Restore, Chapter 8--Thankfulness (Semi)Wordless Wednesday

There aren't really words to describe how thankful we are for all of the special people that helped and prayed and supported us throughout the Restore process and event. So since it is Wednesday, I'll do a semi-wordless post dedicated to those who are such kind and loving friends. Not everyone is pictured here but your faces are forever in our hearts. 

                    

Letter From A Coach's Wife

Since Eric and I have been married, he has only coached at 2 schools. Rienzi and Biggersille are almost extensions of each other so its like it was only one. I had been a student at Biggersville and since we married 2 summers after I graduated, there wasn't much time for me or the school to change much before I became a part of it again through my husband.

I always kept the books for Eric's ballgames until sometime after Tess was born and I was able to finally convince Eric that I could not watch a 2 year-old and a 6 month old and keep the books at the same time. He thought I was more talented that I actually was. And apparently still had a notion that I could handle anything thrown at me because he moved me to the concession stand with said toddler and infant in tow. :)

As the years passed, more babies came, and I began to work outside the home more, I was unable to make it to all the ballgames like I wanted to. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have young children out in the freezing cold (because most of the season is spent sitting outside at night in temps below 50 degrees) or to have them crying incessantly at home because they were sleepy when they had to take a bath at 10 p.m. because they had school the next day and we had been at the ball field.

We went to as many games as we could that coincided with the right temperature, location and my being off from work. This past year when we might have been able to participate more fully in being present to support our team, Granny came to live with us. We attempted to go to the games and just sit in the car a few times until it became apparent that while Granny did well on these outings, she became more confused after we came home. So, again, we became home cheerleaders.

I've struggled with this outcome and even though I have felt the decisions made were the best for our family, I have fallen into the trap of comparing myself to other coaches' wives. I know that some wives would never miss a game, no matter what the weather or how many children they have in tow. I know that some know all the players' names, their positions and their stats. Sincerely, my hat is off to them because I don't know how they do it. With homework and housework and a job, I am barely keeping up.

My insecurity about it finds me questioning Eric. "Are you really okay with me staying home tonight?" "Do you think I don't care about the team? Because I really do." "I hope the parents know that I don't just stay home because I don't feel like going."

Being the woman that I am, when he reassures me that it is okay that I am not there and that he agrees with me, I immediately question that too. "Is it not important to you that I am there?"

Yes. I have issues.

So now, as we venture to Alcorn Central with new people and a new team, my insecurities rise to the surface again.

I'm horrible at meeting new people. I have NO small talk. I try to just smile big and pray you don't think I'm stupid when I don't have anything to say. I try but the more I do, the more my mind just goes blank. I have trouble remembering names and it has nothing to do with how much I like you. And that's just when I am able to be present. I will hardly ever be able to come on campus. I'm absent more now than I have ever been because of Granny. I even have to miss some of my children's ballgames now.

I am doing the best I can trying to balance all the demands placed on me with the desires of my heart. So instead of listing all of the ways that I feel I may be falling short, I thought of the things that I can offer as a coach's wife.

I love my husband. 

Eric is a coach. While he is also many other things, the coach portion is one of the larger parts. Because I love my husband as a whole, that includes the coach part. I've never referred to myself as a baseball widow. I'm a part of his team as much as if I was a player or another coach. I listen. I ask questions. I comment. I am interested. I am engaged. I care.

When I don't get to go to the games, after the kids have gone to bed, I sit on the couch to welcome him as he arrives home and ask, "How'd it go?" I'll listen to his recounting of the game, inning by inning and then sit with him as he calls in the score.

How does that help you?  I understand that for a portion of the fall and from January to May, I will be on my own a great portion of the time. I hope that by being supportive of my husband in his calling and not complaining about the time he spends away from us helps him be the best coach he can be.

I love your children.

You see him at the practices and at the games but you don't see all the time he spends preparing. You don't see him talking on the phone with parents and grandparents about their kids. You don't see the hours he spends making cookie dough so that he can sell it to buy equipment for them. You don't know that he offers his time and expertise without renumeration for the benefit of the school and team. You don't see the hours he spends mowing, weed eating, and painting so that they can have a ball field to be proud of.

I think that your children are important. Their lives have meaning and are valuable. Eric's impact on them will be far-reaching so I feel that sharing my husband is worth it.


I love Jesus.

