Linda For Life Stories From the Sidewalk

📱📱 Emergency Power 📱📱 Q . What were you thinking when you first found out your partner was pregnant? A . My first thoughts were a bit scrambled.  Joy, anxiousness, pride, uncertainty.  I was so happy when we found out though, I just knew we would make it work. Q . Whose idea was it to go to Planned Parenthood? A . It was her idea, she wasn’t sure if I was going to rise to the occasion and be able to provide the support and stability her and the baby needed.  Because I knew it was her choice, I maintained a supportive stance while explaining my preference and willingness to commit so she would consider what I had to say instead of just going in out of spite. Q . What were your thoughts as you entered the parking lot? A . That I should have tied her up and not let her go anywhere near the place!  Obviously, that would have done more harm than good for everyone involved but that honestly was what I was thinking. Q . Did our presence and/or the signs make an impact on your thought p

 🏆 High Stakes   🏆   It`s a difficult thing to stay motivated in a mission with such high devastating loss stakes. Some of me thinks that I should be able to go out on the sidewalk and talk to anyone and everyone entering planned parenthood for an abortion and show them the support they need to choose life and then they will. Obviously it doesnt work that way. In fact it doesnt happen often. There are reasons big enough to write a separate blog for each. The reasons aren't what I'm addressing today. I'm writing to celebrate a long time ago. Four years ago my former coworker and I met a young couple experiencing a crisis pregnancy. We were new at our mission/jobs. We were learning. We were really learning how strong the natural instinct is for women to carry their babies to term and also how influential their partner can be. This was the case for this couple. Mom wanted to keep the baby. She wanted to do so to the point where she told us just to let the dad stay in the car

👁  The lashes  👁 I don't know if this happens to other people when something traumatic is happening. For me, little details stay with me. Details like the temperature of air or a song playing in the background, I notice what a person is wearing. This time I noticed something unusual. I noticed a young girls false eyelashes. I was talking to her about the abortion she was planning. Her lashes were flickering and barely staying on. I couldn't help thinking how fragile this made her look. I was so sad for her. She was so seemingly young. She was talking about her high school graduation right around the corner . I knew she had no idea how this decision was going to affect the rest of her life. I could see she thought it would clear her slate so that she could pursue her dreams. She made statements about how she had dreams of becoming a teacher. I talked to her about how I see women all the time after they've had an abortion who say it was the worst decision they ever made. I

🕊🕊  Peaceful Protesting The beauty of having more people on the sidewalk is that there are more people to collect information and to observe what is going on around the area. This was proven recently when a woman came up to talk to our security guard. She started by asking a few questions and ended with “I see you guys all the time and you are always peaceful and not like some of the other groups that come out on certain days”. She said she liked this approach and was happy we were here.   It has always been our goal, my goal, to send a message of peace and desire to help. We are advocates and prayer warriors. We are not activists. We want to help. We want to share compassion and understanding. We want to open the door to opportunity for women in crisis to gain the resources they need. . I have always felt that it was important to send this message to those in the neighborhood and to passersby. I also want to keep a good relationship with the people who work in the clinic. It is my

👀👀 Eye Opener   👀👀 We are a society of people who require proof. We require proof regarding what is in our food. We require proof of purchase. We require proof of service and we require proof, sometimes of paternity. Today I watched a mother to be witness the proof of the truth. I had a chance to talk to a woman coming out of Planned parenthood with proof of pregnancy who wasnt quite sure what she wanted to do. I asked if she`d like to go into the outreach building to talk about her circumstance. She eagerly shook her head. As we wanted the building I turned her attention to the models we have of babies at several stages in the uterus. I showed her what her baby looked like and I watched her eyes open wider as she looked at me for reassurance of the truth.  We had a short conversation about her circumstances and we exchanged phone numbers. I gave her a mommy bag which is a small gift bag with a few things to make a brand new mom feel special and her first gift for her baby so that

 👿 C onflict 😇 We had a terrible day. It was one of terrible sadness and a feeling of helplessness. The situation happened with a couple with a young baby and a baby on the way. The mom didnt think she could handle another baby. The father said he was willing to do whatever was needed to support the family. He`d told her exactly this. Unfortunately the mother to be was already inside the Planned Parenthood facility.  Two of us were talking to the father. While he comforted his baby.He was taking care of his baby and going back and forth into Planned Parenthood to try to get his partner to come out. He went in three times. Our security guard coached him on what to say. He came out each time without her. He continued to talk to her on the phone and this gave me an opportunity to talk to her.  Nothing worked. Twice she told me she'd meet me on the sidewalk. She did not.  At a certain point she told us that she didn't think the staff would let her leave. I responded to this by sa