The Pro-Life Woman

These first three weeks as a Missionary for Life I have had the great pleasure of getting to know the organization The Susan B. Anthony List and some of the wonderful people who work there. Founded in the spirit of Susan B. Anthony, a suffragist who herself spoke of abortion as "child murder", the organization has inspired me the most in this short time but its mission statement that describes itself as "dedicated to election candidates and pursuing policies that will reduce and ultimately end abortion".

on the job!

 The mission statement does not just stop there, though, but goes on to say "the SBA List will emphasize the election, education, promotion, and mobilization of pro-life women" (sba-list.org).  As a pro-life woman, this is something that really got me thinking. I investigated further and found out that this extensive support of pro-life women stems from the idea that the pro-life woman is the ideal candidate to engage in the fight for the unborn. In a media environment where it oftentimes feels as if women are portrayed as the victims of pregnancy, the unfortunate group of people who must deal with the child growing inside of them and a class of people that can only be portrayed as strong if they are avid supporters of their right to kill this child.

The SBA List, however, gives women a chance to speak out for themselves, to cease letting politicians and analysts and media reporters speak for us in ways that simply evade the truth. In my first few days of research I came across in many different fact sheets and newsletters the breakdown between men and women's opinions on different pro-life issues. While the media and the opposition might like to have us think we as pro-life women are all alone in this fight, they are wrong. So many times women felt more strongly towards pro-life measures and against an aggressive right to abortion. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would limit abortions to before 20-weeks (5 months!) has been used by our opponents as an example of the "war on women", however last week I found out that this supposed act of the "war on women" was supported even more by women than by men!  By supporting these pro-life women politicians who understand this, SBA List is allowing the real voice of women to be heard- the voices of women who don't think their fellow sisters should be cornered into having an abortion, who think that these children deserve a chance, many of whom understand just how the miracle of a preborn child growing within transforms a life.

After spending this time with the wonderful staff and interns at SBA List, I hope that I, too can gain courage from their bold support of pro-life women in Congress and learn from those they support so I can bolster my own strength as a pro-life woman fighting for the rights of the preborn. 

"The Universe is Unfolding as it Should"

"...whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."
                                                 - Max Ehrmann's "Desiderata"

Many of the things I want to talk about the next few weeks in my blog are stories of events and moments that touched me during my SSLP. The Summer Service Learning Program at ND, for those who don't know, is an 8-week service internship program that is coordinated through the different clubs of Notre Dame. I was blessed enough to spend 8 weeks in beautiful Southern California at Casa Teresa, a home for pregnant women. Before I delve into some of the life-changing experiences that I was blessed enough to take part in at Casa and what these experiences have revealed to me about God and myself, I think it's appropriate to talk about how I got here.

                From the moment I set foot on campus last August, I was stressed out about this summer. After spending the entire three months working at Panera, slicing up bagels and serving smoothies here in St. Louis, I felt a little pressured hearing some of my classmates talk about some of the life-changing experiences they experienced both across the country and even the world. Being somewhat impatient and having an extreme dislike of things being unresolved, I wanted to get ahead of the upcoming summer so that I, too, could have a summer that really made an impact. So a few weeks in, when I began seeing flyers and hearing from dormmates about a Christ-centered week-long experience for high schoolers held at Notre Dame that was in need of small group mentors, I eagerly made my way to the info meeting. After hearing testimonies of lives changed, imagining a summer spent at my favorite place on earth, seeing many friends there who were also interested, calculating just how much I'd make and figuring out I'd still have lots of extra time to visit my grandparents and cousins and even lounge at the pool, I eagerly signed up for an interview and called my mom walking back, telling her how I found "the absolute perfect thing for me to do that summer" and would stop worrying this instant.

                Fast forward one completed application, a seemingly-successful interview, two acceptance letters for two of my best friends, and finally one rejection letter landing in my inbox on a blustery day at home for fall break. I was so confused and angry. Why wouldn't I get this? I was so excited... it seemed so perfect for me. Was God not aware of my plans? If so, then why was he thwarting them? Here I had gone and found the perfect opportunity for me- didn't he want me to have it?

                Many of these questions about the future brought me back to a quote from a poem that a good friend once told me to help calm some of my freshman homesickness and fear. She told me to take a deep breath and try to put my faith into the fact that God has a plan and "the universe is unfolding as it should." This quote has stuck with me since that day early freshmen year, and I reflected back on it as I cried that I wouldn't be a part of this program. I wrote in my journal that night "If I profess that I believe everything is unfolding as it should, I need to live it. That means accepting that I didn't get this opportunity even though I thought it would be perfect; apparently God wanted me elsewhere". From that moment on I swore that I wouldn't stop trying to find something that inspired me for this summer, but I would stop trying to control the summer, and instead give it up. I swore that night that I would do just that- give up control with the firm belief that "whatever God has in store for me isn't a back-up plan, it's what I was meant to do from the beginning".

                For months I tried my hardest to depend on this trust, even though it was challenging sometimes to watch my friends attend meetings and groups while I still was in dark about my plans. As I looked back on this journal entry the other day after I'd returned home from CA, it made me smile because I fully credit my life-changing summer experience at Casa to this one choice to trust in God's plan for me. Now as I look back on my time at Casa as one that was so beautiful and so perfect that it could not have been planned by anyone other than God HImself, my trust is even more strengthened. Starting my junior year, with no clear idea of what I want to do with my life, or even after graduation, I will take this example with me and bring it forth every time I am skipped over for that "perfect job", miss the deadline for that "perfect internship" or am crying over what surely was the "perfect boyfriend".  Because if I have to choose between my chaotic attempt to plan out my entire life or the beautiful life God has planned for me, I'm pretty sure I know which I choose.