The other day I was at a local church for a women’s conference. My friend Thomas had put this event together…I met Thomas through friends because we both love life, talking about life and Thomas has really poured his heart and his God-given skills into helping get the truth out about abortion and it’s affects of women, men and those around all of us. At some point during the 3 hours this lady spoke, Thomas had made a trip to the bathroom and found something that could CHANGE people’s lives that have been affected by abortion in some way…it could change the people’s lives who have been silent, afraid or too ashamed to voice what they are going through. After the lady wrapped up her talk and everybody began to say their goodbyes and leave, Thomas came up to me. He said “Claire, you have got to see what I found in the men’s bathroom.” After giving him a strange look to say the least, he pulled out his phone and zoomed in on a picture he had taken. It was a picture of a flyer about ABORTION RECOVERY (IN THE MEN’S BATHROOM- IM NOT PREACHING TO THE CHOIR- MEN ARE AFFECTED TOO!) someone had hung up inside the men’s stalls, where nobody can see what theyre reading, why theyre reading it, if they write a number down or take one of the slips of paper available. It was hidden in a very private place but it was there and it was available. AND EVERY SINGLE SLIP OF PAPER HAD BEEN TAKEN! I didn’t go into the women’s bathroom to see if they were hanging in there too but I’m sure they were…but my point is, there are SO many men and women sitting out there, sitting in the pews of our churches, who have never felt like they could share what they have done. Our country and our church is so SILENT about the issue of abortion and the recovery of abortion that when people face the aftermath of abortion- depression, feeling the loss of their child, shame, guilt, etc- they feel as though they have to be silent too. WHAT IF we put up flyers like this in every bathroom stall we went into- WHAT IF men and women could save a number to call or grab a little flyer without anybody seeing them and could FIND HEALING that they may or may not have ever received if they hadn’t found a way to seek help in privacy. The first step to seeking help is HARD, its embarrassing, its humbling and most of us, myself included (on many issues even though I haven’t had an abortion), would probably prefer to seek help without everyone around us knowing. THIS IS A WAY PEOPLE CAN GET HELP when they may never have!!!

I am going to be talking to some groups, getting ideas and coming up with a flyer for all of us to put up anywhere around your city. I recommend you put them in the bathroom stalls but also put them other places you go; you never know who is going to walk into the same door you did and see that flyer and know it’s time to ask for it.

God bless each and every one of you in your fight and I look forward to what God is going to do through this!

*will update when the flyer is ready.

“In this world you will have trouble but take heart, I have overcome it.” –Jesus

Throughout my journey of sharing my story across the country and actively being an advocate for the unborn and their families, I have experienced something like never before. I have always heard of “spiritual warfare” and believed it when Jesus said “the world will hate you because of me” and that Satan wants to destroy anything and everything that is done for the kingdom of heaven….I knew all of that in my head but I never experienced it until I began my journey down this road.

I consider it an honor to be fighting for something that was made in the IMAGE of God, beautifully and wonderfully. And by God’s grace, He is always faithful in the end….but let me tell you, Satan DOES NOT want my voice to be heard or any voice that is going to defend and protect life. When life is protected, Christ is glorified, Christ is victorious over death and Satan is crushed. When lives are taken, Satan has a field day…

I, along with many others fighting for and defending life each day, know spiritual warfare very well. It is not our friend but seems to like to stick around. Today, like many, I am experiencing it. But the beauty in it all is that at the end of the day, no matter how hard Satan fights and no matter how hard he tries to prevent my voice from being heard or my body from being healed, CHRIST IS VICTORIOUS.

HE WAS, IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE VICTORIOUS- especially over death, even death on a cross. This is my hope and God’s promise that abortion WILL end in our world. What an amazing promise!

The suffering that we experience is only a glimpse of the suffering that He went through during his short time on earth. And our suffering helps us identify with the sacrifice and the agony that is bestowed upon us as we follow Christ’s example to reach the nations with Christ’s love, grace, forgiveness and his message of life (especially eternal life.)

Although I suffer, this is when I feel Christ is the most near. I can rejoice in that today and every day as I fight this fight. I hope you can rejoice in his promises, even the ones we don’t like (like the verse at the top!) and draw near to him because He is the ONLY person in your life (and in mine) who will ALWAYS be FAITHFUL.

When you are little, you have BIG dreams and you KNOW that they are going to come true. You know no evil and you think that the world around you is filled with good people, with good intentions, who lead good lives and in the end everything will be “GOOD.”. Am I right? At least, it was this way for me.

As I’ve grown, I’ve realized that my dreams of a good world, good people with good intentions and good all around me has been shattered. Completely shattered. In my world today, I find very few people who have completely good intentions and completely good lives. That’s the honest truth.

