Judging from the hundreds of e-mail messages I get daily, you like to hear stories about babies saved from abortion, and you like to see pictures of 40 Days for Life in action. So, today I bring you both!

Kristina and Michele in Syracuse, New York were praying in front of Planned Parenthood when two young women stopped to talk. One of the young women said she was pregnant and going to Planned Parenthood for an abortion.

Instead, she was encouraged to visit a pro-life pregnancy resource center where she was offered a free ultrasound. “Long story short,” said Kristina, “the girl decided against having the abortion. Praise the Lord!”

“To all those who are there with us in spirit and praying at home, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Michele added. “It is because of your prayers and God’s love and mercy that this young woman’s baby was saved.”

Here’s a look at some of the 40 Days for Life participants in Syracuse:

Sandy in Toms River, New Jersey reported that a young couple drove into the abortion center parking lot. The woman got out and walked towards the clinic; the man stayed in the car.

A counselor asked if the young woman needed any help. She told the counselor she was pregnant and couldn’t take care of another baby because she already had a young child. The woman went back to the car, looked at the pro-life literature she was given, and then entered the building.

An hour later, she left the clinic and went back to the sidewalk to tell the counselor she had decided to keep the baby.

“I am convinced that all the prayers and sacrifices being offered to God since the start of the campaign had a part in this miracle,” Sandy said. “In a spectacular display of religious unity in our belief in the sanctity of life, a group of women from the Pentecostal Church of Grace and Peace prayed at the front of the clinic while a group of Catholic women prayed by the entrance. This is what 40 Days for Life is all about!”

Here are some of the faithful people taking part in 40 Days for Life in Toms River:

Melissa in Charlotte, North Carolina found out firsthand that because of its widespread availability, abortion can even tempt people of faith. At the 40 Days for Life vigil, she met a woman who was at the clinic to schedule an abortion.

“She broke down crying and revealed that she was a Christian, who had fallen into sin,” Melissa said. The child’s father, a married leader in her church, was pressuring her to have an abortion. “She knew it was wrong, but she didn’t know what to do.” She had spoken to her pastor, but had not received any definitive counsel.

Still, it was obvious the woman knew the truth; her car had a “let God have his way” sticker and the bible was sitting on the passenger seat. “We hugged her and listened to her as she poured her heart out and wept on our shoulder. After baring her soul,” Melissa said, “she chose life!”

Melissa asks for your prayers for this woman. “She has a very difficult road ahead and she is obviously going to be ostracized by those closest to her for making the decision to carry this child to term.”

Here’s a picture of the 40 Days for Life team in Charlotte, standing alongside a mobile ultrasound unit:

Those are just a FEW of the stories of at least 123 lives saved so far by your prayers and participation in this 40 Days for Life.

I can’t wait to share even more stories and pictures with you in the coming days!

Here’s today’s devotional from Randolph Sly of the National Pro-life Religious Council…

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DAY 13 INTENTION
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For all fathers who are terrified of being fathers.

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SCRIPTURE
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A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.

– Psalm 68:5

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REFLECTION by Randolph Sly
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I had a friend many years ago who confided in me that he was terrified of being a father. He and his wife already had two children when this revelation came forth. “I never knew my father,” he explained, “and I have no idea what a father is supposed to do.”

We continued to share about this, as well as pray together. He began to see he had a father’s heart for his children. His biggest problem was not a limitation on love but not knowing how to act out this love.

One day we talked about the verse quoted at the top of this page. I shared that he did know his Father … not his biological father but his Heavenly Father, who had rescued him from a life of destruction not many years before.

“How did your Heavenly Father guide you?” I asked. He talked about the ways he had seen God’s love offered to him and the way the Lord had used circumstances and the Scriptures to mold him and mature him. “Well, the Lord wants to do the same thing through you for your children. Be available to His love and available to your kids. You’ll do fine.”

How wonderful it is to know that God takes a personal interest in each of us, many times using His faithful people — the Church — as channels of this love. No one is fatherless who lives in the Lord. His fatherly care begins at the moment of our conception, as it is written, “you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:12), and continues to be poured upon us throughout our lives.

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PRAYER
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for caring about each of us so deeply. Help us to see and know you as our Father in heaven each and every day of our lives.

Your loving hand also rests on every child today carried in its mother’s womb. May they be born into this world and come to know fully and personally your endless love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

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PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
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To download today’s devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share with friends:

http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day13print.pdf

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For Life,

David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 2:00 am and is filed under 09 Fall Campaign, 40 Days for Life, Devotionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.