Linda For Life Stories From the Sidewalk

🙏🙏🙏🙏 Second Chance🙏🙏🙏🙏  Very often you will hear pro life supporters say that if you weren't successful helping a mom choose life this time, you might be next time. I never really felt comfortable with that. It still feels like a fail. The fact of the matter is that if you help save a life, any life, it`s a win. I experienced that a few days ago. We had a “repeat customer”. A mom came back to Planned Parenthood pregnant again. I met her a few months ago and spoke with her at length and thought she'd chosen life. She said she had. I followed up but didn't hear from her. History shows that this is NOT an indication one way or the other. Sometimes moms dont want to be reminded of the fact that they almost chose abortion. Sometimes they will message and tell me they need help because they did in fact choose abortion later. I wasn't sure about this mom. I got a call from Deshawn asking if I was one my way because he had a mom who was abortion minded and reminded me t...

  You never know who is listening 👂👂👂👂👂 Today I was at the park talking to the moms and dads with their babies. The question of what  to do for a living often comes up because I wear a uniform shirt. I was telling one of the dads what I do and he commented that although he is not proabortion, he feels a woman has the right to one if she`s been raped and or incest is involved. I gave him the statistics related to those circumstances. The incidence of pregnancy is very low and the desire to abort is even lower. We talked about some other things and then I started telling him about the fact that a girl as young as 12 can tell her teacher she doesnt feel well, and the teacher can take that child to Planned Parenthood without the permission of the parent, in California and in other states. He said he didnt believe that was true. I was explaining that it was indeed true. A mom of one of the toddlers was listening and spoke up saying it is actually true and she knew it to b...

 😇😇 Past is Present   😇😇 When I started participating in the pro life mission as an advocate/outreach coordinator the mantra I often heard was “you never know who you reach”. This was intended as an inspiration after many hours of not feeling like we were making a difference because nobody was coming into the building to talk or when someone talked to us and did not choose life. I read stories about people stopping to talk to advocates on the sidewalk and telling them that they had indeed chosen life because of the signs that people were holding or because someone prayed with them or talked to them. They brought their children as proof. I never experienced this. This has now changed. Last week two moms confessed that they had chosen life because of our presence on the sidewalk. One mom told one of our volunteers at the fair booth. The other told a volunteer on the sidewalk that she'd done the same thing. One said it was because someone prayed with them. I find that Go...

  🍼🍼Beacon of Light  🍼🍼 Q . What were you thinking when you first found out your partner was pregnant? A. I was anxious and terrified.  I didn’t think we would be able to afford a child or have the ability to give them the life and opportunities they deserve. Q. Whose idea was it to go to Planned Parenthood?   A. Mine; my partner was very much against it. Q. What were your thoughts as you entered the parking lot? A. I felt a heaviness as we entered the parking lot, questioning if this was the right or fair choice to make. Q. Did our presence and or the signs make an impact on your thought process? A. They impacted my partner very much.  Enough for her to speak with you [Linda] and eventually after some convincing to speak to me as well. Q. What help you turn the corner (from abortion to choosing life)? A. The passion you had, and the availability of other men and mentors who have been in my same position.  The avenues of opportunity your orga...

📱📱 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 impac...

 🏆 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 ...