God's Call is Sometimes a Surprise

I am the oldest of three children.

My sister has three children.

My brother has three children.

I have two.

Over the past five or six years, people have asked me if I planned to have another baby. Because I have two daughters, the question is most often phrased as, “Are you going to try for a boy.”

Over the past five or six years, I’ve answered no. I have a long list of reasons: We like having two girls. There’s no guarantee we’d have a boy. We couldn’t afford daycare for three. I’d have to quit my job. We can’t afford for me to quit my job. I’m out of shape. And as the years crept by I added another excuse, I’m too old.

Although after my sister had baby number 3 and I watched them play and grow together I reminisced about my own childhood with two siblings. And as my brother and his wife began having their children, I considered it again.

I’d watch my own daughters interact and occasionally feel that someone was missing from our family. Then I’d remind myself of all my reasons and dismiss it from mind. My husband must have been feeling the same, because he began asking why we didn’t have another baby. I’d tick off all my reasons, how our baby years are behind us now, and that we have so much to look forward to now that the girls are older. We’ve started really enjoying traveling with them. And in nine short years they’ll both be off to college.

Lisa and I began blogging two years ago and my life began changing. I felt a strong calling to change my life, focus on new goals, and plan a new direction for my life. One morning I woke up disgusted with my body. I joined Weight Watchers and lost 20 pounds. I envied Lisa’s toned muscles, so I gave up my excuses and joined the personal fitness training offered at my university. I lost another 5 lbs., built muscle, changed my eating habits again, and got into shape. I felt like I was twenty-four again. Last month I celebrated my 40th birthday feeling strong, empowered, with a positive look on what the year holds for me.

God gave me a surprise 40th birthday present a week later, though I didn’t find out until the beginning of February.

I’m pregnant.

The last three weeks have been one big blur of shock and disbelief. And that’s just the reactions I’m getting when I tell people!

My husband is happy, though he admits that at times he feels like the snowman in the snow globe watching that last snowflake drifting slowly down into place, when suddenly someone picks it up and gives it a good shake! Our daughters are excited and happy, asking me constantly how I’m feeling and what is the baby developing today.

I’ve had some of my worries alleviated by various friends. When I mentioned my concern about being forty, I heard from others how their own mother was forty when they were born. When I’ve worried about the 12 and 9 year age difference between this baby and my daughters, I’m reassured by others about their own positive relationships with siblings with similar age differences.

While I know that in the end, this will be a joyful positive experience, I’m having difficulty wrapping my mind around the changes this baby will bring. I never imagined this would be God’s call for me. Like Moses I find myself saying, But God….. But God…. Like Moses, I must trust that God will provide me with everything I need to get the job done.

In the meantime – it’s been a long time since I’ve done this and your advice and prayers are welcome. I’d really love to hear more stories about how other women dealt with a surprise pregnancy over forty.

God's Gift to Our Family

Three years ago today, our father had a major heart attack while at our ranch in rural central Texas.  Thankfully, our uncle was with him and managed to get him to the county hospital on those dirt roads faster than anyone has dared driving on them before.  Miraculously, when he arrived the local doctors immediately implemented a brand-new, grant funded, emergency Life Flight specifically created to transfer rural heart attack patients directly to a cardiac surgeon in downtown Austin.  Before the rest of our family even left the Houston area, Dad was in the air. We later learned that Dad nearly didn’t survive the journey. Without that program in place, we very well might have lost him.

It was a Sunday.  Brian and I were at the house preparing lunch for the kids when Mom called.  It was one of those phone calls where you immediately know something is wrong.  I remember just sitting on the couch afterwards, not knowing what to do and feeling completely lost.  Shelly and her family had taken a day-trip to Louisiana and were returning as quickly as possible. We decided that Mom and our brother would drive to Austin while I would wait for Shelly to return so she and I could drive together. 

I sat and waited, cried and prayed.   My husband held my hand and sat with me. I prayed the rosary using the Rosary Army podcast on my iPod for the first time.