I pray earnestly for the administrators, the coaches, the players, the parents and fans. I pray for the other teams. I pray for the referees and the umpires. I pray about the uniforms that you'll wear. I pray for safety. I pray about attitudes and sportsmanship.  I pray for wisdom for all of us. So that we'll understand what is really important and what is not. That we'll stand up for what needs to be defended and know when to let something pass. That we would be thankful for the times we get things right, and learn from the times we get things wrong. That we would be honorable in the winning and in the losing.

You know those insecurities I mentioned? (I would have loved to have left them out of this post, but I'm trying to be honest here.) They seem to be my major struggle in life. Jesus is trying to work them out of me. But no matter how my head runs away from me, I know in my heart that He holds us securely in His hands.

Loving Jesus, however imperfectly I do it,  helps me love my husband and love your children.

Well, I'm afraid that is all. It is only 3 things but I promise to be faithful in them. And I look forward to the time that I get to know you all. You will be able to go from wondering if I'll ever talk to wishing I would hush up and let you get a word in edge-wise.

Restore, Chapter 1---Community

This post has been a while in the making and as I sit this evening and attempt to put it all together I realize that there is too much to share for just one post. I will begin at the beginning and work and blog until it is all said. 

As I search for words to introduce the subject, I feel it is best that I use words that have already been written and not seen by all of you. We sent this letter out to a small group of family and friends a few weeks ago. 

Dear Friends,

Only a few of you know that Eric and I have been having a particularly difficult time as husband and wife lately. Some of these troubles have been around since our beginning. Instead of really confronting and dealing with the issues when they reared their ugly heads, they were hastily glazed over or not even looked at before they were swept away into a closet that held all the things that we couldn’t or wouldn’t think about at the time. That closet became so full that the door sprung open and the mess spilled into our “neat looking” home. These last months we have been desperately trying to clean up the garbage and try to find a way forward instead of giving up. 

June 29th will be our 15th wedding anniversary. In January, Eric and I talked about renewing our vows. Time passed and we talked ourselves out of doing it. I mean, why would anyone want to do that? You can do it privately, right? I didn’t want just a big show and, frankly, I was frightened. 

It scared me that we might fail again. This time more publicly than the last. You see, even though we see God at work in us and we are dealing with the problems, they are still there. Satan plagues us with our insecurities and weaknesses. We are under attack, my friends, and I knew that standing in front of others wanting to begin again would set him upon us worse than before.   

Well, the other day, I felt like the Lord spoke to me and told me that we needed to do this. It would not just be a “renewal of vows” but a restoration ceremony. He gave me the order, the songs, what He wants us to say. After talking it over with Eric again, we proceed. 

I believe God wants us to do this for 3 reasons:

--So that, together, we can celebrate the faithfulness, kindness, mercy and love that the Lord has extended on us, the undeserving. These 15 years have not been without blessing. Although there are other reasons to be thankful, Ty, Tess, Amelia, Jack and Dinah are at the top of that list.

--So that we can show others that might be having difficulty, they are not alone and there is help. I have had people tell me, “I wish we had what you and Eric have.” Others have thought we are “perfect”. Natalie Grant sings, “There’s no such thing as perfect people; There’s no such thing as a perfect life”. We aren’t perfect and we want others to know that they can do as we seek to do, “Come as you are, broken and scarred, Lift up your heart and be amazed and changed by a perfect God.” 

--He wants us to stand in front of all you, open in our troubles, weak, and tired, sometimes wanting to give up. In that brokenness, He wants you to be the witnesses to our PLANTING OF A FLAG OF BELIEF to say that HE WILL RESTORE. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________                 

In the days that led up to this service. I felt the Lord confirmed our decision to do this over and over. One of the things that I read during this time, was a entry on Ann Voscamp's blog with guest blogger Max Lucado, called "Step One: When You Feel Like You Are Sinking Fast".

I don't know about you, but even this over-sharer keeps some things to herself. Especially the things that hurt the most. It is difficult to admit you are suffering. It is hard to say why. Satan loves to place us under condemnation of our own making. We look around and we think we are the only ones failing. It is easier to cover it up, pretend, and hide. Sadly, it seems that we masquerade the most around the people that we should be able to be the most transparent with.