The beauty in this reality is that the people around me, including myself are BROKEN. We are ALL broken. We all NEED a savior, a healer, a redeemer, a friend. We need that, we can’t do it on our own because we’re broken and a lot of times we’re lost. We’re lost in our own confusing world of sin, temptation and ungodliness…

What I’ve realized is; broken people have stories, stories that can and WILL change the world. Every time I go to church or hear someone speak that has a life story of how they were brought out of complete brokenness, complete sin and Satan’s firm grip on their life…to the healing, redemptive, loving, saving arms of Christ…I am MOVED. My soul is changed. My life is different. Those are the stories I take with me and remember for years, maybe even for a lifetime. Not to say that people who have walked the “right path” or walked with God their whole lives don’t have a story to tell; THEY DO, they have a powerful story of Christ’s faithfulness to them in overcoming evil. But for me personally, when God makes beauty out of someone’s MESS, I can feel his presence and him tugging at my heart.

Mary Beth Chapman said that OUR MESS is really CHRISTS MESS- We can’t fix it or get out of it, only He can bring us out of it and turn it into a beautiful mess. Only He can make sense of it.

My story is a mess. I hear messy stories all the time when I speak; women who have grieved their past abortions, men who have grieved their involvement in abortions, parents who cannot have children and struggled to believe that God was good, heart wrenching adoption stories, families who have lost a child or a loved one, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, awful divorces, family tragedies and family tribulations….the list goes on. I’ve heard so many messy stories it breaks my heart but Christ mends my heart (and the heart of each person In their own mess) by using each mess for His glory, to further his kingdom and ultimately to point broken people to the open arms of Christ because that’s the only place we can be healed and set free.

If you are in a mess, if you know someone in a mess or in heartache; TRUST GOD.

He’s the ONLY person that can MAKE SENSE OF WHAT YOU CANT.

A couple weeks ago, I had an interview with a pastor. I am not going to name names and that is not the point of this blog…but my experience during this interview impacted me deeply.

I was asked to share my story on this radio program and give my thoughts about the topics that were brought up as well as share my experiences of being involved in the pro-life movement, specifically being involved in praying outside of abortion clinics and sidewalk counseling.

I firmly believe in the “peaceful, prayerful” approach that is taken on by 40 Days For Life, a national movement of prayer vigils across our nation. This has proven to be the most “successful,” in other words LIFE SAVING, method of approaching women, men and their families that are in a crisis pregnancy situation and are possibly abortion minded.

As I mentioned my ideas of taking on the fruits of the spirit (LOVE, joy, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, goodness, GENTLENESS, faithfulness and SELF CONTROL) as we approach and pray and speak truth into people’s lives that are entering the abortion clinics, the pastor immediately disagreed. He, then, voiced his opinion of taking on a more aggressive and “judgmental” approach as we council people that are entering abortion clinics in a crisis pregnancy situation. He said they need to know what they are doing (which I agree with; men and women DO deserve the TRUTH) and we are here to “judge them as Christ does.” While I am not exactly sure what he meant by that statement, the entire interview took a spin because he simply did not believe that we should have a peaceful or compassionate approach because what is going on is simply evil. He is right, what is going on IS evil but I know without a doubt in my mind that if Jesus were to walk this earth today and stand outside of an abortion clinic speaking truth to men and women (from his track record, I believe he would be doing this!) I think he would speak truth in a loving, compassionate way because he knows that those that are seeking abortion will only respond and accept the truth that is being poured out to them if it is presented in a healthy, self controlled, loving, gentle, kind way.

The fruits of the spirit are our perfect guidelines to how we can approach people that are in a crisis pregnancy center and still speak truth into their lives and let them know exactly what they are about to do and exactly how we can help them.

While I appreciate the efforts this radio pastor made to get the pro-life message out to the public; I pray that he reevaluates his motives when being present at abortion clinics and can really seek to take on the fruits of the spirit when speaking to these men and women. I know that I am just as guilty of not living my everyday life this way but this interview really stirred my soul, woke me up and made me realize the importance of what Christ has called us to do and exactly HOW he has called us to do it.

A Father that Wept

As I was walking through the airport on the way home from Minnesota after speaking at two crisis pregnancy center banquets, I opened this e-mail from Bobby, my friend and director of the Brazos Valley Coalition For Life. This is the place where I started praying at the clinics, sidewalk counseling and even sharing my story. I had to sit down to read this e-mail, which left a lump in my throat…

Here’s what it said:

REAL PAIN. REAL LIFE. REAL MEN.

Real pain. Real life. Real men.

My last blog entry was about the MEN, who are often forgotten. And just last night I spoke to the men in the room at a Crisis Pregnancy Center banquet; apologizing to them for taking away their voice as a woman in today’s society and encouraging them to use their voice. Then I got this e-mail, a very sobering e-mail that told me maybe I am not preaching to the choir here. God has really put it on my heart to speak to men about this issue and encourage them to stand up for life, use their powerful voices (like I said, if I were to consider abortion today, it would be the man who looks like my Daddy out there praying for me that would make me stop and think…) and step up to the plate in the pro-life movement. God designed women to serve men as Christ’s bride serves the church…MEN CANNOT BE SILENT.