Because everything happened so fast, including the rural Life Flight, Dad arrived in Austin ahead of Mom. Upon arriving in Austin, the EMTs were surprised to be greeted coming out of the helicopter bay by so many people - Dad’s sisters, their husbands, nieces, nephews and friends.  We were so very thankful they were there when we couldn’t be.  Ironically, before Shelly and I even got on the road, Dad went into and came out of surgery and we learned he was expected to survive.

For the first time in many years my parents and their three grown children were together without any in laws or grandchildren.  For two days it was just us in a little hospital room for many hours.  There were lots of tears, but also many laughs and jokes, the kind of crazy things that remind you of hanging out with your family as a teenager on a Sunday afternoon.  Dad kept insisting that he needed regular clothes for the moment (in a few days) when he would be released. Everything he’d packed for the weekend waited 2 hours away at the ranch, so Shelly and I hit the stores for new clothes.  Trying to follow his specific instructions for pants, shoes, even undershirts, proved to be quite a bonding experience.  We laughed really hard at the store. 

The entire experience, though scary and horrifying, when we considered that Dad almost lost his life, turned out to be quite positive for our family. 

In the past three years we’ve changed as a family in ways we would not have imagined.  Even though we’ve always been a close-knit family, something has changed.  We recognize the inevitableness of losing one of our parents. We see the fragility of life and how quickly the unexpected happens. 

Dad has changed since the heart attack. Though he still has immense responsibilities at the company, he cut back his hours, taking the time to train others to handle key directions.  He consciously makes more time to be with the grandchildren and to exercise daily.  For the past two years at Spring Break he took the whole family on a road trip – 9 days, 15 people, 3 minivans and 2,000 miles driving to West Texas and back.  We had a marvelous time.

As siblings, we’ve grown closer, strengthening our relationship, talking about how we’ll continue as one family – not three separate ones – when we do lose our parents.

My father has always been the rock of our family, the captain of our ship.  The thought of losing him isn’t any less frightening now than it was three years ago, but we recognize that these past three years have been a true gift from God.  When I look back on that day and consider how many things were in just the right place at just the right moment… I know it cannot be mere coincidence.  We thank God for giving us this time as a family, to continue to grow closer, to know each other, to reconnect, and to be prepare ourselves for the future.

Moral Battle in Wisconsin

I began to write this morning about the situation in Wisconsin that is echoing across the country.  While I was writing, Thomas Peters, of American Papist, posted his piece on the Wisconsin protests over at CatholicVote.org.  After reading his column, I stopped writing.  Thomas hit the nail on the head.  He covers almost all the points I was set to make.  So rather than reinvent the wheel, I direct you to read his excellent coverage and analysis of the Wisconsin union protests.  

In Wisconsin, a preview of moral battles to come, and why we need all hands on deck

 "Americans deserve elected officials who practice prudence, responsibility and selflessness. Governor Walker and the Senators who chose to do their job this week in Wisconsin are such men and women."

Sharing Valentine's Day with Kids

Happy Valentine's Day!

Saint Valentine Puppet

I am thrilled to be sharing Valentine's Day with my Faith Formation class of 3rd graders this afternoon.  While planning our lesson I discovered a great website called Catholic Icing.  She has an amazing number of arts and crafts, food creations and feast day celebration ideas to share our Catholic faith with children and within our family.  This site is perfect for those looking to incorporate a little fun and creativity into our family's faith life. 

I'm using three of her great Valentine's Day ideas in my lesson today.  First, the kids will make Saint Valentine puppets from paper bags.  How adorable!  

The kids in my class love to craft and it gives me a great opportunity to introduce Valentine's Day as much more than a just secular holiday. While they are making their puppets, they will learn a bit about at least one of the St. Valentines from the 3rd century.

When you check out these puppets on Catholic Icing, take a look at her Nun Puppets.  Love it!

