What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Thursday, February 07, 2019

The Only Resolution That Matters To Me



If you've wondered where I have been, I can say it has mostly been in a haze.

January 23rd saw New York's Gov Andrew Cuomo sign into law the legality of murdering a 9 month old in-utero baby, with no limitations on age or stage, even up until and during natural delivery.  And the whole crowd gave a standing ovation.  Just a few short days later, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (who happens to be a PEDIATRIC neurologist, by the way) seemed to be totally fine with deciding, after delivery, whether or not to murder an already born child.  And then, in true audacious rebellion, they light the rebuilt World Trade Center spire- a memorial of the evil, murderous actions humanity takes against humanity that disgusting fuschia pink of woman.  The fuschia pink of death.

Since the whole 'clump of cells' argument is pretty much outdated, even within the pro-choice community- so it is that now a matter of whose life matters MORE.  It is no wonder that a woman who doesn't want her child at 8 weeks and ought to be allowed to murder it, should also be allowed not to want her child at 25 weeks or 40 weeks and murder them.  I wonder what will happen to those women who decide they don't want their newborn, two month old or six month old and decide to leave them in attics, or throw them from balconies or stuff them in garbage bags.  (No, these aren't hypothetical situations.  These are all real-life news stories I have read about in the last six months.)  Right now these women go to jail.  But just a few short years ago Kermit Gosnell went to jail (and was convicted for life) for something the whole world was horrified by and now the NY Democrats have signed into law and give standing ovations for.  Who knows where women like them will eventually wind up.

I can't seem to wrap my mind around this.  I feel physically ill at the thought.  I can think of nothing else.  I promised some New Years' resolutions, but thinking of resolutions for myself while the bodies of babies pile up around me, seems a bit ludicrous.  How can I think of planting seeds or saving money or reading chapter books to the children round about me when I know of the over 60 million babies that have been legally murdered in this country and do nothing?  That more black babies are aborted in New York City than are born alive?  That although there is NO MEDICAL CIRCUMSTANCE in which a third trimester abortion is necessary, this is being used as an excuse to just discard a child instead of allowing them to survive on their own and be given into a loving family who wants them.  That in New York it is now illegal and cruel to give murderous criminals the death penalty by injection but not so the defenseless baby.

The weight of it presses down.  I am reeling and my stomach turns.  It feels hopeless.  And while I have heard many people cry out in response "Lord Jesus Come Quickly!", I believe that seeings how the Bible is the very Words of God and all, when it says “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” He means it. And when scripture says  For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea, it is true.  I know these things will happen, because the Bible says so, but  CLEARLY, they haven't happened yet.

Which means, my friends, there is WORK to do.

And I guess that is the only resolution that is worth anything to me this year.

We can pray.  We MUST pray.  Particularly, prayers like this.

And we need to be vocal.

I have often thought about how easy it is to say that we would NOT participate in the human injustices of slavery had I been born then.  (Those wicked slave holders, how could they?!?)  And I have thought how I would have fought nobly back at Hitlers' regime of murder and death, like my grandparents did during World War II.  (How could everyone just standby and allow that to happen to their friends/neighbors/family/anyone?!?)  AND YET.   Here we are with a greater death toll in our lifetime than in either of these atrocities- and we are silently enduring the blood in our streets and towns and nation.  We need to stop being the 'silent majority' and start being the Loud and Proud majority.

It shouldn't be a radical idea that murdering other humans is a bad thing.

It may seem like a single person can't do anything.  I think I have felt this quite often.  But as with Jon Speed in Syracuse, NY whose single act of closing his bookshop for the day and putting a sign on his door seemed to rally support from all over the nation, who knows what each of our single, small acts can do to encourage a nation to stand up and speak out.

We need to be informed.  I love listening to Crosspolitic on Youtube- their shows each week are an very interesting and engaging, a fun way to keep informed with the craziness of the news and how it relates to our Christian walk.  They are great.  I listen to them when I am making dinner.  I also like this gals' podcast.  And Apologia Radio's podcasts are incredible- they are doing a powerful work within the abortion debate. (If you have any great podcasts or resources- let us know in the comments!)

