Shake the Dust Off...

Yesterday, I came home from the prolife clinic where I volunteer as a patient advocate on Friday afternoons, in tears because of circumstances that make someone feel they have no other choice but abortion. Having the baby, she said, would mean the end of her job (on a ship for a year) with no possibility of returning.

The truth is this: When a woman is pregnant, she can make one of three choices: 1) carry to term and parent the child; 2) carry to term and adopt out the child; 3) kill the child. Not one of those choices is easy. Some think Number 3 is easy, quick, and convenient. It is not. It's expensive. It hurts a lot. It has a long-lasting negative effect and takes a huge toll on the mother's mind, body, and life. And, of course, it ends the life of the little innocent baby in there. Painfully. Brutally. Irreversibly.

I have counseled many women during the three years of volunteering at the clinic. Never have I seen a woman like this client who believed there was absolutely no other choice available to her but abortion. I prayed for her, and mourned ...

This morning, I was reading God's Word in Luke where Jesus sent out His disciples to preach and heal the sick. He told them if they went into a place and the people would not receive them, to leave and shake the dust off their feet as a witness against them. I don't know if there is a parallel to this situation. I want to have hope that somehow the Lord will turn her around and heal her heart. I know that if she aborts, as she seemed determined to do when she departed, it will hurt her (body and soul) and have a long lasting negative effect on her life. It's very hard for me to just turn away from that truth and "shake the dust of that [response] off my feet, as a witness against [her]."

Another thought is that Jesus told the disciples to heal the sick. This was early in Jesus' ministry. I wonder how that played out. Imagine being a disciple and encountering someone with a really difficult sickness. Exactly what did they do? How did they go about it? I think they told the people about Jesus and said if you have faith in Him, you are healed. They were full of faith and excitement about what they had seen the Master doing and heard Him saying.

I am not a doctor nor a psychologist, but the Lord has commissioned me to heal the sick at the clinic. Yesterday I (He) was rejected, and I could see the sick one rejected God's message, shaking the dust off her feet as she left the clinic on her way to the abortion mill...

It's very hard to shake the dust off my heart...

I take comfort in knowing that Jesus is still working, giving hope. And if she kills the little one, He will welcome that little baby into His heaven.