Consistent praise.

One aspect about running that I love is its consistency.  You just plod along at the same pace for however long you feel like.  Most of the time you feel like being consistent and you end up going the same rate and distance every day.  It's stability built into your day, guaranteed.  Gee, you can even get the same playlist and truly feel like you're living the same hour over and over again.

Running is consistent when I'm not.  My role in a pursuit of God's calling is anything but consistent and anything but faithful.  There's so much I know I ought to do to stand for life & truth and I fail.  I really want to squish being a regular volunteer at Blueridge into my life but it keeps getting shafted for other stuff, things that are "urgent" but not as important.  It's quite difficult to serve people if you don't even know them.  

This weekend was a gift because it showed me the value of consistency.  At the Planned Parenthood on Peter's Creek Road, some consistent prayer volunteers got to see a young woman choose life and we are thankful.  At about 8:20 a.m. a car with three women drove up, they parked, they started walking into the entrance.  They saw our signs, "MAY I PRAY WITH YOU?"  They stopped.  They approached us.  Sarah, Beth, and I explained that we couldn't come to them: we only have the first 6 feet of sidewalk.  A beautiful brunette young girl was sobbing.  I just asked her, "So what's up?"  She answered, "I'm here for my abortion appointment."  We asked, "How far along are you?"  She said, "Ten weeks."  Beth pulled out a 12-week fetal model, "This is your baby in two weeks."  Sarah gave some fetal development facts, "Your baby can feel pain, has finger nails..."  

We got to explain to this girl that she had options, that she had support, and that she was beautiful.  I got to tell her, "Your baby is not a mistake.  No person a mistake and being pregnant is a good thing.  Congratulations!"  It was all we could do to not just hug her but we could tell the two women with her were excited at the change in her decision.  Sarah and I offered to run down the road to Hardee's to just grab some coffee and talk about her options.  But she decided to just go in and hear the heartbeat.  We were worried because you just never know when the pressure increases what can happen.  And at 8:40 I had to leave for a volunteer morning doing physical exams on high school athletes.  

She did hear that heartbeat.  She did get an ultrasound.  She did choose life.

I don't know all the details about the rest of the story, but I know that if we hadn't been there, hadn't been consistent, then this mommy may not have had a second thought.  She may not have chosen life and she would NOT have heard about a place where she can get FREE counseling, classes, ultrasound, and most importantly: hear she is LOVED.

This was just God doing what he does: giving hope & purpose & a reason to be faithful.  

I've seen His power.  I don't know what I should do next, but I know I have to obey because it's just too exciting not to.