We need to act.  We need to financially support pro-life companies, businesses and people.  We need to financially support those who are fighting to tell the truth and minister to those thinking about abortions.  (And we need to be those people too.)  We need to stand outside abortion clinics.  We need to come alongside these women who feel helpless and support them, encourage them and HELP them.  We need to be willing to adopt babies whose mothers think that abortion is the only option.  (PS. If you are one of those mothers right now- Matt and I will help you!  Contact me!)  We need to teach our children about the world they live in and how to think biblically about such issues.  We need to call Representatives and sign petitions!  We need to stand in solidarity with people for the lives of the unborn.

And here is a perfect opportunity!


February 23rd, one month from the date of Cuomo's legislation, has been declared a Day of Mourning for New York.  From their website:

"We are heading to New York to call the nation to repentance! We are asking the nation to stand in solidarity with our preborn neighbors on February 23rd and:
1. WEAR BLACK 
2. DON’T SHOP
3. CLOSE YOUR BUSINESSES
4. REPENT FOR ABORTION

We will signify this act with a rally of repentance and protest in Albany, New York where the gruesome infanticide law was signed and celebrated. Stay tuned for more details on the rally. "

 If you can, come to Albany! We Newmans are hoping to go- maybe we will see each other there!  If you can't go, stay where you are and do those four things!  Or donate to the cause- there are expenses involved in putting something like this on.

And finally, there is one other thing we can do.  And this thing is no small thing.  And one that involves more than just a day of your time or a moment on the phone or in a voting booth.  That is, as Christians, we can understand that children are a gift and blessing from God, who bear the image of God- and we should embrace that truth instead of believing the idea that children are a burden or inconvenience or something WE decide we want when we want them.  If God says they are a blessing, then they ARE.  We need to be having babies, baptizing them, joyfully wiping their noses and cutting their food, educating them and talking to them about hard things and good things, staying up in the night with them when they are sick, teaching them and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, feeding them physically and spiritually SO THAT they too, can do the same to THEIR children and them, to THEIR children until eventually and by God's grace and mercy to us...


All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,

And all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it (Psalm 22:27-31).

11 comments:

Mary said...

So glad you got the info! We will be attending and praying my hubby can get the day off!! also, our family is going to start having at least one day a week (maybe more) where we go and stand outside Ithaca's planned parenthood. If you are interested we would love to have you all come stand in for the innocent babies with us and maybe the Lord will work in just one mother to turn around and choose life!!

Making Cents Of It All said...

I got pregnant at 18 and was not married. I had 2 choices, keep her or give her up for adoption. Those were my only 2 options. Several people told me to have an abortion, the baby would ruin my life. She is one of the greatest things in my life. She is the most beautiful amazing women. Hubby and I got married before she was born. We are happily going to celebrate 26 years this March. We have 2 other beautiful kids. I thank God every single day for all of them.God knows what he is doing. We just have to listen to him. So many women listen to their fears and others. If they would just listen with their hearts they would hear God telling them that it will be OK. I pray for all of the women that have had an abortion. I cannot fathom what it must be to live with that decision.I know so many wonderful families that would love to adopt a baby(like yourself).

Abigail said...

I'm writing quarter reports and filing taxes simultaneously right now, which equals checking your blog because my head aches too much.

I cannot express adequate thanks for this blog post and for compiling all these links. I was going to put several identical links in my recent post, but I just didn't have the steam, and you've included many that I had not even thought to include.

John has to work every Saturday, but I'll ask you and Mary about particulars on Sunday. Maybe we could hitch our van to one of yours to make it through the big city.

Thank you for using your time well to write this post.
Thank you for your faithful voice.
Thank you for shining forth.

I am thankful to know you.

Abigail said...

p.s.
Here's a great post by Rachel J. after Gosnell's murders came to light. It echoes your sentiments about the power of faithful motherhood and makes me feel less impotent for not having the ability to rally outside of abortion clinics regularly (not that that's an excuse to avoid doing so out of laziness). Good stuff.

Abigail said...

Oops. Forgot the great post.
:)

Abigail said...

Sorry to hi-jack your comments section (but, after all these years, you should be used to it!). :)

I read this article years ago, and Heritage Home and those like it would be another option for those who have financial resources and are willing to help those in the trenches.

Anonymous said...

