Do Not Disturb

July 18, 2012

The abortion center parking lot was filled today. They were coming from all directions, parking on side streets. I was counseling with one of our new summer interns, when a long time prayer partner showed up and quietly took to her prayers. She was in prayer, and I mean IN prayer . . . the kind of prayer with an invisible "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging overhead. That's when things started happening.

One couple drove into the parking lot, clearly upset. They went to park, but didn't. They came out the opposite way into the alley and took literature from us. The man was shaking his head. They couldn't get out of that abortion center parking lot fast enough. Praise God!

Two women (friends/ related by marriage) stopped and took our literature. The "free" sonogram perked their interest. One of the women encouraged her pregnant friend to visit the neighboring pregnancy resource center for free help. The mom discovered she was indeed pregnant (7 weeks) which brought tears (the good kind). The two women left the center, both with smiles; the new mom had that "contented look" that moms get when they are thoughtfully contemplating motherhood and the baby inside of them. There were "thank you(s)" and beautiful smiles.

One couple came walking down the alley. They had driven close to 200 miles to the abortion center "for a sonogram". But they both registered "relief" when they heard that the neighboring pregnancy resource center offered free pregnancy tests and sonograms. In they went. Later, when they came out, their arms were full of new baby items and some things for their other little ones. They were excited to share that the baby (15 weeks) was "moving all over the place" and "the baby's mouth was opening and closing". The couple just loved watching him or her (they couldn’t tell just yet). They left for the long drive back, planning to stop on the way for a nice lunch in celebration of their good news!

Standing by the fence, we first spotted a "shadow" coming towards us. She rounded the fence and met us right there. She had just left the abortion center, upset and crying, with the news that "she was not pregnant," and she "was scared". No, she didn't want to be pregnant, but she thought she was pregnant, despite the test results. She repeated she "was scared". She went into the pregnancy resource center, and after some time inside, returned to us. That test too showed negative, but now she knows where to go for help. She knows where she will be safe and where she will be loved.

Praise God for all these beautiful, converted, courageous, and hopeful hearts.

After all these miraculous moments, our prayer partner left as quietly as she came. She is a long time prayer warrior, and we are grateful when she comes to the sidewalks. She spent an almost unbroken 24 hours on the sidewalk during the 40 Days for Life campaign last Fall. One time, a few years ago, I interrupted her prayers. She gently shook her finger and pointed up ... to that "Do Not Disturb" sign invisibly hanging over her head. And I left her too it – that quiet work, that important work – that is saving lives.