During our lesson we will also focus on God's love for each of us and his commandment:
"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

Because kids love crafting with candy, I am also using the John 3:16 Valentine craft from Catholic Icing this afternoon.  The kids will write the letters VALENTINE on the back of conversation hearts, then glue them vertically down a sheet of paper.  Using the letters, we will write out John 3:16 and decorate the page.  Why not learn scripture while eating (oops, I mean gluing) conversation hearts?  I think it will be a hit!

My go to worksheets to have on hand at the end of every class, in case of extra time, are word searches.  Catholic Icing links to a cute Valentine's Day word search using the words from 1 Corinthians 4-8.  I have copies printed and in my bag for the kids.

Love never fails. 1 Cor 13:8

With Lent a few weeks away, you must check out all the wonderful projects for Lent and Easter at Catholic Icing!

Lisa Jones

CPAC 2011 Speakers

This week political Conservatives from all 50 states gather in DC for the annual CPAC - Conservative Political Action Conference sponsored by The American Conservative Union.  One of the great things about CPAC is the streaming video online of their speakers. You can check the schedule to see who is speaking now and the rest of the day.  If you missed some of the big names who spoke yesterday or earlier today, they have the CPAC 2011 speeches archived online and easy to view.  

Much of the talk around the speakers at CPAC is of course on GOP Presidential hopefuls.  Many of potential contenders are speaking and tonight the more than 11,000 conference attendees will cast their vote in a GOP Presidential straw poll.  The results of the straw poll, which should be released early Saturday, will put the Presidential spotlight on one Conservative extremely early in the 2012 election cycle.  

Of the speakers at CPAC 2011, there are a few of my favorite conservatives such as Paul Ryan and Rick Santorum; several GOP Presidential hopefuls such as Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney; rising GOP stars: Michele Bachmann, Chris Christie and John Thune; fellow Texans: Rick Perry and Ron Paul; and newcomer to the conservative movement Donald Trump, whose speech mentioning a potential Presidential run whipped the media into a frenzy yesterday.

With enough speeches to fill two full days at a podium, there is somebody for almost every right leaning American.  One of my favorite conservative politicians Paul Ryan, R-WI gave a solid speech yesterday.  Ryan is a politician who speaks and acts consistently on conservative, founding principles and his 15 minute speech reflected those conservative beliefs. My favorite moments of Paul Ryan's CPAC speech centered around these quotes.

"If Government gets to give us our rights, that means Government can ration our rights, Government can restrict our rights...That's the crowd we've got right now....What we have is a systematic replacement of the rule of law by consent of the governed with the rule of man."

"If you believe Government should be doing more to solve every social problem, you cannot also believe in limited government.  Society’s potential problems are unlimited, so a government that would solve problems without limit must necessarily have power without limit to do it."

While most people view his primary focus as economic conservatism, he once again reminds us that economic and social conservatism go hand in hand.  

“Here’s what I’m trying to say – economic conservatism and social conservatism come from the same moral root. You can’t give up one to defend the other, and they must never be separated. There are some who believe that our problems have overrun our principles and that we need something else... But without the American idea, there is no future for freedom.”

On speaking of what to expect from the Conservative House members in 2011 leading into the 2012 election year, he said, 

"We owe you the choice, do you want that opportunity society, that limited government with the safety net, based upon the founding principles of economic liberty and individual freedom?  Or do you want the cradle to grave European style social welfare state? ... We owe you, we owe each other... to make sure that in 2012 America makes it's choice about what kind of future it wants to be."

If you have some free time this weekend, run over to http://video.cpac.org/ to catch up on the state of the American Conservative movement.  

Texas Sonogram Bill Passes First Hurdle

The Texas Senate heard testimony yesterday on Texas Senate Bill 16, commonly known as the Texas Sonogram Bill.  Filed by Houston area Senator Dan Patrick, this bill requires a woman to receive a sonogram at least 24 hours before an abortion procedure, to view the sonogram images, for the fetal development to be described during the ultrasound and to hear the baby’s heartbeat.  

