Nothing

Yesterday, I was sitting in the adoration chapel as I do every Sunday. As I seem to be a creature of habit, I pulled out my rosary, my novena booklet to Mary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy (the full prayer) and a small book that I've been reading for the last few weeks, and put them all aside.  When I arrive in there, on Sundays, I just sit in the peace of the chapel and let it envelope me like a warm, receptive, blanket that eases the tensions and uplifts the soul. It is during this time, which can be anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes, I think of the people that I have promised to pray for, those that need prayer, my friends, my fellow adorers and my family. I think of my own needs too and then I get to the business of praying for all.

Yesterday, though, I found myself unable to ask God for anything for myself. The only thing I could say, and I said it out loud as I was alone in the chapel, was,

"I want for nothing."

That's right. He has already given me everything I could possibly need. With more surety, and clarity, I repeated it, and then I got down on my knees and thanked Him for every single blessing He has bestowed on me; both those that I know and those that I don't know.

Recently, I got into a discussion with someone on LinkedIn about the march for women that happened in January in the United States. The one that started the thread asked what we thought was lacking as far as women are concerned. The majority of women posted what they felt was an important issue, with most saying equal pay or health care. Being the rabble rouser that I am, instead, I posted that I thought women had it "pretty darned good" in this country. We do. A few people didn't agree with me. That's okay; they are entitled to their opinion. My opinion? They need to learn about the rest of the world out there.

1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity.
663 million people do not have access to clean water
2.4 billion people do not have access to basic toilets
7.2 billion people do not have access to basic medical care
1 billion people live with a daily income of $1.25 or less
2.2 billion live on a daily income of $2.00 or less.
33 million people, worldwide, are uprooted from their homes of which 12 million are asylum seekers and 21 million internally displaced people ( living in tents in their own countries)
200 million girls and women alive today have been mutilated
700 million women, alive today, were married under the age of 18; 250 million of those women were married before the age of 15
510 million women are illiterate, worldwide
81 years old ~ the life expectancy of a woman in the United States.
44 years old ~ the life expectancy of a woman in Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

If people open their eyes and learn about what the world is like to millions of people maybe they will see that yeah, we do have it pretty darned good. The poorest people in this country would be considered wealthy in many areas of the world.

Count your blessings.


*Statistics are from the W.H.O., the U.N. and SOS USA.

One Woman's Journey

Yes, this is the owner's blog for Glory Glory Gifts. The owner decided to share a personal experience that happened many years ago, after seeing the protests over the weekend. To some it may be heartbreaking, to other shocking or disappointing and yet others may scoff at it. It is meant to maybe open the eyes and minds of some that may have a pro-choice stance on abortion. Some may feel it doesn't belong on here, but, it is a timely issue and there should be a dialogue about it. Sometimes one voice can make a difference in a life, especially if that life is in a womb.


I wanted to share with you a quote that Fulton Sheen said about abortion and wanted to get it right, so I Googled it. The first search engine return that popped up was for Planned Parenthood. It said "Get the facts about abortion" and provided a link. When I clicked on the link a new screen popped up that said "make an appointment today." I can tell you that they have paid a rather large sum of money to gain that spot on Google.

Mahatma Ghandi said ~ "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members."

Who are the most vulnerable members? The aged, the disabled and the unborn. I would like to share an incredibly personal story in the hope that it may change one person's decision in terminating a pregnancy. I wish that I had been more educated when I was a younger woman. I wish that I had a stronger faith and knowledge about God. Yeah, I was born into the Catholic faith and taught the tenets of it, but let's face it, when you reach a certain age you can be very much swayed by society. I reached that age in the mid 70's when hedonistic ways were incredibly appealing as were drugs, rock, raunchy punk music and the sexually charged disco scenes. I fully embraced that lifestyle, with a vengeance and did it right into the 80's. I will be the first to admit that I was a very stupid girl and also quite naive. Being naive can have devastating consequences to your psyche and your soul.

In the early 80's I met a man, at a bar, and quickly fell in love with him. We got engaged and during that engagement I got pregnant. It wasn't a healthy relationship. Instead it was built on lies, manipulation, emotional and verbal abuse and toward the end of it, physical abuse as well. When you are with someone like that it beats you down. You lose yourself in the relationship and make choices based on someone else rather than what you want. He didn't want it.  I didn't want to lose him so I had an abortion. I am ashamed to write that. The decision still weighs on my heart heavily, but I take full responsibility for my actions. It was my body and therefore ultimately "my choice".  Afterward I didn't get out of bed for a week. I cried almost the entire time. When God is absent from your life it is very easy to convince yourself that it doesn't matter because it is basically a zygote, or a parasite that can't live outside of you anyway. Those were my two fall back excuses that I used during the week afterward.

In all these years I have only told 2 people about it. One was a friend that also had one; the other was a priest who I was moved to speak with 13 years ago. Abortion isn't something you openly discuss with your friends or relatives, at least it wasn't for me.

I had started my journey back to my faith, and God, in the late 90's. Though I had sat in church during all of my sinful years, I never had an open heart to it. It was just someplace I had to be on Sundays because that was what we were taught as kids. I now know that my decisions broke Jesus' heart because it broke mine. Around that time in the 90's,  I completely surrendered myself to God. It was a long, windy, road but it was well worth it. After all, Jesus came to save the souls of the sinners not the saints. I know that He has forgiven me. The hard part is forgiving myself. I will atone for that one act for all the days of my life.

When I made my decision to get rid of my baby, little did I know that he or she had a beating heart. It's limbs were starting to form as was its mouth, tongue, vocal cords and face. It wasn't a zygote or a parasite, it was a human being. It was a part of me. Had I known that, I would never have gotten out of bed again. Maybe, I would have changed my decision.

Though I don't know if it was going to be a son or a daughter, my baby has a name.  That baby's name is Hope. I pray every day that I will one day hold Hope in my arms if I make it into paradise. He or she is waiting with two others that, though I longed for them, God had other plans. They have names as well.

It is my hope that by sharing my story that I change one mind. There are other options. Educate yourself if you are faced with a decision. Make God a part of your decision. Make prayer a part of it too.

Yesterday marked the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. As of the date of the pro-life march in 2016, 58 million babies have been aborted (the number has grown substantially since then). Mine was one of them. There are 126,000 of them, worldwide, every day. Those are shameful statistics.  There is no such thing as being pro-choice. Stopping a beating heart is murder. Please do not make the same mistake that I made.

Had the March for Women (that was held over the weekend) been held in the 70's, I would have marched with them in solidarity for choice. I have would have worn those ridiculous hats and held a placard. Instead, now I stand with the silenced voices of the babies, including my own. Choose life.