Give Food to The Hungry, Be a Voice for the Weakest Among Us, Be Thankful for Your Family!

Hello out there - I hope you are all doing well! The sun is shining and it's not too windy,
and it is a beautiful day! I haven't had the time to sit and write! I have so much to
share and I know that I will not be able to remember everything. This is what I'm
going to do: I will just start telling you about whatever pops into my mind first. That
means nothing will be in order and it will probably be one of my crazy posts!


Hooray, Hooray - The St. Francis Sack Lunch Ministry opened it's doors on
Monday, January 22, 2018. All of our volunteers/friends have been so excited and
we have had plenty of help! The men who bought and delivered water to us before,
arrived bright and early on our first day with several cases of water! The wonderful
group who has donated supplies to us in the past (The Good Samaritans of
San Angelo) went shopping and delivered most of what we need for at least  2-3 weeks!
We have only had to buy bread, lunch meat, and cheese so far! Several people have
donated different items and we are so grateful and thankful for everyone's generosity!
The people we used to serve are slowly but surely finding us at our new location and
they are spreading the word. We pray that God will send those in need to our open
door!


I was blessed to be able to go to Austin and participate in the Texas Rally for Life
and Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day on Saturday, January 27, 2018. Jim was not able
to go with me this year because he had to work and I almost stayed home - I'm so
glad that I didn't! I called one on my best friends who now lives in Austin and
I picked her up and we had a great day! There were several people from San Angelo
and the surrounding areas in Austin and I just knew that there would be an article
in Sunday's newspaper - much to my dismay - there was not. I wrote a letter to the
editor of the paper and explained my grievance. They had printed several articles
about the women's march and included pictures also. I told them that pro-life events
need to be printed as well.
The following is the last paragraph from my letter to the editor:

"My point is this; conservative, pro-life people of all ages exist and we are very active

 in our communities, in politics, in everyday ordinary life events, and we vote.

 I took so many pictures yesterday and the joyful, smiling, life minded youth and people

of all ages grab your heart. I posted my pictures on my Facebook page and you can bet

that most of the people that were there did the same thing.

The media seems to ignore us, hoping that we will just quietly go away.

Please let your editors know that we are out here whether they give us coverage or not –

we are here, our voices are strong and loud, we care about the sanctity of human life

from conception to natural death, and we are not backing down."

I received a very nice reply from the editor and she invited me to write about my

experience and submit some pictures of the youth for the Viewpoints Section for

the upcoming Thursday's edition. Bless her heart, she had no idea who she was

asking to write a column! I immediately replied that , "Yes," I would love to!

I knew that I wanted the pictures of the youth with their big joyful smiles to go with

the article and then I had an idea. I knew that the Holy Spirit was telling me to not

only submit their picture, but to include their experience - their stories! And let

me tell you - things just took off from there! I'm going to post the link but some

of you may not be able to read the article online so I'm going to copy and paste all

of it for you. The newspaper worked really well with us and our pictures and  our

stories were published - our voices were heard!

The following is the link for the online story:
http://www.gosanangelo.com/story/opinion/readers/2018/01/31/austins-anti-abortion-rally-life-uplifting-experience-san-angelo-marchers/1081539001/


This is the final draft I submitted to the newspaper: (You will love the youth's stories,
their perspectives, what the experience meant to them.)

The Texas Rally for Life and Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day 2018 were held in Austin on Saturday, January 27th. I drove to Austin and met up with one of my friends and we went to the Mass for the Gift of Human Life at San Jose Parish (we sat in the balcony because it was so crowded). I wish you could have heard the children’s choir, their voices were angelic. The Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day has grown so much that they now celebrate Mass at two different parishes.  The other Pro-Life Mass was held at the St. Louis Parish. After Mass, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then drove to where the march was going to begin. They had a Ministry Fair at 12:00 p.m. and then the March for Life to the south steps of the Texas State Capitol began at 1:00 p.m. I love seeing the youth; their smiling faces, the signs they carry (many homemade) the joyful atmosphere gives me hope for our future. This is the third march and rally I’ve attended in Austin and I’m still amazed at how uplifting the experience is. This was my friends first time and she loved it! It’s wonderful to see so many people from different ages, races, ethnicities, and religious organizations and people from all across our big state of Texas and beyond marching peacefully together. The positive atmosphere is because we all believe in the sanctity of human life. We may have different reasons that motivate us; but the one thing we all have in common is that we are pro-life! Why do we march? The answers to that question are below.