The intent of this bill is to ensure women are receiving full and accurate medical information on their pregnancy before giving informed consent to an abortion.  This bill will require a woman to receive an ultrasound and have the right to view it.  The Director of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region, Dr. Scott Spear, testified, “Standard care already includes performing an ultrasound.”  However, women testified they were not permitted to view their ultrasound or strongly encouraged to not watch the sonogram before their abortion.

Opponents to the bill say the Texas Legislature is attempting to interfere in the Doctor/Patient relationship; however, this would not be the first time specialized consent would be required for a medical procedure in Texas.  They also claim this bill requiring an ultrasound would increase the cost of the abortion to the patient, yet Planned Parenthood, the State's largest abortion provider testified that performing an ultrasound before an abortion is included in the standard of care.  The patient at Planned Parenthood is already bearing the cost of the ultrasound yet rarely views it before the procedure.     In addition, there is no requirement in the bill that the ultrasound be provided at the abortion provider's office.  There are Crisis Pregnancy Centers across the state that offer free ultrasounds to pregnancy women.  And, as I posted earlier this week, there is a MCPU outside Houston's Planned Parenthood Mega Abortion Clinic whose staff provides free sonograms on the spot.  The truth is, Senator Patrick’s bill will raise the medical standard of care given to women seeking a surgical abortion.

After hearing from many concerned citizens and media outlets about a woman's right to refuse to view the sonogram or hear the heartbeat, Senator Patrick amended the wording of SB 16 to strengthen a woman’s right of refusal to view the ultrasound or hear the fetal heartbeat, but they must still be told the stage of fetal development during the sonogram. Victims of sexual assault, incest and those carrying a fetus with abnormalities can opt out of the entire process.

While the Senate has passed a Sonogram Bill in two previous legislative sessions, a sonogram bill has never had an up or down vote on the floor of the Texas House.  After 9 hours of testimony yesterday, the Senate committee passed HB16 on a 7-2 vote.  It should proceed to a vote before the entire Texas Senate next week.

Similar sonogram legislation has been filed in the Texas House and should be heard in committee in the next few weeks.  Expect much stronger opposition to this bill as it weaves its way through the House Committee Hearings.

Free Ultrasounds/Sonograms Outside Houston Abortion SuperCenter

The Houston Coalition for Life is now operating a Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Unit (MCPU) offering free ultrasounds and sonograms to abortion vulnerable women in front of Planned Parenthood of Houston's Abortion Supercenter.  With the addition of the MCPU, staffers and volunteers at Houston Coalition for Life will have the opportunity to lovingly provide choices and information to women and girls who feel they are left without a choice other than abortion.

When Planned Parenthood of Houston, now Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, unveiled the location for  the largest abortion facility in the United States and Western Hemisphere a few years ago, the Houston Coalition for Life investigated locations close by for a new Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC).  Finding no available locations for a CPC, Houston Coalition for Life, a pro-life non-profit organization dedicated to ending abortions in Houston through peaceful and legal means, started fundraising for the first Mobile Crisis Pregnancy Unit (MCPU) in the Houston area. 

A recent news report filmed outside Planned Parenthood of Houston discussing the Texas Sonogram Bill, introduced viewers to this new bus where staffers provide free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds and counseling to Houston women in crisis.  Studies show that between 70-90% of women who are shown an ultrasound of their baby choose Life for their child.  By providing free sonograms to abortion vulnerable women, these volunteers have the potential to affect the lives of thousands of unborn children a year.

With over 8,000 surgical abortions performed in Houston a year, it is reported that the new mega abortion center on the Gulf Freeway in Houston performs an average of 27 surgical abortions a day, 6 days a week.  This is roughly one third of all surgical abortions a day in Houston. This 78,000 square foot building houses surgical suites capable of performing late term abortions up to 24 weeks and serves as headquarters for 12 other Planned Parenthood clinics in the region.

The Houston Coalition for Life also organizes peaceful prayer vigils outside the abortion clinic at 4600 Gulf Freeway to not only pray for women in crisis, but to also offer loving alternatives to women approaching the clinic.