Amen I live in Canada, one of the only countries to allow abortion up to birth. We support WENEEDALAW, a Reformed organization in Canada that is trying to educate people on what abortion really is and how it affects the mother long term. Well said, Rebecca.
Marg

JenniferM said...

There are many people feeling the same as you do about the legalizing of killing full-term babies. LifeSiteNews.com just delivered a petition with 137,000 signatures to Gov. Cuomo's office:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lifesite-delivers-137000-petition-signatures-to-gov.-cuomo-protesting-extre
In my own social media bubble, nearly everyone is talking about this and they're all firmly against laws like that which was passed in New York.

I'm honestly a little disturbed though that it takes this level of extremism to get people talking about how wrong abortion is. I'm sure you'd agree that we should be equally disgusted about a 1st trimester abortion, but I'm worried that if the Left backs down from their infanticide position that we'll once again be trying to decide on some arbitrary point during pregnancy at which time thereafter it would be illegal to kill an unborn child and yet alright to do so before that point.

Rebecca said...

Mary- yes, we'd love to join you on occasion. And I hope to do it more near our neck of the woods too. I happen to grocery shop at an Aldi right across the street from an abortion clinic so I am there already!

MakingCents- what a great testament to His goodness and the gift we receive when we 'let the little children come unto us'. Praising God for your strength during that hard time and for the wisdom you had and the blessings you reap today because of that time. It was a great gift to you AND your daughter that you only had those two options. Women today have been told a LIE that there is a third option and everyone suffers because of it!

Abigail- thanks for those links! I enjoyed reading the Rachel J article which I hadn't read before and the Heritage House looks like such an encouraging means of reaching out to these women and their babies! Thanks for sharing them. I love your hijacks. :-)

MARG- keep up the good fight!

Jennifer M-I think you are absolutely right that killing a child is killing a child- no matter what age and stage it is. And it seems utterly wrong to object to one form of murdering a preborn baby and stand complacently by while another form takes place. But the fact is that we have ALL done it. Which is why the prayer I linked to is one that first begins with repentance. While many people are just overwhelmed that something so awful could come about, I can't help but feel a bit grateful for this time when liberals really show their hand and reveal their true intentions because it makes every complacent Christian (and even some pro-choice liberals) stop and say "Wait WHAT?!?! WHAT IS GOING ON?" I pray that seeing the extremism of the left might wake up this nation to really think about the fundamental differences between God's way and the World's way and to realize we need to reject ALL things that go against God's word. Jump ship entirely, instead of gradually accepting these incremental steps away from God and toward the world. Incidentally, I feel this is true of public schooling too. The fact is, unfortunately, it takes drastic events to wake people up to the truth and make moves. May this drastic event be one that actually changes and turns people around...unlike the Gosnell case that flared up the pro-life movement and then fizzled and then, too, a nation aghast at undercover videos from the Center For Medical Progress which eventually died out as well. May this be the thing that shakes people into a fervor that never quiets until every baby, at any stage, is protected and valued.

Anonymous said...

Rebecca, I rarely comment (shame on me!) but I had to this morning as I am holding and nursing my precious seven week old baby boy. When I was in labor I started losing parts of the placenta and had to have an emergency c section. While I was cut open, the doctor passed out on top of me (seriously! It was hot in the OR and she was pregnant) so I lost a lot of blood and my blood pressure went way low. I had to have a blood transfusion and thank the Lord there was a resident surgeon there who came up and finished the job of stitching me up. I couldn’t help but think about how I could have chosen to get rid of my precious baby had I lived in NY and had it been a few weeks later. Oh the horrors of this thought. This baby (number seven!) is our world! My heart has been crushed by the news from NY and the first thing I said was “Even so come quickly Lord Jesus”. But like you said, we can’t give up. I’ve had a stronger desire to have more children and to be more dedicated to raising them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Do I want them in this world, growing up in this crazy mess? Not really. But by the grace of God they can be soldiers for Christ and a light in this world of extremism and craziness. God will have a People! Just like He has the wicked for the day of judgement. Look up for our redemption draweth nigh! Wonderful post, dear Rebecca!
www.simplefarmmama.wordpress.com

Rebecca said...

SimpleFarmMama- what an incredible story! So happy that the Lord worked all those (scary!) things out in such a beautiful and wonderful way. Keep raising those little Light bearers!