by Hans Johnson

Jim Garlow, the senior pastor of San Diego’s Skyline Church, learned something this fall that had him especially incensed, being the father of four adopted children. On December 1 he fired off an email to his congregation:

I apologize for bringing bad news. This is shocking … and repulsive. As of last Aug. 22, our California state government (not Obamacare, this is the state) has required all insurance policies to cover elective abortions. This includes us as a church. We – along with other churches and Christian colleges – are protesting this coercive and intrusive action by filing formal protests against this abusive action. I will be speaking on this topic this week in Washington, D.C., at a special hearing at which we are strongly urging the federal government to step in immediately and pass the ‘Abortion Non-Discrimination Act.’ Pray for me as I speak. And pray for Congress to act – now.

Garlow is grateful to the birth mothers of his children, especially that of his first, Janie Garlow McGarity (on the right in photo). After her adopted mother died of cancer last year, she searched for her birth mother and found she had been the result of a gang rape.

In honor of the courage of these mothers, it is hoped a new Congress and Senate will make sure that states are unable to make an end-around of hard-fought-for restrictions on Obamacare.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/YAl29T3OE_E[/youtube]

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by Kelli

The Jackson Women’s Health Organization is already a dazzling pink, and clinic owner Diane Derzis and clinic director Shannon Brewer-Anderson have invested a lot of time, resources and thought into making the clinic feel safe and welcoming to the women they serve. But the clinic is surrounded by a wide fence to keep out a regular collection of protesters. And in order to provide additional protection and privacy to patients and the people who work there, the fence is woven through with a thick black tarp.

The impression from outside is something like the clinic is caught inside a massive garbage bag.

~ Katie McDonough, describing abortion supporters’ efforts in beautifying abortion facilities, Salon.com, December 26

[Photo by Debbie Elliot via feministing.com]

by Kelli

From Boredom Therapy comes the emotional story of a mother who lost her baby boy in the last few days of her term… and what happened when a man discovered her story:

Valarie Watts’ baby Noah was developing well for most of the duration of her pregnancy. Then, in the final few days of her term, something happened. She could feel that he wasn’t moving much and was very worried. After labor, she realized the tragic truth: her son was stillborn.

Even though she was never able to meet her baby boy, Valarie still had his crib and nursery put together….

Valarie didn’t want to sell his crib, but knew she needed to. Gerald Kumpula purchased the crib when he saw it at a garage sale. When Gerald discovered the story behind the crib, he knew what he had to do.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/4RBcWhSAKg0[/youtube]

Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.

[HT: Susie Allen]

by Carder

We expect more from moms than dads, which is why Wonder having a baby at 64 doesn’t cause anyone to bat an eye. But it should. I think there should be a cut-off age for dads, just as there is for moms. I think there’s a reason that women’s reproductive organs have a shelf life: We should have children younger. It is mother nature’s way of saying: “Look, you need energy and stamina to raise kids. Do it when your body can recover and your mind can handle it.”

It’s tragic that women struggle to conceive in their 40s while men can procreate at almost any age, but just because men can doesn’t mean they should.

~ Suzanne Janesse chastising 64-year old R&B singer Stevie Wonder for fathering his ninth child, Babble, December 20

Blast from the past: Wonder’s 1976 hit “Isn’t She Lovely” celebrating the birth of his daughter Aisha…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVvkjuEAwgU[/youtube]

Good morning, and Happy Sunday! Here were my top five favorite political cartoons this week. Be sure to vote for your fav in the poll at the bottom of this post!

by Gary Varvel at Townhall.com…

 by Walt Handelsman at GoComics.com…

 by Glenn McCoy at Townhall.com…

 by Ken Catalino at Townhall.com…

 by Matt Davies at GoComics.com…

]

Here’s the fourth in the repeat of my Sunday series during the month of December on the fascinating abolitionist history behind some of our most beloved Christmas hymns. Pro-lifers identify closely with those 150 years ago who fought to free another oppressed class of people. (Also see Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “O Holy Night,”) and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”) This week…

“O Little Town of Bethlehem”

Episcopalian Pastor Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) was so outspoken in his opposition to slavery and support of the North he was asked to preach the funeral eulogy of slain President Abraham Lincoln.

“That solemn honor, in tandem with leading the congregation of Philadelphia’s Holy Trinity Church through the bloody years of the Civil War, had taken its toll,” writes author Ace Collins in his book, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas. “Worn out and badly needing a spiritual rebirth, Brooks took a sabbatical… to tour the Middle East.”

On Christmas Eve 1865, compelled to escape the crowds, Brooks rode alone by horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and spent several hours during the night in worship, prayer, and contemplation.

Preparing for a Christmas Eve service 3 years later, Brooks recalled his experience and wrote the poem we now know as “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” His church organist, Lewis Redner, set it to music.

The Phillips Brooks House still stands at Harvard University, dedicated to the Harvard grad in 1900.

Verse 4…

Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessed Child,
Where Misery cries out to Thee,
Son of the Mother mild;
Where Charity stands watching,
And Faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.

[T]he majority of people of faith, and the majority of Christians support legal access to abortion. And so they wrap their anti-choice ideology in something that sounds warm and fuzzy.

The Christian tradition says that Jesus advised his disciples to, ‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you dressed like sheep, but inside they are vicious wolves. You will know them by their fruit.’

~ Reverend Harry Knox (pictured above right), leader of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, as quoted by LiveActionNews.org, December 25

The end of the year offers a great opportunity to reflect as well as make new goals. In that vein, here’s an interesting story in Wimp.com:

Willard Asylum for the Insane, located in New York, was built in 1869. Patients had an average stay of 30 years, and many who came to the hospital never left. Eventually the site was abandoned, until, in 1995, an incredible discovery was made in the attic…

Over 400 suitcases, each packed with the belongings of people who lived and died decades ago, were found. Each one is a tiny time capsule of the lives they lived before being committed….

Many of these people had been abandoned by their families. When they died, they were buried in unmarked graves, and their belongings were packed away and forgotten.

Photographer Jon Crispin has spent the last few years breathing life back into these abandoned suitcases and memories by documenting the bags and their contents in a series of incredible photos.

He said: “It’s such compelling stuff. These people were essentially prisoners inside. Their families largely abandoned them. They gave them a suitcase and had them committed. Looking at these suitcases, you just get the idea that that these people really had lives outside before they went to Willard.”

Each story haas a unique story to tell…. Although some are melancholy, others are bursting with personality.

If you had to pack one suitcase to describe your life, what would it contain?

I thought that was a great question! What would your life’s suitcase contain?