John 3:16 - A Message of Hope

A message of hope.

That's what one organization aspired to bring to over a hundred million football fans across the world. For years the phrase "John 3:16" has been seen at various NFL and college football games, displayed by fans on signs in the endzone, and on players shoes, ankle tape, sweatbands, and tattoos. When Tim Tebow wore it in his eye black at the Jan 2009 championship game, the phrase became the number one Google search for the evening.

Surprisingly, many fans don't know what John 3:16 means or represents.

To encourage fans to discover the meaning of the message, LookUp316 created a national commercial to air during Super Bowl XLV. Though the commercial does not contain any direct or audible reference God or Christ, Fox Sports rejected it on the basis that it contained "religious doctrine."



In a world obsessed with getting ahead, splurging, and overindulgence, we laughingly watch and rate Super Bowl commercials that poke fun at our desires, that falsely promise us happiness if we buy a product, that suggest our longings will be fulfilled as men objectify and hypersexualize women, and with commercials that include URLS containing the warning, "web content unrated." It's ironic that this simple message offering hope is denied from reaching people who may be struggling to find their peace or place in this world.

The LookUp316 website displays the scripture verse, then offers visitors the opportunity to read straightforward, simple answers to three basic questions we've all experienced at various points in our lives:

Why is this world not quite right?

Is there any hope?

So what can be done?

The tone of the answers doesn't support one denomination of Christianity over another. It simply offers, in a gentle way for reflection, that hope is given to the world in the message: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

LookUp316 is the creation of Fixed Point Foundation, a non-profit hoping to bridge the secular and the sacred by promoting a confident Christianity.

Planned Parenthood Demonstrates Pattern of Abuse Toward Women

On Tuesday, February 1, 2011 the pro-life youth group Live Action released a stunning undercover video showing a Planned Parenthood Director offering assistance to an alleged pimp of a underage sex trafficking ring.  In the video below, the Director advises the pimp how to circumvent state abortion laws to obtain abortions for girls as young as 15. 

At first, Planned Parenthood defended their director, calling the edited video a hoax.  In response, Live Action publicly released the unedited full-length video, which had been provided to various state and federal law enforcement officers, including the FBI and US Attorney General Eric Holder.  The next day Planned Parenthood fired the director. 

Two days later on February 3, 2011, Live Action released a second undercover video showing another Planned Parenthood Director, this time in Richmond, Virginia, also offering assistance to an alleged underage sex trafficking ring.  She also advised the alleged pimp how to get abortions in violation of the law for his prostitutes who were as young as 14 years old.  On video, the director blatantly admits they routinely do not follow the mandatory sex abuse of minors reporting laws in VA.

Planned Parenthood called this video "misleading" stating that the staff member, “reacted professionally to a highly unusual person posing as a patient.”  In the Richmond case, no one has been fired.

Today, Live Action has released three more undercover videos taken at Planned Parenthood location in Virginia.  Each video shows staff members willing to aid and abet a sex trafficking ring of underage girls.

The more than four years of Live Action undercover expose work, clearly demonstrates that women, especially underage girls, are not safe at Planned Parenthood.  There is a shocking pattern displayed in these videos that can only lead one to assume the protection of sexual predators is institutional policy within the organization.

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood Director from the Houston area, verifies this pattern as she blogged about her own personal experiences dealing with sex workers while a counselor and director with Planned Parenthood. 

"I am not proud to tell you this.  But, I feel like it is necessary.  You need to know that what you see in these videos presented by Live Action is not a rare occurrence.  It happens every day in some Planned Parenthood clinic in this country.  Pimps are sending their workers into the arms of Planned Parenthood.  Why?  Because Planned Parenthood is safe.  I don’t mean safe in a good way.  I mean safe in the worst way.  It is safe for the pimp and dangerous for the women." 