In this openness, we don't have to share dirty details. If the people you share with only want the details, then you probably shouldn't be sharing with them. As God's people we should care about the person, not the juicy gossip that can be wrung from the situation. It is the response we are afraid of. What will they think of me? Will they talk about me? Will I somehow become  an untouchable, one that no one will associate with? I think that praying for the sick is very important but is that still the majority of the items on the prayer list? I think that shows we are SCARED.

Even though there are some that will have that bad reaction, I believe in the best of the Church. There are people there waiting to embrace you with their arms, their love and their prayers. We mustn't let the fear of some keep us from the help of most.

Max writes,

"Tough times stir the hermit within us. We want to hide out, run away and avoid human contact. In reality, we need community. Lean on God’s people.  

Cancel your escape to the Himalayas. Forget the deserted island. Be a barnacle on the boat of God’s church." 

Would the sick avoid the hospital?

The hungry avoid the food pantry? 

Would the discouraged abandon God’s Hope Distribution Center? Only at great risk. His people purvey His presence.

He goes on to describe the events that take place in Exodus 17:8-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

^"8 While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them.⁹ Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”¹⁰ So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. ¹² Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. ¹³ As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle."

Moses raised his arms in prayer for the battle but he became weary. Aaron and Hur were there to keep holding his arms up even when he was tired so that Israel and the Lord would win the battle. On June 29th, we asked for help. We asked for aide to brace our weary arms that had become noodle-like because they had been raised in prayer for so long.

I shared that day that as I thanked those that came to support us, that it isn't just about a difficult marriage. There are a lot of things that we struggle with here on this earth. We all need help at times. How many battles have been lost because we didn't ask for help? How many battles have been lost because we didn't offer help?

Oh, church! That we would share the battle! That we wouldn't be scared to say we are tired! That we wouldn't run away from a soul that looks like a hot mess! That we would be brave enough to REACH OUT, to STAY, and to spend our time HOLDING UP weary arms in Jesus Name!

The Move

By now you have probably heard that, Eric, my husband, is leaving Biggersville. He has taken a position at Alcorn Central High School. He will be coaching baseball there, but he will be assistant high school baseball coach. Not head coach. I know that some folks were confused on that point. He will be coaching jr. high baseball and another sport yet to be decided. He will teach 8th grade history as well.

I don't think that it is any coincidence or chance happening that God would have me declare my love for Biggersville schools a mere month before I knew that we would have to leave it. I had no idea that Eric would accept a job at Alcorn Central when I wrote that post. The way we feel about Biggersville hasn't changed. Eric has been a coach at there for 18 years. During those 18 years he had many opportunities to leave and go elsewhere. But every year he chose to stay. Until this year.

To those of you who have, without asking why, told us that you will miss us but will be praying for us and supporting us wherever we are, thank you. Thank you for loving us that way. To those who honestly ask and listen to what we say, we thank you as well. We appreciate that you took the time to ask us why instead of putting words in our mouths.

We have had some folks congratulate us and in the following conversation they state something like, "Well, no one should fault you for trying to advance yourself." or "Movin' on up, aren't you?" Those comments are well meaning. They are wishing us success. I guess they didn't realize how it sounded.  We have heard another more negative observation. I won't repeat it because it isn't only hurtful to Eric and our family, it could be upsetting to the students that he taught and coached.

We would like you to know that we don't see this as a "step up". Eric has chosen to "step down" in a way.  He could still be head coach at Biggersville or somewhere else.  As I mentioned earlier, in the years that Eric was coach at BHS, on average he got an offer to go somewhere else yearly, to places that others would have seen as "better" than Biggersville. He didn't take them because he felt he was where he should be. He did what he thought was best for the students, the school, and himself then as he does now. The BEST place to be is always in the place where God wants you. Success is measured in more ways than with trophies and accolades. The investment in coaching isn't just in winning. The investment is in the child. To impart a character that shines in the winning and the losing. I know he wants to do this at Alcorn Central as an assistant as he did at Biggersville as a head coach. 

One of the good things that came from the responses to this move is that my heart and voice rose to defend my husband's choice for us. (I can talk about him but I don't want anyone else to. :)) I wasn't very happy with this decision at first. I cried and cried privately. I called out to God to ask Him to help me understand and to be able to move forward. I didn't want my children to hurt by having to leave their comfort zone, their friends, the teachers and the place they love. I had to admit that Biggersville was my comfort zone as well. Change is hard. But, in the process of "standing by my man", God helped me and I began to see the positives as well. 