 This is my reason: I was blessed to have been adopted at birth. I want people to know that there is a life option out there. My husband and I promote adoption for the human babies, the weakest and most innocent among us. I know how important one life really is and the impact that one life can make. We have the most beautiful picture of “life” in our home. This picture tells a story; it is a picture of three generations; it includes me, my son and his five children, and my daughter and her three children. We are in the front yard of our family home (some sitting and some standing – there are eleven of us) with our big oak tree in the background. The caption above the picture says “Adoption Saves Generations.” To get the full impact of this, I have to tell you about the other picture that was taken. We all stepped away and the next picture shows only the bench, the rocking chair, and our big oak tree and nothing else. The caption above this picture says “Without me, this is what you would see.” Talk about emptiness – that picture gives you a sick feeling because it is a stark reminder of what abortion truly does – it ends lives, generations of lives. It destroys families, it hurts women and men, just talk to one person who regrets their abortion and that conversation will break your heart and remain in your memory forever.

 I am honored to share the following stories from some of the youth and one of the sponsors from San Angelo that were also in Austin on Saturday. Each person’s experience is so unique and their perspectives are all powerful.

  “I want to protect babies; I marched for them, prayed to God, and showed my sign to everyone there. I wanted to show them that abortion is horrible. The Mass at St. Louis of France was great-I like that there were so many priests and the church was pretty. The walk was long, and I was tired, but I wanted to do it to save the babies. I was speaking for them. At the rally, the governor gave a really good speech. He said that we were doing good and that Texas is the most pro-life state. He talked about his daughter, who he adopted. If I can, I want to go again next year.”  (Tabitha – 6th grade)

“My experience at the March for Life in Austin was extraordinary and eye opening!    It’s amazing to see just how many Pro-life supporters there are.  In my small community everyone believes as I do but as I looked around I realized that we weren’t the only ones!  The number of people from all walks of life…young and old…of all faiths… marching side by side in peace.  The sheer number of people my age was amazing!  Seeing this gives me hope that one day my generation will abolish abortion.   Even though we don’t know who these babies were, who they could’ve been, or their background…we were marching for them because they didn’t get to live the lives they deserved and I felt the love from these babies as we marched. These babies could have been the person who cured cancer…the president who figured out world peace…the next pope…a person that we could look up to and have faith in. This could’ve been the spouse of my own child…the spouse that God had created for them. The highlight came from the speakers…our Texas leaders…who are determined to fight for the unborn…to maintain the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death!  Governor Abbott and prolife leaders are here to create and promote a culture of life.   We are Prolife…WE ARE Pro-love!!”                                                                              (Samantha – St. Mary’s Catholic Church in San Angelo)

“Attending the Pro-life March for the first time was nothing like I expected it to be. In my mind, I was picturing yelling and spitting but there was nothing but love. The whole phrase, pro-life = pro-love made sense at that very moment. There we were, marching for a purpose. You could feel the empowerment flowing through the air. There was no end or start to the community that we came together that day to make. Through- out the day one question was asked a lot. "Why do you March?" And I really couldn't find an answer. I could never find the right words to explain such a hard feeling, until now. I marched for the ones who didn't even get a chance to crawl. (Serena – St. Mary’s Catholic Church in San Angelo)

“Making our way to the capitol steps we are met with a crowd of pro-choice protesters. Initially our 1st time attendees might be timid about yelling, chanting and praying with the group, but as soon as our students see this group, my heart is filled with pride as our young students yell at the top of their lungs  "WE ARE...THE PRO-LIFE GENERATION!!!!" For the past 4 years we've taken our Confirmed Faithful Class to the Texas Rally for Life and every year I'm amazed to see their "ah ha" moment.”   "Pro-life means Pro-Love"                                                                                                           (Lisa – Catechist – St. Mary’s Catholic Church in San Angelo – Confirmed Faithful)

“I wanted to show my support for the pro-life movement; I believe that abortion is immoral and that there are better alternatives, such as adoption. This year, the crowd was mostly young people; teenagers and college age adults like me. The media is skewed and does not accurately tell about us.” (Max – ASU student) 

I want to close with one more story – “Once upon a time fifty or so years ago, a baby girl was born and she needed a home. Never knowing the circumstances or the reasons why, her birth mother couldn’t keep her, she had to say goodbye. This baby girl was three days old when a loving family came and took her to their home, now this baby girl had a family of her own. With love and joy and happiness this baby girl grew up, she never met a stranger and her heart was so full of love. She loved to hear the stories about her special day, the day her family came and gave her their name.”  Yes, that baby girl was me and I’m so thankful for my life and the lives of my children and grandchildren and the generations that will come and that is “Why I March.”

They printed it all - except for a few words! They also published the pictures and there was one of the youth that was in color!

I wrote back to the editor and thanked her - telling her that they went above and beyond what I expected!

Well y'all - I think that is enough for this post! Have a wonderfully, blessed day!

                                                                                      Bye for now, Sharla

Oh! This is super important - our oldest grandchild who also happens to be our oldest grandson turned 12 last week! We had his birthday dinner and celebration at our home on Tuesday evening! Lots of food, fun, and fellowship! The cousins always have a great time together and the adults do too! Jim and I watched as our children and grandchildren drove away and when we walked back inside he said, "We are so blessed!" Yes, we are - I love the laughter that fills our home - our home is full of life and love and I pray that wherever you are, near or far, your home is too!