Empty Chairs

Did you know that we're the surviving 78 percent of your generation?

Look around you... your church, your school, your neighborhood. There should be more of us here. But they're gone, and we can't get them back.

They were aborted.

They were killed in the womb.

What separated us from them? We didn't get in the right line while they got in the wrong one. We didn't say or do anything to pick pro-life parents or deserve to live while they deserved to die. Knowing this, can we honestly sit back and do nothing? Can we ignore the fact that we missed out on countless friendships? That the missing chairs in our classrooms should be filled? Can we let it keep happening?

No.

We have voices.

The unborn and the dead don't.

It's our obligation to be voices for the voiceless.

It's our obligation to protect the innocent-- the unborn and the mothers, who also become physical and psychological victims when they believe the lie.

I hope you decide to watch this three minute video; it's worth your time.

Http://www.VoicesForTheVoiceless.org

   

Virgin Mary Through the Ages

Today I did some research on religious art through history for an illustrating job I have. The purpose of this was to study the culture and clothing of the first century as portrayed by various artists. As I scrolled through over one hundred of the most famous paintings, it struck me as funny how each artist’s culture changed his perception of different scenes. There were many that contained historically correct clothing and realistic scenes, but there were many others that did not. I couldn’t help cracking a grin when I saw Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew. This painting was done in 1600 and the persons in the picture were dressed in styles belonging to that century.

     I think Mary would laugh if she could sit next to me and see all these paintings. Roughly half of them depicted her. She was painted with everything from blonde and red to brown and jet-black hair, dressed in the plainest frocks and the most elaborate garments from the fashions of the first century to the Regency period.

Sometimes, she was a small young girl, other times a full-figured woman. She sat in barns, caves, thrones, clouds, temples, rocks, and even floated above the clear waters at the edge of a tropical island.

Her waist contracted and expanded and her skin darkened and lightened with the fads through the centuries. 

 I wonder what she was thinking while she was laboring in a smelly animal cave in the dark and cold night. I wonder if, as she held her newborn baby close to keep him warm and comforted, she knew that what had passed would be recorded and celebrated for millenniums by people all over the world.

Did she understand the significance of that moment? As she lay down, exhausted and sore, on a pile of straw, could she foresee what lay ahead?

Did she dare to imagine that millions would veneer and even worship her? Her hair was matted and messy. She was weary and sore from riding on a donkey all day and giving birth. Her clothes were dirty and old. She and her husband were almost penniless.

There was no floating above the ground in a gold throne while she rocked her baby. He was red, wrinkled, and floppy—and oh, so tiny! He did not sit up gracefully and observe the world with wise eyes.

When the shepherds, stinky and unpolished, came trooping through the entrance, what did she think? When she heard the hosts of Heaven break out into song, did she tremble? These weren’t little fair-haired children with stubby wings, after all. These were mighty spiritual beings like nothing  she had ever seen!

     What was it like? I always wonder what life is or was like in places and times I’ll never be in. What was it like? The paintings aren’t any help whatsoever. Even the scriptures skim the details. What was it like for Mary? I wonder.

8-4-10 "Can You BELIEVE This!?"

KANSAS CITY, MO - A blind couple who had a baby two months ago say that the State of Missouri violated their constitutional rights by taking their newborn away, and now their attorney says that she's working to make sure it doesn't happen again to another blind family.

Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett say they were not able to bond or care for their baby girl for 57 days because social workers were blinded by ignorance. The couple says that when their child, Mikaela, was born on May 21 they were filled with joy, but social workers then refused to let them take her home.

"I didn't think that was appropriate at all, we are just as capable as our sighted peers," said Sinnett.

Johnson says that their nightmare began when she was trying to nurse her baby in the hospital.

"There was some breast tissue blocking her nose," said Johnson. "But the nurses across the room at the time, I asked them was she okay and she said, 'No, she was beginning to turn blue, but it's fine it could have happened to anybody'."

Johnson says instead of the lactation nurse teaching her how to breast-feed her baby, she reported the incident to the state and for the next 57 days they were not able to care for their child because little Mikaela was in a foster home.

"I'm the one that should have been waking up at 1 o'clock in the morning, feeding her, I missed bonding with her," said Johnson.

The couple's attorney, Amy Coopman, says while the state dismissed the case and returned the baby this week, the state should be held liable for violating the couple's constitutional rights.

"A lawsuit doesn't take that time and give it back to them, but we want to make sure some other blind person that walks into the hospital to have their baby doesn't have this happen to them," said Coopman.

The Missouri Department of Social Services says it can't comment on the case because of privacy laws. But a spokesperson says children aren't taken from their parents unless abuse, neglect or the welfare of the child is in imminent danger.

"We are visually impaired, not mentally impaired," said Johnson. "We are just like everybody else, we just can't see as well."

Wow. Can you believe that? That is insane. Help stop this sort of thing- support the Parental Rights Amendment. I do! http://www.parentalrights.org/

-me

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-blind-parents-child-072210,0,6427253.story

12-20-09 "Welcome, baby angel"

This month, we are celebrating the birth of a very special child who was born 2000 years ago to save us from our sins. My family is celebrating another birth this month, too. Introducing my new cousin, Reia, who was born on the 15th of December! Here she is at two hours old:

 

And twelve hours old:

Hello, Reia! How do you like Planet Earth so far?

Babies are God's gifts sent straight down from Heaven. They are miracles in diapers.

 

Welcome, Reia!