Another valuable lesson that I hope we learn from this is how to respond to others' choices. It helps to be on the receiving end of criticism or have misinformation spread about you at times. "So this is what that feels like." I hope it will be mirror to help us see where we have failed in the past and how we can improve in this area in the future. 

Eric will be going to coach with Jarrad Robinson. Eric met Jarrad and his dad when Jarrad played at the park in his early teen years. Jarrad played for Eric on his Senior Legion team 15 years ago. Eric followed Jarrad through his college years and then his teaching and coaching ones after. He is excited about the opportunity to coach with his friend. He is looking forward not only to his coaching at Alcorn Central, but the opportunities he will have as a classroom teacher. His schedule, subject area and the grade level he will be teaching are suited to his strengths and tastes.

Please pray for us as we make this move. The children especially need your love and support. We have LOVED our time at Biggersville. We GRIEVED over the decision to leave. We will continue to MISS it for a long time. But now that the decision is made, we are EXCITED about what God has planned for our lives as Alcorn Central Bears.

Return to Zero, The Movie

In March, my friend, Lucy, sent me a message with a link and wrote, "Have you seen this?"

The link was to a website for Return to Zero, the movie.

I had not.

The theme of the film is something that is close to mine and Lucy's hearts but one that isn't spoken about, written about, or dwelt upon very often: STILLBIRTH.

Lucy and I "met" online through our mutual friend, Amy, in January of 2010. Amy called to ask me, mother of baby Jack, a STILLBORN baby, if I would mind contacting her friend who along with her husband, Mike, had twins a couple of months before. The babies were a boy and a girl. Their baby girl, Allie Grace, was born healthy, but their baby boy, James Michael, was STILLBORN.

Lucy needed a connection. She needed comfort. She needed direction. She needed someone to talk to that knew her pain. I would provide a little bit of all these things for Lucy, until she was able to find them closer to home and then she would eventually provide those things for some other mother who had experienced STILLBIRTH.

There are thousands of moms and dads just like Lucy and me. It isn't just something that USED to happen. You know, when the medical care wasn't good enough. A statistic is cited in the clip below that in the U.S. alone there are 26,000 STILLBIRTHS a year. That is:

500 pairs of empty mommy arms a month,

72 grieving daddies a day,

3 broken and heartsick sets of parents every hour.

The makers of this film would like to "break the silence" about STILLBIRTH specifically, but also all infant loss. Not everyone who experiences baby loss wants to talk about it but I think none of them wants it to be forgotten. I think the silence that needs to be broken is the one that feels like it is being imposed on those who have experienced the loss. It should be their choice whether to speak or to be quiet.

Even though I feel like I'm doing my own bit of "breaking the silence" now, after we lost Jack, I struggled to include him in my conversation. When I talked of him, I made others uncomfortable. Some, not all, would just walk away. Literally.

It is delicate. It is difficult. And as a result it is easier NOT to talk about it than to wade through the hard parts. I found out that once I got over sacrificing the memory of my beloved child for the sake of making someone else feel better, MOST were receptive. Sometimes they said something that was hurtful or ignorant, but in time, I found ways to let them know without making either of us feel embarrassed or hurt. Hopefully, the next time they encounter a similar situation, they will know what to say because I spoke.

While the subject of baby loss should never be blasé, it should be familiar enough that by being aware, we can help others.

Please watch this Glimpse of Return To Zero






I am a local leader for the film.  (Local leaders in Mississippi) As a local leader, I have pledged to tell others about the film and help get it to theaters by gathering support for it.

You can see a map that shows local leaders nationally but this is a global effort. Individuals and groups from all around the world are signing up to be local leaders and pledging to go see this movie. If you would like to Become a Local Leader also, please do so.

You can pledge to see this movie by clicking on this link: Pledge to go see this movie

You can put my name in as local leader on your form: Anna Janzen-Lancaster

And by all means, please share it if you would like others to see it also.

http://bit.ly/16H3uNz



Disclaimer: I have NOT SEEN this movie and it is not rated yet. I can tell you that it does have some foul language and has adult situations. It is a film about adult life. If those things will keep you from seeing a movie, you probably won't want to see this one. You know that I have written before about how we try and limit our exposure to media of all types, especially for our children. Our children will not be seeing this movie. I don't want them or myself to be exposed to those things unnecessarily. But sometimes, to tell the REAL LIFE story, it is necessary, because that is how it REALLY happens. It is up to you. It is not my intention to force this film on you. Just to let you know it is out there and that it's subject matter, MATTERS.


