.... children, a gift from the Lord...

my little girls are coming home tomorrow... I am thinking of them like that, even though they are not that little anymore, but rather some fine young women.. I am so proud of them and just realized once again just how much I love them... I am getting a little frustrated with myself considering that I am so up and down all the time.. the excitement of this new ministry makes me all giddy and happy, my "regular " life makes me all sad and down and hopeless at times .. I hate that one day I am good and fine with being single, enjoy the freedom it brings and then the next day I am so sad about all that happened and all that I lost, that I am not able to get myself out of that place.
so when talking to my girls yesterday even though they shared with me some stuff that happened I had been worried about I was so happy to hear their voices and just enjoyed how grown up and wise they are... how they are quite accomplished already in dealing with relational stuff, considering that they are the innocent victims of all that went down in our family.
I am heartbroken that I was not able to prevent the heartache they have been experiencing all their lives, that I am as much responsible for the hurt and pain they are living with. at the same time I am seeing that God has been at work in them as much as He has been in me in turning the bad into something good for them... they are such a joy for me and I cannot wait to pick them up from the airport tomorrow... He has given me  3 wonderful gifts that I didn't deserve, I am forever grateful for that, I am cherishing the time I have with them, the times when I can observe how they are growing up , marvel at what they are thinking and caring about, the wonderful ways they have been trying to cheer me up over the last 14 months and what a blessing they are to everyone around them...
my prayer is that I will be the best mother to them I can be... never taking them for granted but investing myself in our relationship.
God is good to me, I shall be focusing on that as I am lonely this evening.... just another day until they will all be back again... what a great and wonderful thing..

... Hope for Life Pregnancy Care Center...

... did you know that in Canada there is no limit as to when a pregnant woman can have an abortion?
we are the only nation in the Western world that does not have any legislation governing abortion,
this means that 

if a woman can find a doctor willing to perform the abortion no matter how far along she is there is no law that can stop them,

 no one to protect the unborn child at any time!

some more information regarding Abortion:

70% of abortions being performed are on those who identify themselves as “Protestant or Catholic” of that 70%, 18% consider themselves “born-again or evangelical Christians”
in the year 2005 

there were 447,485 pregnancies reported in Canada, 

out of that number 96, 815 ended in abortion, that’s 22%

between 1996 and 2006

in Ontario: 54% of teen pregnancies ended in abortion
in Halton:  69% of teen pregnancies ended in abortion

a lot of women and young girls every year are finding themselves facing an unplanned pregnancy  and consequently have to make a difficult decision that will have life-long consequences. this can be very overwhelming 

and that is why we would like to be there to help.

help women by offering options counselling to understand what the

3 options of dealing with a crisis pregnancy are....

sharing information about procedures and what health and emotional risks are involved with an abortion,

supporting them in their decision to carry and parent the baby through mentoring programs and practical support,

connecting those that decide to give their baby up for adoption to an adoption agency and 

offering counselling to the birth mom, walking along side her through this difficult time in her life.

we also will be offering post abortion counselling...

fact is : 18 % of all abortions performed each year are performed on evangelical christian women.
in every church there are women that had an abortion at some point in their life,
many feeling too guilty to tell anyone about it. my heart is breaking for all of them, my prayer is that they will come forward and receive the healing and forgiveness the Lord has for them, finally being able to leave their heavy burden at the feet of Jesus...

as we are working towards opening our doors to the women in our community we are asking everyone to search their hearts how they could be involved with this ministry:

you could support our work through prayer, volunteering at the center, financial support, 

donations specific to the needs of pregnant women and newborn babies... 

because let's face it:

Christ came to this world to save the lost
care for the needy
look after the fatherless
we are called to be His hands and feet
will you join with us in making this calling a reality by "Together making the Invisible Christ Visible to the Women in our Community?"

... dealing with dysfunction....

...today was another one of those up and down, really tiring kind of days...  I feel like someone has taken me through the ringer... sometimes I wish I was not capable of feeling so deeply... how great would it be to be so utterly oblivious to other people's feelings like some people I know are....
for many years now have I been feeling physical pain in my right wrist when my heart has been hurt... a shooting pain all the way down my arm and into my wrist... felt that every time my feelings got hurt when I was married... today I felt this a few times, makes me want to crawl into my bed and never come out...

living in this world of brokenness,  I saw more evidence today of just how incapable mankind is to consider the feelings of others and relate in a healthy way.. I have seen what disease, another consequence of the fall does to people and how it leads to even more dysfunction in relationships... why are we continually hurting one another? sometimes, like today, it is quite discouraging to see just how bad it is...

tomorrow morning, my Steering Committee for the new Pregnancy Center is going to meet for the first time and I am not surprised that today has been a rather difficult day for me.
as we are going to get prepared to open a "front line ministry" there is someone out there that is going to do all he can to trip us up, discourage us and take our focus of the work that the Lord has called us to do... the good news is that He who is in me, is bigger than he who is in the world, He who is in me has won the victory and with Him all things are possible..

so rather than allowing the discouragement to make me hide in my bed, in His strength I am going to be at work making this world a better place one woman that will come through our doors at a time... By God's grace we will get to share the Good News with her and support her through teaching her relational and parenting skills... rather than surrender to the hopelessness, pain and brokenness of our world we will be courageous and face the challenge... only through Him will we be able to do that... it will take a daily decision to stand firm on what we know is true... depend desperately on the One who alone is able... makes me think of an old  fav song :

He is able more than able

To accomplish what concerns me today

He is able more than able

To handle anything that comes my way

He is able more than able

To do much more than I could ever dream

He is able more than able

To make me what He wants me to be

so tomorrow we will meet and work through our agenda... because He is more than able... love Him for that!!!!