Who Supports Planned Parenthood?

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/03/22/new-planned-parenthood-donors-include-gq-bob-evans-hotels/

This article will give ya a good ole list :/

My Keller Feller is 17 months

Oh how I love this boy! His hair is getting blonder by the day & his eyelashes seem miles long! Keller is long & lean & a good combination of silly & sweet! His Sunday School teachers always tell us what a joy it is to keep him & I must say that is always good to hear! Though I'm glad he hasn't shown them his tantrums because I assure you when he's mad, all that cuteness goes away quickly! Luckily they don't come around that often!

 

 Keller thinks he is as big as his 2 big brothers & that often leads to lots of bo-bos. As you can see in the picture, scrapes & bruises are quite common. The left side is his poor knee. We were walking at the park on the track & he fell 3 times! Each time he'd say, "Oh! Ow!" & then he'd get back & kept moving on without a cry. The only time he did cry was when I tried to pick him up because he wanted down to explore. The right side is Keller's poor lil head :( Our walkway in front of our house has pebbles embedded into it & he was trying to crawl off the step & lost his balance & ended up with a big gash & a huge goose-egg. I cried more than he did though. He's a tough little cookie! If he does cry all he needs is his Momma to pick him up & all is well again after some good hugs & kisses.

Keller loves to watch Super Why & Little Einsteins more than any other cartoons. He even does the dance at the end of Super Why & follows along on Little Einsteins patting & clapping. Whenever he hears a song on the radio he likes he tries to sing along. He likes to strum on his toy guitar & bang anything with his drum sticks. I really hope music is a life long love & talent of his!

He really loves to sing & dance, especially to the "Lord's Army."

 

Both big brothers are playing ball so Keller of course thinks he can do whatever they can do too. He likes to splash around in the water whether it's outside in the sprinkler, a mud puddle, or the bath tub. Keller plays peek-a-boo & covers his eyes & when we ask "Where's Keller?" he moves his hands & says "Is!!" for "There he is!" You add that with his goofy smile & this momma's heart melts instantly!

Keller jabbers a lot & some of his favorite words are: Momma, Daddy, cheese, bye-bye, uh-oh, night-night etc. It's completely adorable when he likes something & starts saying, "Oh WOW!" repeatedly! And when I say repeatedly I mean he sometimes says it 100x. And as you can see below he has the CUTEST kissy face!!! Keller is a lil Romeo, always wanting to hug & kiss & be all cuddley.

Of course one of my favorite things about Keller is that he is a major momma's boy! Maybe more so than his brothers were. Every time he wakes up he wants his cup & some ample snuggle time with me. And in his cup he only wants milk. Absolutely no juice! He does like water a lot & sweet tea, but he only gets tea if we are out & he'll drink it through a straw. And every now & then he begs for my coffee & I of course give in. As far as eating goes he loves Cheerios, Cheezits, eggs, ham, yogurt, bananas, & apple sauce. I recently gave him a fudgsicle & he devoured it! Thankfully he's a good sleeper. He doesn't cry much when I lay him down & most of the time not at all. I really wish I could rock him more, but he's so wiggly & always wants to be on the go it's hard to keep him still.

Keller loves to play with cars & makes an "engine" sound as he pushes them around. The kid also enjoys coloring, reading, digging in the dirt, & playing with our dog Fred. I think Keller would live out doors if I let him. He typically will throw a good tantrum when I make him come inside.

I'm amazed at how quickly he is growing up! It goes by fastest with each child. I thank God EVERYDAY He has allowed me to stay home with my boys! And as I type this I hear Keller screaming so I guess I better go I see what's going on!

Blessings to you all!!

First Grade Finale

Homeschooling has been shut down for 2 weeks now & this momma is GLAD for a break :) Head on over to our homeschool blog to see my recap of Brady's first grade year!

GUEST POST: A Celebration of Hope

Cancer is a double-edged sword. It is the worst thing that can happen, but in another aspect, it's a good thing. My life has been forever changed for the better because of it.

I received my cancer diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma on November 21, 2005. My first and only child had been born only three and a half months prior. No one ever expects such a terrible diagnosis, much less when celebrating the most joyous time of your life. I had a choice then: do I curse God and wallow in self-pity or do I face this diagnosis head on and wear the rose-colored glasses I have been known for my entire life? With a new baby girl in my world, I decided to fight for my life and choose to find the good in my situation.

I was referred to one of the leading mesothelioma doctors and realized that I could beat this thing. I vowed then that I wanted to help others who were diagnosed with this cancer and to give them the hope that is so easy to lose.

Upon learning I was to have surgery to remove the tumor on Groundhog Day in 2006, I nicknamed the tumor Punxsutawney Phil. My family and I renamed Groundhog Day in honor of the occasion, Lungleavin Day, as this was the day my lung was removed. Now, every year on the first weekend in February, we celebrate Lungleavin Day with a party in celebration of life, conquering fear, and of seeing the good that can come out of a bad situation. We celebrate hope.