Live Action's undercover work led to investigations in ten states. "This body of visual evidence shows several
 alarming patterns of illegal Planned Parenthood activities including 
cover-up of sexual abuse of minors, the skirting of parental consent
 laws, citing unscientific and fabricated medical information to
manipulate women to have abortions, and Planned Parenthood’s
 willingness to accept donations earmarked to abort African-American
 babies."

As we wait to see if Live Action produces additional undercover videos, we are left wondering when the proper legal authorities will launch their own investigations into the actions of these Planned Parenthood clinics.  An Alabama state investigation following a 2008 Live Action undercover video resulted in a  Birmingham Planned Parenthood clinic being placed on probation for 9 legal violations.

Governor Chris Christie in New Jersey is calling for an investigation into the New Jersey Planned Parenthood clinic featured in the Feb 1^st video. This week, Gov. Christie also vetoed tax payer funding of Planned Parenthood in New Jersey for the second time. 

In response to the Live Action videos, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence  stated, “Every American should be shocked that an employee of the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X has been recorded aiding and abetting underage sex trafficking. The time to deny any and all funding to Planned Parenthood is now.”  He then urged Congress to move the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act to the floor for immediate consideration.  This Act would deny federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America.  Currently, Planned Parenthood receives more than $350 Million taxpayer dollars a year. 

As Congress looks for ways to cut back our deficit spending, urge your Congressman and Senator to start by passing the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act to stop giving your tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood of America.

**Update** LiveAction released a 6th tape of Planned Parenthood aiding an alleged underage sex trafficker on February 7, 2011.  This tape from a clinic in Bronx, NY shows a Planned Parenthood staffer advising a self professed pimp to pose as the guardian of his underage sex workers to gain abortions for non-english speaking prostitutes as young as 13, in violation of state law.

**Update** Undercover Planned Parenthood video from DC clinic released February 10, 2011 showing staffers aiding sex trafficker of minor girls.  Does the main stream media see the pattern yet?

Obamacare Ruled Unconsitutional and Void

Judge Roger Vinson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in ObamaCare, formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is unconstitutional.   This case, brought by 26 states, 2 individual citizens and the National Federation of Independent Business, is the second federal lawsuit brought against Obamacare to have found the individual mandate unconstitutional.

The 78-page order thoroughly reviewed the history, intent and case law of the Commerce Clause, which was the Administration’s Constitutional basis for the Act.  Judge Vinson’s stated, "Never before has Congress required that everyone buy a product from a private company (essentially for life) just for being alive and residing in the United States."

He went on to write, addressing the Administration’s fallback reliance on the Necessary and Proper clause; “If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain for it would be “difficult to perceive any limitation on federal power” [Lopez, supra, 514 U.S. at 564], and we would have a Constitution in name only. Surely this is not what the Founding Fathers could have intended.”

Judge Vinson is the second federal judge to find the individual mandate unconstitutional, but what makes his decision unique and extremely important, is that he then struck down the entire Obamacare Act.  Where previous versions of the Obamacare Act contained a severability clause, which would permit the law to stand even after one of it portions was struck down in court, Congress intentionally removed the severability clause from the final Act.

“Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.”

Since there was not a severability clause, the Judge concluded, “Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void.”

With this ruling, the only lawsuits against Obamacare that were decided on the merits of the case have ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional.  

As it stands now, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is void.  Without an appeal, the implementation of this bill must stop.  Some Washington insiders expect the President and his Health and Human Services Dept. to ignore this ruling and proceed with the implementation of Obamacare.  If the Administration does not file an appeal with a stay, or announce their intent to stop implementation, one of the 26 states involved in this suit must bring a contempt action against the federal government for violating a court order. 

Judge Vinson’s ruling is an important step; however, it is not the final step.  Eventually, after more legal wrangling, this case will proceed to a Circuit Court and then to the US Supreme Court for a final determination on the constitutionality of the individual mandate.  In the meantime, the House of Representatives vote last month to repeal Obamacare and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has secured signatures from all 47 Republican Senators on a Senate bill to repeal Obamacare.