Legacy of Life...Part I

From childhood, I was brought up to value life. My parents opened our home to many a troubled girl that needed shelter. Our home was a refuge for pregnant women - seeking guidance, truth, and love. Modeled before my young innocence was a philosophy of "doing" the Word -  not just hearing it. Watching my parents give up  their own resources to take care of those that had none significantly impacted me for the future.
Then several years later, my little brother entered our family. A beautiful story of adoption that never ceases to amaze us. A tapestry that continues to unfold even now...years later.
As a senior in high school I decided to do a research paper on abortion. It was horrifying.
While I knew the facts, seen videos, and participated in Walk-for-Life rallies...nothing prepared me for the evil I was to encounter. Without disclosing my purpose I made an appointment with Planned Parenthood in Tucson. They were all to eager to invite me into their "safe-haven" - promising me that no one would ever have to know. It was a sickening experience. Walking into the "clinic" the evil was tangible...like passing through a thick cloud or curtain. Knowing that thin walls separated me and the extinction of thousands of sweet innocent lives. I took some literature, asked some questions, played the role of confused hurting teenager...then ran for my life out the door! It was definitely an "awakening" experience.
Fifteen years later and four incredible blessings underfoot...life has taken on an even greater meaning. Pregnancy is no longer a foreign concept. I have felt the flutters of a fetus growing inside my womb. I have seen the imprint of a foot pressed up against my stomach. I have marveled at a black and white screen - able to pick up ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes. I have encountered life being fashioned and formed in my uterus. I have become intimately aware of the delicacy and beauty of our Creator.
Throughout these last several years, I have also witnessed the incredible obedience of adoption. Watching first hand as families have grown overnight. Knowing that God's sovereignty is above and beyond all the we could ever ask or imagine.
All of this has imprinted upon me a passion for life. A desire to advocate for the fifty-eight MILLION that have been murdered in America since 1973. It has caused me to examine what efforts I am making to stand in the gap for these little ones. Realizing that:

If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength! Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Proverbs 24:10-12

Challenged and burdened with this overwhelming conviction, I began to pray fervently for God to show me exactly what I could DO to help stem the tide. I do not plan to be in politics or change legislation (although it CAN be done). But I also do not want to reach the end of my days wondering how I contributed to the apathy and complacency by doing nothing. I want to pass onto my children a legacy of life...a passion to protect and stand up for those unborn. A sense of urgency to take action. I do not want my children to grow up accepting abortion as a misfortune or an unfortunate event - but a holocaust, an atrocity, a travesty!