Anna Becoming

The Pride of Lions (Humbly So)

Last night, we attended the Biggersville Elementary academic awards program and sixth grade promotion ceremony. My children make me blessed AGAIN this year. Ty had his awards program the other day during school. Granny wasn't well that day so I didn't get to go. He did really well also.  

   

But this post isn't to brag on my children. This post is to tell you about our wonderful school and the people who work there everyday to make it so. 

When I was in the 8th grade, I joined the students at Biggersville. I transferred after the school year had begun. My mom was a teacher there but I still didn't know many people. If you know anything about me, you know I was incredibly shy. I remember entering class that day, and all eyes turning toward the door and to me as I walked in. This shy girl didn't have to stay scared for long because I was immediately "embraced" by my classmates. 

It was different there than it was at my old school. On break, all of the students (7th-12th grade) intermingled in the hallway. It didn't seem to matter who was an upperclassman or who wasn't. No one cared what kind of jeans the other person wore. No one cared how much money your parents had. The students seemed to judge one another by who they were and not by their material possessions, what important relative you could claim, or even by the color of your skin. 

I graduated there, I worked there in the summers and I married a man who became a teacher there. As the years passed I became more and more vested in the school. 

After our children were born, I began to think about where they would go to school. We went to church in town, lived in town, and most of the children's friends would be going to Corinth. My younger sister and brother graduated there because my mom was a teacher there. I knew Corinth and the other county schools had better classrooms, better labs, better sports facilities and more arts programs. They offered a wider array of subjects to choose from beyond the basic, required curriculum. Several families that I knew who lived in Biggersville school district and were BHS alumni, chose to send there children to other schools. I became confused. I wasn't sure that Biggersville had enough to offer my gifted children.

When I complained about the science lab that was two times older than I was, when I complained about no drama program, when I complained about the fact that there was only one Spanish and no other language option, when I ranted about the fact that the school received nothing the other schools got, Eric reminded me that I went to school there and that I wasn't stupid as a result. He reminded me of the degrees held by many of the classmates I attended school with.

When it came time to send Ty to kindergarten, we had already decided that we wanted him to be with his daddy. All of the teachers seemed to already love my child. They were excited about him coming to be at school with them. I had heard nothing but kind words about Ms. Melanie and Ms. Janet. It was a good thing. 

As the years have gone by and 3 of our 4 living children have gone to school there, we have never regretted keeping them "home". They have been loved and nurtured. My children aren't limited here. They are challenged in ways they couldn't be elsewhere. They are building character. 

I love the fact that they see each other at school all day. With one class for every grade, they have shared teachers and the same 2 hallways for all these years. Ty is "across the road" now at the Jr./Sr. high school. He has some of the same teachers I had. Some of the teachers were my classmates. 

Recently, the Mississippi Department of Education announced that Biggersville High School had been awarded a Bronze Medal on the "Best High Schools Rankings". 

Read how U.S. News and World Report arrived at these results:

"A three-step process determined the Best High Schools. The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all of their students well, using performance on state proficiency tests as the benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work."

(I am including the criteria for only the first two steps because the third step was inapplicable for Biggersville.)

• Step 1: The first step determined whether each school's students were performing better than statistically expected for the average student in the state. We started by looking at reading and math results for all students on each state's high school proficiency tests.

We then factored in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (who tend to score lower) enrolled at the school to identify the schools that were performing better than statistical expectations.

• Step 2: For those schools that made it past this first step, the second step determined whether the school's least-advantaged students (black, Hispanic and low-income) were performing better than average for similar students in the state.

We compared each school's math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students with the statewide results for these student groups and then selected schools that were performing better than this state average.

According to the report, 73% of Biggersville's total enrollment is "economically disadvantaged". Eric and I are in the other 27% there. I would describe us as "economically breaking even" as I am sure most of the other 27% would describe themselves as well. 

"The Poverty Factor" refers to Georgia public schools but Mississippi ranks higher than Georgia on the list of children living in poverty in the state at 32%.

The worst-performing public schools tend to be in the poorest zip codes, while most successful public schools are in more affluent zip codes. The dropout rate of students in low-income families is more than four times greater than the rate of students from higher-income families. In Georgia, economically disadvantaged kids are about four times more likely than their higher-income counterparts to score below standards on the almighty CRCT (Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests).

