The Skains Family

"I had deep within me the inability to do nothing"- Colonel Joshua Chamberlain

With headline after headline of disturbing abortion laws being passed and even now going as far as not protecting a baby actually born alive during an abortion, I don't know about you but I am feeling just a little defeated. Morality is looking to be nonexistent and the lives of  the most innocent hang in the balance. I believe now is the time we get off the bench, as Heidi St John loves to say, and start using this life to fight for morality, to fight for the sake of every heart out there who doesn't understand the unfailing never stopping love of Jesus! There is no greater cause!

Here's the thing...I am just a girl who grew up in a normal loving christian home. I have no story regarding abortion in my past and I honestly have lived a pretty complacent christian life for the majority of my life.  Yes of course I've had ups and downs, some wounds that I've had to recover from just like everyone else.  I'm a homeschool mom to five kiddos now which will always be my first priority and ministry outside of my marriage to Jeffrey.  Goodness it takes a lot to run a household of 7 people!   But somewhere along my journey God put in me a desire and fire to fight for women and babies and families with every ounce of who I am. See, God can use anyone, He's just looking for someone to say "yes, I'll do it Lord!".

God truly broke my heart years ago, back when I was just a young 10/11 year old girl, for the babies that were losing their lives, some in such horrific ways it's hard to even talk about. Somewhere along the way though,  He began turning my heart to see this hurting, scarred woman on the other side. The one who chose to abort and now lives with paralyzing guilt and shame, or the one who is stuck in a scary situation feeling hopeless and in no way feels ready to parent, or the one who chose adoption for her baby but it still left a whole in her heart, or the one who was trapped in the very real sex trafficking industry being forced to abort.  My eyes were opened to every one of those girls.  I came to a place where I realized I couldn't ignore "her" any longer. My heart became so wrecked by the injustice of abortion, by the very real scar it leaves in men and women,  that I could no longer sit on the bench and live complacently and pretend I knew nothing anymore!!  I knew God stirred a deep passion within me and I began praying so hard for direction.

I remember seeing a picture one day, of a line out the door of a Houston abortion clinic of several women waiting for their abortion appointments. Later finding out that this clinic performs around 50 abortions every day! In ONE clinic in a city that is FULL of clinics. And where was the outcry?!? My heart broke and we knew we had to do our part! Then in 2014 God did something amazing and He breathed the same dream into my heart and Jeff's heart... to begin fundraising for a Save the Storks Bus for Houston, so that we could then help a local Pregnancy Center launch a new part of their ministry through Save the Storks.  We hit the ground running and God provided in some incredible and unforgettable ways! We are actually still in the middle of this journey and have had the awesome opportunity to raise $115,000, but we are still just waiting for the next chapter, for God to reveal to Jeff and I our next steps. We know He gave us this dream, we know it was only through Him we were able to raise anything so we are fully trusting Him right now, that He will direct our path.

We can hate abortion and injustice with all of our might but until we are so disturbed and so broken for these hurting women and broken families that we decide to stand up and get off the bench, our anger is just anger. Inaction is actually action! If we aren't careful we could miss having meaningful engagement in these things that God gave us a passion for.  We were never asked to sit back, be comfortable and be silent, we are actually asked to stand up and speak clearly. To GO even when it's costly. What if we chose to run to need, instead of running from it. What if we have deep inside of us the inability to do nothing!  What if we were not only at the front doors of abortion clinics but also at the back doors, ready to receive these women who feel far from worthy of love. The number of women affected by abortion is shocking and heart breaking and I have heard too many times from post abortive women, that they feel church is not a safe place to share their stories or to heal. Isn't it time we change that? Can we start offering abortion recovery in all of our churches? We can help you get started! We know the enemy desires to keep us bound in hurt and shame and guilt, because when we truly walk in forgiveness and freedom this is where we can become unstoppable!

Almost a year ago, three of our girls started Tae Kwon Do, a journey that has led them to so much needed confidence.  A couple of weeks ago the girls, along with my son and Jeff, competed in their very first tournament. As you can imagine this came with many emotions and nerves, especially in the girls of the family! Our sweet 11 year old Aubrey was especially nervous and only wanted to compete in two events that came rather easy to her. Just a couple of days before though, all on her own she changed her mind and decided that even though she was very scared that she would compete in combat. Even just at that I was super proud of her. Doing something scared is never easy, especially when you're an 11 year old girl! At the tournament the other three kids competed and they each walked away with a medal. Aubrey was the last one in the family to compete. As the competition began in her ring of girls, we quickly noticed that these girls were way bigger than Aubrey and way stronger, and seemed to be in Tae Kwon Do way more than a year.  My momma heart began to panic knowing everyone else in the family is going home with a medal. She went through the first two parts of the competition doing her best which was amazing, but no medal. She then gets to the combat round, the exact round she did not at all want to compete in. But she went out there ready and facing  a girl much taller and much bigger than her, and guess what?!?! She won that round! You could probably hear me yelling all across the room! That first win put her in the finals. She went up for combat again, and this sweet girl who honestly didn't understand much about combat went and focussed and did her best EVEN though she was terrified and my sweet strong confident girl walked away with a medal for third place in combat! What?!?! To say I was proud is a huge understatement, and it wasn't because of that medal she received. It was because she did it scared, no matter the cost, no matter what anyone thought of her. She went out there and proved she was one courageous girl!

What if more of us showed that kind of courage that Aubrey did.  What if God has stirred something in our hearts but we are too terrified to move because of all of the unknowns. When was the last time you did something scared for the glory of God? Is God calling you to get off the bench, to not be silent any more, to take a stand and get out of your comfort complacent zone. Here's the thing... life is but a vapor. Here today, gone tomorrow. What are you going to do with that vapor? What is God pressing on your heart today that is eternal?

There have been times that I have wished for my heart and my mind to focus on just normal things, for my heart to stop being wrecked over and over by injustices, but honestly I tell God all the time how thankful I am that He put this in me. Because you know what it's made me do? It's made me step out in faith to do my part while I  wait expectantly trusting that God will do His. He never fails, the battle is His so we can take a risk! Those who change the world are those who see a need and decide to do something about it, not waiting for somebody else to do it. Let's be world changers and go all in for Jesus, because life is but a vapor and there is a hurting world who just need to know the saving grace and love of Jesus Christ.

"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are" - Benjamin Franklin

Romans 12:12-13
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need.