And in that stable shepherds and kings alike bowed down to the baby king. 

Now telling the Christ's birth is often jumbled up with all the other Christmas paraphernalia but it should be held aloft in a special place; it truly is the real magic of Christmas. So Christmas is not about presents and trees; it is the start of a wonderful story that ends in the salvation of the world. This year as you prepare to decorate your house and watch your city turn into Christmastown, try to remember the whole reason for the season: the birth of a king, the true magic of Christmas.

Photo Credit: Ambuj Saxema and Waiting for the Word

In Your Darkest Hour

You will feel down at times, Feeling like you hit rock bottom. You sit and wait - wait for a light to shin, wait for your spirit to pick up. In your darkest hour, God will reach into your misery, pull you out, and comfort you. Just reach up and find him. He'll always be there, you may not hear him all the time, you may even think he's not there at all. But when you just can't go any further cry out for him. You'll hear him, soft voice in your heart comforting you, telling you to go on. And you will know no matter how soft his voice is he will always be there to catch you.


Photo Credit: Dr.Wendy Longo

Your Cup Runs Over

Your life is full of blessings, your life will be full at some times and low at others. At those times remember this. When you run into hardships, your cup runs over with God's promise of strength When you lose family members, your cup runs over with God's promise of seeing them again. When you are sick, your cup runs over with well deserved rest and sleep. When you're old and on your death bed, when you take your last breath and go to your everlasting  home, your cup runs over with God's divine peace.


Photo Credit: Sippanont Samchai

Spring

The snow covers the ground thick and heavy, with no sign of life anywhere. Then suddenly a small patch a grass pokes though. Then a flower blooms into beauty. Then sunlight pours down in shafts of golden glory. Just when winter seems its worst spring will come. God is like that, when all seems not worth living, God will tug at the inside if your heart and let you know he's there. He's always there whether you can feel him or not. God will always be there just as spring is always ready to come back. No matter what, God and spring will always be there for you.


Photo Credit: MattysFlicks

To love the Lord

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, nothing else should come before it. Jesus died on a rugged cross for you; he was beaten and taunted for you. Jesus loves you so much, you should love him back. It breaks his heart when someone turns away from him, discarding him for something else. The truth is no one can love you as much, nothing can give you something to hope for. No one but Jesus Christ. So if you really love him, show it. Love the Lord your God with all your heart to show him you care and are thankful for all he's done for you.





Photo Credit: Total due

A Friend for Life

You have many friends. You spend hours talking, laughing, having fun. But one by one your friendships fade. One friend is killed in a car crash, another simply turns his back on you, another drowns in a lake. Friendships will dissipate. But you have one friend who will never disappear: Jesus, your friend for life. He will help you though the hard times, laugh with you in the happy times. He'll just sit and listen it you need to talk to someone, and he'll still love you even if you turn your back on him. Friends will come and friends will go, but you can always count on Jesus, your friend for life.


Photo Credit: More Good Foundation

Love the Unloved

We all want to love our families, our friends, our leaders, and our mentors.

But what about the unloved: the young man who neglected his parents; the old woman who spent most of her life in a gambling parlor passing out drinks; the man who murdered his brother; the teenage girl who spent money so carelessly that now she's living in the homeless shelter?

All of these people need love and kindness. If you see someone like this, don't just say, " The next person who sees them will help." Chances are, the next person will do exactly what you did.

We need to be proactive with God's love. Jesus loved the unloved, healed the hurting, and even died for you. So let us be like Jesus, loving the people who are not loved, helping hurt and lame people, and even dying for our faith. Be like Jesus and love the unloved.

Photo Credit: Walt Stoneburner