Beauty for Ashes

“To grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give unto them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord- that He may be glorified.” – Isaiah 61:3

Those of you who know me know that I’m not really political. Politics tend make my heart hurt. So when I decided to do a fundraiser for Save the Storks for Sam’s memorial, I worried that some might see it as a political statement.

It wasn’t.

You see, Save the Storks isn’t about politics. You could argue they aren’t really about making abortion illegal. They want to make it unnecessary and obsolete. Joe Baker recognizes that laws don’t change hearts – love does. So the mission of Save the Storks is to rebrand the pro-life movement to one that’s about love for the whole family, not just the baby in the womb. They work with pregnancy centers to offer prenatal care, education and continuing support for the mothers long after the pregnancy test turns positive. They offer free ultrasounds in their mobile units. They even go as far as to offer post-abortive woman support groups for pregnancy and child loss if they ever decide they need it.

Radical, right? Yeah. I love it.

So when I read their missions statement, I was on board. And apparently, a lot of you were as well. We raised almost $800 over the week of the fundraiser. And I thought – wow, beauty from ashes already!

But God wasn’t finished yet.

In a display of love and crazy generosity, a woman named Dianne from Save the Storks read Sam’s story and reached out. They gave me two tickets to their annual ball and asked us to march with them the next day. I’m not going to tell you how much those cost, but… 😳 insane. We flew to Washington D.C and well…

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

It’s hard to pick a favorite moment from the night. Maybe it was when Matt Hammitt played “All of Me” after sharing how his family was offered a termination for medical reasons and chose life. He wrote the song when he determined that he too was going to love his son with all his heart, whether God left him in their arms or not. Pictures of their beautiful, now-healthy 8 year old boy danced across the screen as the lyrics engraved themselves on my heart.

Maybe it was when Chelsea Noble, Kirk Cameron’s wife, shared the beautiful adoption story of their four children. She thanked the four teenage girls who chose the hard road, and thereby gave her the family she loves so much.

Maybe it was listening to Steven Curtis Chapman sing Cinderella after sharing about their own story of beauty from ashes.

Honestly though, I think it was just sitting there, on the 6 week mark of Sam’s birth, under the glowing chandeliers, listening to stories of God’s goodness, and knowing in my heart that He made this happen for me. It was a personal “Hey, I love you. Here’s a not-so little gift to show you that you’re still on my mind.”

Crazy, right?

The next morning we pulled ourselves out of bed, put on more layers of clothing than this Florida-girl will ever admit to, and took to the street for the annual March for Life.

Remember how I said I’m not really political? Well, contrary to what the media will tell you, this March wasn’t really either. Besides a couple outliers with their grotesque posters and screaming, 99.9% of the marchers were peaceful, laughing, loving families who came out to be a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves. For the babies themselves, the mothers who feel like they have no choice, and the fathers too. So many there had signs and numbers for pregnancy support and resource centers. I felt honored to be a part of it.

We ended the day in our PJs, eating pizza from room service. Overall, the day was cold, exhausting, exhilarating and perfect.

…

You know, so often, we can be tempted to feel alone and isolated in our beliefs. Did you know there is a prophet in the Old Testament who felt that way? He gets so depressed he tells the God of Heaven – “It’s only me! I’m the only one who cares about righteousness anymore!”

God replies “Don’t flatter yourself- there are seven thousand more men just like you. Men who care and are willing to take a stand. I’m bigger than all this darkness. You just can’t see it yet- but you will”

This weekend, I saw it. And it was beautiful.

As I sit on this plane headed home, I can’t help but wonder – what’s next? I mean, God, if this is what You did in the first six weeks, what else will this year bring?

Who knows. It may not be as glamorous as black-tie dinners, or as exciting as marching for love and life in front of the Supreme Court with 100,000 like-minded people. But I know it’s going to be amazing, whatever He does.

He is good, friends. I can’t wait to continue to tell you the million reasons why. And I can’t wait to hear it echoed back from you as well.

With Love,

Kelsey