My heart aches for this man who stood outside to pray the day his child was scheduled to be aborted. My heart aches for all men who have not felt like they had a say in a crisis pregnancy situation. But I am excited to see what God is going to do when MEN stand up to defend life and to defend women and even their own rights as a Father. God has called us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” So let’s do it as the FULL body of Christ; MEN and women.

To the men who are involved currently in the pro-life movement, including the amazing efforts of Bobby at the Coalition For Life, even when you don’t feel it or know it, YOUR EFFORTS COUNT AND YOU ARE SAVING LIVES!

To those who have felt that they had to stay silent or done so for another reason, I promise you YOU WILL NOT REGRET DEFENDING LIFE. Life is Christ’s most precious creation and he will surely bless you. We will embrace you and walk alongside you as you join the fight for life; it is hard fight but a fight worth fighting!

As I’ve been thinking about this and preparing for speaking events like tonight, I keep thinking about the fathers of these little babies that we are advocates for. I keep thinking about the many fathers that feel as if they have no voice because we as women have told them “its my body, my choice.” I keep thinking about OUR HEAVENLY FATHER who said “Let the little children come to me.” So WHY ARENT WE? Why arent we letting a fathers child come to him if the mother isnt capable or isnt wanting to parent? I apologize as a woman for the stance we have taken on this issue and I pray and hope one day that fathers will be recognized, even in the midst of something so scary and confusing as a crisis pregnancy.

And Fathers, I plead with you and ache for you to stand up and say “YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU” in such a hard time like being faced with a crisis pregnancy or in a tragedy like Steven Curtis Chapman. 

Ive said it once and I’ll say it again, if I were to get pregnant today and contemplate abortion, it would be the man standing outside of the abortion clinic praying for me and offering me hope that would stop me. Because that man would not only signify my Daddy who i love and cherish and owe the world to, but it would also signify my heavenly father saying “Come to me. Dont you remember I love you. Dont you remember I have a plan for you. Dont you remember I am the ultimate healer and comforter in your time of need? Come. I’ll take care of you.”

I encourage you to read this book “Choosing to See” by Mary Beth Chapman and SEE what God is going to show you. Please share it with me.

Many blessings to you all.

It has given me a voice for my twin and the millions of babies that have been silenced. The things in my life that didn’t make sense before all of sudden held a significant meaning…I found out I had a brother which made sense of the longing I had for a brother (and confusion) as a child. (It’s been comforting to know that he’s in heaven with his creator and I will see him again and the day that we were torn apart in the womb will be a celebration for all the lives that have been saved because of this story! ) This year has been my biggest blessing. Something that was meant to completely harm me and meant for evil has given me a story of God’s faithfulness and made me truly believe that Christ is the Solid Rock I stand on. He has given me opportunity upon opportunity to share my story with thousands of people so that when He comes, this world will be a world of LIFE. Jesus was not only victorious through my birth but he is and will be victorious when He comes again. He will say “well done, my good and faithful servants,” because we believe in and defend LIFE- his creation! MY LIFE AND MY SUFFERINGS ARE NOT A CURSE….. GOD’S PLAN WAS BIGGER

Through all of this He has brought me to my knees, told me to let go of all my pride and put me in a situation where I could no longer rely on my own strengths and abilities but have to completely submit to his plan. His plan proved to be greater than I could ever have “planned” because thousands of lives can NOT be touched single-handedly; only through the hands and feet of Jesus.

He let me be his hands and feet. I will never know why but I am so humbled.

Through the past year, God has touched people’s lives all over the country through this God-given story of his grace, mercy and love. People are attracted to my story because they realize they are not the only ones that are broken. They realize that God is the only way to make sense of all the brokenness in this world. I’ve been able to share my experiences, my brokenness, and my sufferings with the world but ultimately I’ve been able to express my need for a merciful God. Without it, I would not be where I am today.

Last year THIS MONTH, I was called out of my comfort zone to go on stage, in front of crowds of people and talk about one of the most offensive, controversial and scariest subjects in this day and age. I was called to let ME go and serve others every day of my life. Today I am still the same average girl; I am just letting God use me. It’s amazing what God can do with one small person who is willing to be used. I am so grateful and humbled that he CHOSE ME to use in such an amazing way- defending his most sacred creation: LIFE.

THANK you to everyone who has supported me through the past year. I am in awe of all the people God has placed in my life along the way. He was always faithful and so were my wonderful friends and supporters. God has used each of you and God will surely bless you. I hope that you will join me next year and the years to come in standing up for women, men and their families because LIFE is worth it.

Many Blessings to each of you this Thanksgiving Holiday. I am truly THANKFUL!

This Thanksgiving I will be celebrating the separation of my twin and I, and that one day we will meet again…..but until then, I will remain “His Voice.”

Claire