If it were not for this cancer, I would not know so many of the wonderful people I met through my battle with mesothelioma. They are amazing people, some of the strongest, toughest and most passionate people I have ever met. They are committed to bringing awareness about a disease that most people never hear about, except in the occasional television commercial. I now call every wife, husband, son and daughter "friend" who has been affected by mesothelioma. I know them because of my own battle with cancer, and my life is richer for it.

My life has been given purpose. I want to continue to do what I can to give hope to those who need it.

Written by: Heather Von St. James

BIO: I am a mother to a quirky little 6-½ year old, Lily. She is my only child, and my whole world. When Lily was just 31/2 months old, I was diagnosed with Mesothelioma; a type of cancer that kills 90-95% of those who have it. As I’m sure you can imagine, the first thing that came to mind when I was diagnosed was my baby girl and how I wasn’t going to be able to watch her grow up.



After all that, I’m still here 6 1/2 years later and cancer free! I'd like to turn my pain into purpose and become someone that other people can look to for guidance, inspiration, and hope in situations like my own.

Follow her journey on her blog at:
www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather

*****Please check out Heather's blog! I've added a hyperlink so its easy to follow :) BLESSINGS!!!!

Happy

So I know some of my latest posts may have been a bit dreary, but that comes with the territory of abortion. It's not a pretty topic. But I must say, I'm happy! Incredibly happy!

My husband and I have never been closer and he has been such a pillar of strength & encouragement for me! I have seen him grow so much spiritually since the Lord has called me to step out & speak out with my testimony. I truly love him more every day!

Homeschooling is going well. Thankfully we started early this year so with all the travel & unexpected speaking dates & sickness we are still on track & should be done before Easter! Though I'm sure we won't break for long since Brady actually likes it!

Along with this wild journey God has had me on I've really realized how many amazing prayer warriors I have in my life! There is NO way I could do what I do if it weren't for the kind words & support from so many people! Even complete strangers! The kindness that has been poured out to me has definitely made me want to strive harder to be that kind of person for others.

As hard as it is (& even lonely at times) to be so open & raw about my prolife stance, it has made me a stronger person & has allowed me to see things from a whole new perspective. I already had a deep hunger for God's Word, but I now understand the vitality of digging into it, knowing without a doubt what it says, & being bold enough to stand up for it at any cost!

Opening up to everyone about my past has given me so much freedom to just be myself. I don't feel like I have to hide or pretend to be something I'm not. I can be me, the real me. And I've realized that it's OK if people if don't like me, it doesn't feel good, but it's OK. As long as I'm honest, obeying God's Word, & seeking the Lord in all that I do, I'm going to be happy.

No doubt I'll continue to go through rough waters, fire, & doubt, but I can truly say in this moment, in this season I am happy. And this happiness resides only in Christ who gives me strength.

Being Indifferent Isn't Being Pro-life

Since I've completely opened up about my abortion in October I have felt drained about abortion all together. This is such a hard battle to fight & it's not easy once you get the epiphany that too many people really don't care. The more I dig in to educate myself about the world of abortion, Planned Parenthood, sidewalk counseling, CPCs, personhood, & all things pro-life related, the more I've found that there are FAR too many people doing nothing about it. Many are Christians. This makes my heart literally hurt!
I would guess about 99% of Christians would deem themselves pro-life, but very few even do anything to help the cause. So in my opinion that's not being pro-life, it's just being indifferent.

Scripture easily teaches us that we are human, people even in the womb, we were created in the image of Almighty God, & for whatever reasons the majority of Christians aren't even voting pro-life. Not only with the Personhood Amendments, but by voting for men & women who in turn pass pro-abortion/anti-life bills & laws.

I've also heard the excuse, "Well I'm pro-life, but it's not my place to tell a woman what she should do." That has to be one the most absurd comments I've heard! If you saw a woman about to run over her child would you not do whatever it took to stop her, to save the child??? Then the line I hear when I ask people to go pray at the abortion clinic, "I'll pray about it." And yet I NEVER hear back from them! Once again I ask, if you saw a woman about to run over her child would you have to stop & pray & ask God if you should try to stop her??? I think not. So why aren't there droves of Christians praying at the clinics?

Because we are lazy & we just don't care. We have let society & culture train us up to be as self centered as possible & think that donating money to this cause or that cause somehow makes us good stewards. In actuality we should be training ourselves up in Christ to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, & strength that we will DO whatever it takes to defend His Word. The second greatest commandment given by Christ was to love others, but how are we showing that? Love isn't a word you can just say & it makes everything OK, it's something you live out. Christ lived out His love by dying for OUR sins & yet we come up with EVERY excuse known to man to not DO anything for Him that might makes us a little uncomfortable!

