Help from Rosaries
September 30, 2019
Sometimes when we’re on the sidewalk, the cars follow one another so quickly that we give out all the materials we are holding. If we’re in conversation with the women, we don’t want to break contact with them to go get more handouts. We have to keep talking to them, to keep them talking to us, and to nurture the relationship we’ve begun. Most importantly, they have to see Christ in our eyes.
Last week two young women stopped to talk to one of our counselors. Amanda* had made an abortion appointment but couldn’t go through with it. Then she made another that she didn’t keep, and yet another. Three times she was determined to abort her baby but three times she walked out. Her friend Heather* had been trying to talk her into keeping her child,
while Amanda tried to convince herself that God would forgive her if she got rid of her baby.
The little 12-week fetal models can be very effective in changing hearts. Something about feeling, seeing what a tiny baby looks like, can have quite an impact. The counselor wanted to give one to Amanda, but he’d handed his last one to the woman in the previous car.
And he didn’t want to risk walking away from Amanda to find more.
Heather asked the counselor, “Are you Catholic?”
He answered yes, and she told him she was too, as was Amanda.
Then she asked, “Can I have a rosary? And my friend needs one.” “Sure. Be right back.”
He found the rosaries, and next to them were … more fetal models. The young man brought back the rosaries and handed the tiny model to Amanda. At thirteen weeks, her baby is a little bit bigger than the model she was holding in her hands. The truth seemed to wash over her, and the counselor could tell that she’d made up her mind. “Let’s take you to the pregnancy help center and see what all they can do for you.”
Cradling the little baby in her palm, Amanda and the new life within her went with her friend and the counselor to find help and loving support.
By Sidewalk Counselor, Susan Platt
*Note names have been changed to protect the privacy of those mentioned.
To peacefully pray on the sidewalk during 40 Days for Life visit www.prolifedallas.org/40days and sign up for an hour of prayer.
Tags: sidewalk, prolife, counselor, abortion, intern, clinic