Red Roses (They don't give us a choice...coercion of 'choice')

One of the symbols used for the March for Life is a single red rose. Those of us who march carry one in memory of children who are slaughtered in their mother's wombs.

Yesterday, after being gone from our home for four days, Mel surprised me by having a dozen red roses on our kitchen table just for me. (Collective sigh)

Where can I begin? Our Hike4Life started out on a cold, rainy, miserable morning. We attended Mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Bremerton and Father Frietag (who needs our prayers for recovery from a broken leg and busted knee) blessed us as he hobbled out of the church.

We went to twelve abortion mills in all. Each time we were at an abortion mill, we prayed a Rosary. We hiked anywhere from several yards away from the mill to a mile or two from the mill - hence the name, Hike4Life.

There were ten of us, and we were joined along the way by others from time to time.

We wore our Hike4Life hats and our blue scarfs in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, our Hike's patroness. We always asked her to pray for us, and we felt her protection and intercessions as we trudged along.

The last abortion mill on the first day, stop number five, had a providential moment.

It was raining and we were standing on the sidewalk in front of the mill which is right on Madison Street in Seattle. On the fourth decade of the Rosary, a young man came up and stood next to one of our men. By the fifth decade, he was still standing there, silent and still and I realized he was getting rained on, so I moved next to him and sheltered him with my umbrella.

Soon, I realized that tears were streaming down his face, so I put my arm around him, reaching up to his height.

"They don't give us a choice. They don't give God a choice."

I agreed with him and asked him to expound on his statement. Crying, he told me that his girlfriend had just aborted their baby and was in the recovery room of the facility that we were standing outside of.

I asked him why she needed an abortion.

"She is in graduate school and her parents are paying $10,000 a month. She is carrying a black baby and they told her that they would not continue to pay for her schooling.They don't care how much money I make."

I looked him square in the face and told him that God loved him. I told him that he was precious as was his girlfriend and their baby. I also gave him a Silent No More card I had and told him that he was welcome to call for help for both he and his girlfriend.

We hugged, he cried, I cried with him. We talked some more and then he went back inside to be with her - he had a name tag on that had "Visitor" printed on it and his name handwritten underneath. Would that the tag had said "Father"

Please pray for this young family that was torn apart by abortion. Please pray for their healing and for them coming to Christ.

Please pray in Thanksgiving that we were able to be there for this man and his family and that his child's brief life had worth.