The report from U.S. News and World Report shows that Biggersville is bridging the gap. Being "economically disadvantaged" doesn't mean you will automatically be "academically disadvantaged". That is something to be really proud of. 

These results aren't because we have better classrooms. because we don't. These results aren't because we have better materials, because we don't. These results aren't because we have the best science labs, because we don't. 

These results come from community, hard work, and a WHOLE LOT of LOVE. 

To be a teacher anywhere and make a difference requires a lot of personal sacrifice. I know. I am from a family of teachers. I don't want to make less of teachers everywhere. But I suggest to you from the statistics from the report that the teachers at schools like Biggersville are going above and beyond the call of duty and that statistically speaking, MORE of their students have LESS. These teachers are doing MORE with LESS resources. This requires MORE of them to achieve these results; MORE SUPPORT, MORE TIME, MORE PATIENCE. They also get LESS thanks or at least thanks of a different kind. I would be surprised if an expensive piece of pottery or gift cards to nice restaurants land on their desks very often. (They might only get a long blog post dedicated to them from a sincere heart. Yes, a very different kind of thanks.)

These are just a few of the faces that make a difference in my kids every day. (These teachers were such stars we couldn't get to all of them to get our pictures made.) They do it everyday, month after month, and year after year. When I describe Biggersville to people who aren't from here, I always say, "It's like a small private school, except everyone gets to come." I often cry a little when I say it.  

Our children are to be taught at home, first and foremost. But often, the world around us wants to confuse what we have been taught at home. I saw what my parents taught me in action at this school. I pray my children see what we have taught them there as well. 

-You may not have what everyone else has but you have enough. Your achievement depends on your own personal work ethic and determination. 

-Everyone gets a chance to be your friend. You don't exclude them automatically because they aren't like you. 

-People are more important than things. Possessions do not define you.

-Always remember Whose you are and always strive to make Him proud.

-Rejoice in how far you go but never be ashamed of where you came from.

-You don't have to "go big, or go home". Being small or doing small things makes a big difference sometimes. 

-You can always come home. 

Kossuth and Corinth High schools were awarded the bronze medal as well. The percentage of economically disadvantaged at Kossuth High school was 50% and at Corinth High School, 52%. Biggersville does not offer AP or IB courses therefore were not scored on college readiness. And if you would like to argue with me about the difference in the resources of these schools and Biggersville's, I would love to accompany you on a tour of all three schools.

(Bronze medals: An additional 2,515 high schools that passed the first two steps in the methodology were awarded bronze medals and are listed alphabetically. A bronze medal school either does not offer any AP or IB courses, or its college readiness index was less than the median of 14.8 needed to be ranked silver.) 

Run Toward the Tragedy

After the Boston Marathon bombing, there were reports of kindness and bravery in the midst of tragedy. One thing that I read over and over was that as the world watched the videos, we saw people running TOWARD the blast, not AWAY from it.

In his article, "Running Toward the Marathon Chaos" Zachary Bell wrote:

Yet last Monday, I saw something more jaw-dropping than the tragedy at the Boston Marathon itself: people, many of them civilians, running toward the chaos. I saw police officers, marathon runners, race volunteers and even bystanders who did not flee, but moved toward the bomb blasts, without regard for their own safety, trying to provide assistance to the injured.

While I listened, watched, read and prayed about Boston, I did the same for the Gosnell trial. Sadly, you may not even know what I'm talking about when I say Gosnell. This is from a transcript of an interview for PBS Newshour:

 Gosnell is being tried on eight counts of murder, seven of them for allegedly killing babies that prosecutors say were born alive and viable. The eighth count is for his role in the death of an immigrant from Bhutan. Attorneys say she died of an overdose from a sedative she was given. The case stems from an FBI raid on his Philadelphia clinic in 2010.

Investigators found horrific conditions and say he performed some abortions after the 24-week legal limit in Pennsylvania. 

It would be horrific enough if Gosnell's was the only abortion provider in the world. But he isn't.
Please watch this video from liveaction.org.





As Kathryn Jean Lopez writes, "This Is the End of Looking Away".

Are you turning away? plugging your ears? closing your eyes?

These babies and their mothers need a hero. Cry out for them. Run toward the tragedy. 

http://www.supportrcfwcorinth.org

http://russandmegan.blogspot.com/2013/04/unplanned-pregnancyperfectly-planned.html