Respect Life from Conception to Natural Death

Good morning out there! I've been re-sharing many of my posts from years past.
I came across this poem I wrote a while back -

"Once upon a time, in the world we live in today,

there was a lady whose hair was beginning to turn gray.

 She had a great big smile with dimples on each side.

Her love of life shone through her smiling eyes.

She felt so very blessed, 

with so much love in her heart.

The gift that God had given her - to share stories from her heart.

The words would come to her as she sat down and prayed

Typing on her keyboard day after day.

Sometimes she wondered, "Is this really what I'm to do?"

She would pray and she would listen

 and there would be a tug upon her heart.

A tug that softly says - the words will come - don't depart.

These stories you tell, are a message the world needs today.

So she sat down at her desk and began to type once more.

Listening ever so intently to the calling of our Lord."

I would have gray hair if I didn't visit the beauty shop every now and then!
There are days when I feel like I've said it all and I ask myself if there is anything
more I can say. Some days the words don't come to me and I look back at all the
stories I've written before. I think that sometimes I have so much to say that I don't
know where to start. I wonder if I can make sense of all the feelings that are so
strong in my heart. The following scripture comes to my mind:

2 Corinthians 5:7

We walk by faith, not by sight.

On Thursday, January 10th, I was blessed to share my pro-life message with the
RCIA Class at Sacred Heart. The core part of my message was that we need to
respect life from conception through natural death. I get pretty animated when I speak.
I walk back and forth and my hands are this way and that way - sometimes I make
people laugh (especially when I share my, "You might be Catholic if" stories) and
sometimes the truth of what I say will bring tears to your eyes (and mine too). I talk
about my adoption story and how thankful I am for my life. I share pictures of my
children and grandchildren because I want people to understand that adoption saves
generations. The grim reality on the other hand is that abortion ends generations.
I shared a story about my father this time - it's the first time I've spoken about it
publicly. The story is about respecting life until natural death.
I have to tell you this - when I sat down today I really wasn't sure what I was going to
write about and I'm constantly amazed at the words, the memories that God places
on my heart. So...let me tell you a story:


If you've read the stories from my blog you know that my mother died when I was twelve.
My dad was the sweetest man and he took such good care of my mom, she had cancer
and was sick for a long time. When I moved away from home, got married and was
blessed with a family of my own, my dad would come and visit.
He would go and visit my brother and his family and then come and stay with us.
I have so many memories of him being with us. He would sit at the bar in the kitchen
and chop onions and peel potatoes for me when I was cooking. He liked to watch TV and
in the fall he would shell pecans for me as he watched the football games. He would run
errands with me and we had the best visits - always talking! My dad developed
Alzheimer's in his later years. He had stopped calling me by name about three years
before he died. He recognized me but whether he realized I was his daughter or not I
don't know. I cherish our visits. He lived in a nursing home for the last year and a half
of his life. I would go and see him and put an old movie on - we loved watching
John Wayne Westerns and old war movies. Our favorite John Wayne movie was,
"McClintock." Jim would always buy candy bars before he would stop in to see dad.
He loved seeing his great grandchildren, his eyes would light up.
My brother and his wife would come and visit and he was always so happy to see
everyone. I don't know who dad remembered or if he remembered that we were his
children. The point I stressed was that whether my dad remembered who I was or not,
I knew who he was - he was my sweet dad and I will always be thankful for the time
I spent with him.

Respect Life from Conception to Natural Death

Blessings to you and yours,

Bye for now, Sharla