It's been a crazy, blessed month!
I got back from Georgia right at the beginning of the month. While in Georgia, I had a really cool conversation with a young man who approached the exhibit. We agreed that abortion should not be legal in the last two trimesters and should not be done for just any reason. He said that a good reason to have an abortion would be if an unborn was diagnosed with a disability. With permission, I shared with him the story of a baby with spina bifida who had received surgery in utero to fix part of the baby's spine. In the corner of my eye, I saw a lady in a wheelchair coming down the sidewalk in our direction. I kid you not, as we were talking, this woman approached us and interrupted our conversation. She passionately shared that she had spina bifida and was afraid for unborn babies with that diagnosis. Many of them are aborted. She said, "Never let disability be the reason you have an abortion. Never. We can have good lives too." The young man heard in awe as the woman told her story. He left an hour later saying that he had a lot to think about.
One week later I was in Oklahoma with the office team, most of our national team, and two volunteers! Outreach at OU was interesting, hard, and pretty great. I got to watch God quell some firey conversations almost as soon as they started. He opened up some doors I never would have expected in people's minds and hearts. He also set up some circumstances that were amazingly clear open doors. He guided us as we walked through the doors, minds, and fires of the students of the University of Oklahoma.
Fundraising filled the last two weeks of the internship with many letters sent and calls made. The encouragement from friends and family has been a huge blessing in this process.
Random adventures:
11/5 Called Sarah on her birthday!
Dancing!
11/18 Dinner and Blokus with Becca, her fiance Mark, and David!
11/19 Called Olivia on her birthday!
Swing dancing and eating ice cream with Deborah!
11/20 Won ImaginIf at my small group's Friendsgiving!
11/21 Workshop at Kansas For Life (I got a t-shirt!)
When I called Katrina, her sun was setting and mine was still up. It was a magical moment.
Painting Grace's living room and saving her from a self-destructing bookcase!
11/22 Bananagrams with Becca and David!
11/23 Thanksgiving with Kulases!
Coffee and walk with Grace!
The Princess Bride, online shopping, and painting with Grace!
11/25 Cosmosphere and shopping in Hutch with Grace!
11/26 Swing dancing and ice cream with Grace!
11/27 Last small group meeting!
12/1 Final day with Justice For All
I was given the honor of presenting the "I'm a miracle!" story to a Baptist church in Oklahoma. That was a very cool opportunity for me. Probably the largest crowd I've spoken to and they even laughed at my joke :)
How do I sum up? Last year, I thought I knew what I was asking God for when I asked to do pro-life work. I didn't know that that prayer would be answered in the form of sharing love and truth with college students all over the United States of America with an amazing team of God-fearing, life-affirming prayer-warriors with decades of pro-life work experience to learn from and imitate. I am blown away... and I can't wait to come back. Whether I return in the spring, or God doesn't lead me back for a long time, I hope to support and participate in this organization. Justice For All lives up to its name, placing God at the front of all their work. Thanks, team. Thank you for exemplifying to me what love and truth can do when used together.