Harsh? Yes. Blunt? You betcha. Truth? ABSOLUTELY!!!

I'm angry! We (the Church) have let the world poison our minds so much that we have somehow misinterpreted what Scripture teaches us! Jesus said in Matthew25, that WHATEVER we do to the least of these, we do to Him, & whatever we DON'T do for the least of these, we did not do for Him. I'm pretty certain a defenseless unborn child is about as "least of these" as you can get. So why is such little being done to help them?

We can't blame the government! We elect them! We must seek the Lord with ALL of our hearts, fall on our knees & humble ourselves before God & cry out for mercy for our nation! We've got to support our local pregnancy centers whether it's financial, volunteering, or donating a pack of diapers to them once a month. We've got to get our churches to takes groups at the very least once a month to pray at an abortion clinic! You don't have to talk to anyone going in unless the Lord prompts you to. Sometimes just the presence of others praying says enough. Prayer + Faith = POWER!!!

Our churches & pastors need to understand the importance of preaching pro-life messages, having post-abortive Bible studies for women & men, loving on teen moms, single moms, divorced, widowed, or just unwed. We've got to get past judging & simply start loving.

The Church cannot be indifferent when it comes to being pro-life, we HAVE to actually BE pro-life! I'm not angry or upset about this because I've had an abortion, it's because I realized that I was indifferent for far too long, I bought into the lies along with many other Christians. We are to be like Christ, loving others, defending His Word, helping, sharing, spreading the Good News. Past generations of Christians remained silent for so long that it got us in the predicament we find ourselves in today.

Slowly & surely we are losing our rights & freedoms. Church we must rise up, take our place on the battle lines & FIGHT!

Will you fight? If you don't what will you say to Christ the day you see Him face to face? What's more scary is what He might say to you about being so indifferent!

I would like to apologize for the rant, the soap-box, my 2 cents, but I can't. I'm not sorry I wrote an angry blog. Jesus got angry in His time for the evil that was going on, the indifferent self-righteous Sadducees & Pharisees & He made no apologies for it. We are to be angry & sin not. We are to speak truth in love & my love for others, for the child I aborted, the world I'm trying to change for my children & future generations, my love for Christ & the Bible is why I'm angry.

Nope, I'm not indifferent anymore!

Blessings to you all & may we all take our stands.

How my abortion has effected my children

I've avoided writing this blog for almost 2 months because it's incredibly hard to admit. Over Thanksgiving my sister & two nephews from TX came to visit us one afternoon. My nephews are 13 & 6 & my boys (6, 3, & 1) adore their cousins! They were able to play together while my sister & I drank coffee & visited. A couple of days after they left, my 6 year old, Brady, asked me how old my nephew Caleb was. I told him 13 & this was his response,

"Wow! 13! That's so cool! I wish I had a big brother that was 13!"

I had no idea how to respond. All I could think about was he DID have an older brother, who would in fact be 13 in a month IF I had not had an abortion. I went to my bathroom & cried. I had never thought how my abortion would effect my future children. I realized that my sister & I would have two sons the same ages. It was a hard hit that I never expected. Thinking about it again makes me cry all over!

Thirteen years ago I made a very bad decision based out of fear & shame from my rape. I did not want to have an abortion, I knew it was wrong, but I was so scared. I made a choice that has never left me. So many people will use girls like me to excuse the abortion because of rape.

Well let me tell you once again, rape is NO EXCUSE for abortion. My abortion has effected me far worse than the rape. I live everyday knowing a piece of me is missing. I praise God for healing me of the shame, guilt, fear, & worthlessness I felt for so many years, but I will always REGRET my abortion, I will always GRIEVE my child.

Every Christmas when shopping for my 3 lil boys I always wonder what Joshua (my son that I aborted) would've liked. When I meet young boys who are the age he would've been I wonder how much like them he would be. What kind of big brother he would be? What would he grow up to become? I will never have an answer for these things, I will always wonder.

I miss him more than words could ever express! I know my boys are missing out by not having him here. I long for the day I can hold him & hug him in Heaven!

I can never undo the choice I made that day as a frightened, young, naive 18 year old girl, but I can live my life honoring Joshua & his memory by sharing my story, fighting to end abortion, striving to have personhood laws passed, helping other post-abortive women find healing in Christ. I have no idea how I will tell my children about their brother Joshua & why he is Heaven, why he was never born. I pray that God alone will guide us through that as a family girded in His truths & His unconditional love!

I pray blessings over you all & no matter what you have done in your life, it is NOT too big for the Cross! I'm grateful everyday that Jesus took my place & died for my sins! Oh how I deserve that pain & death He bore that day! Yet He looked on me with such love that He died in my place! What an amazing, loving, Savior we serve!