There is so much momentum heading into the closing weekend of 40 Days for Life! Tonight, I am speaking in Los Angeles at a 40 Days for Life event. Then tomorrow, I head back to the east coast for a closing event outside of a late-term abortion facility in Maryland.
With just a few days left, are you getting a little tired? If so, please remember to pray and prepare your hearts as we enter into what Fulton Sheen called “the week that changed the world.” Next week, our commemoration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus reassure us of victory over death.
SO … are you ready for a few more stories of the Lord’s amazing blessings? Here goes!
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
A young couple had arrived for an appointment at Planned Parenthood in Memphis. On their way into the building, they declined to talk. But a little while later, the man walked outside.
This time, one of the counselors was able to strike up a conversation. He confirmed that the young woman was there for an abortion. The counselor gave him information about resources that are available in Memphis. He thanked her and went back inside.
Less than ten minutes later, the couple walked out of Planned Parenthood. The young man raised his arms, smiled and exclaimed, “We’re not going to do it!”
The vigil participants waved as the couple drove off. But then they made a quick stop and circled back into the parking lot. It seems they’d gotten a phone call from Planned Parenthood. They may have called off the abortion, but they still owed $100 for the clinic visit!
That should tell you something about Planned Parenthood.
“But this did not dampen the young father’s spirits,” said Kerry in Memphis. “Before he drove off again, he gave two thumbs-up to the vigil-goers.”
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
Lisa, a sidewalk counselor at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Charlotte, just got a text from a young woman who had chosen life for her child.
“Hi! How are you?” she wrote. “I’m happy I didn’t do it. I want you and the people that you were with to know that it meant the whole world to me to know that you all care about me, not even knowing me. Thanks! I hope to hear from you soon.”
Of course, Lisa got back in touch right away and scheduled some more time to talk. Anytime is fine, the young woman replied, because if it weren’t for the people praying, “I would have done a really bad thing.”
“I hope this is as encouraging to y’all as it was to me,” said Lisa.
HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY
Louise writes on the 40 Days for Life blog that she went to church one morning recently and spotted several members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal — a religious order that, among other things, is noted for its strong pro-life stand.
“Right then and there, I knew something special would happen today,” she said. The friars left church and headed to the 40 Days for Life vigil.
“We noticed a young couple approaching the building, the woman crying the man consoling her,” she wrote. “Two counselors started to speak with them. As time passed prayers, became more and more intense within all of us there. You could just feel the Holy Spirit’s presence among us.”
One family brought their baby over and the woman cried some more. An hour later, the couple went inside to cancel their appointment.
“You just had to be there to feel God’s presence all around us,” Louise said. “I don’t think anyone who witnessed that hour will ever be the same.”
LifeNews.com Note: Shawn Carney is the campaign director for the 40 Days for Life pro-life prayer campaign against abortion. He is the director of the Coalition for Life.
