What is the difference between the Holocaust and Abortion? One was about exterminating Jewish people while the other is exterminating unwanted, unborn people. At least the Jews could fight against the Nazis if they felt compelled.
I do not mean to make out the Holocaust less than what it was, but instead manifest abortion in its true light.
A friend that I met from church has begun a pregnancy crisis ministry where he gives free ultrasounds (The abortion clinic charges $70 to have one and purposefully only show the mother a view from the top down of her baby- only the top of the head. This is so the mother does not see the side profile, the feet and hands and face. They distort the truth to "benefit" an already emotionally wreaked mother.) After seeing their baby in its entirety, all but two have decided not to abort the pregnancy. Over 200 lives have been saved by giving the mothers free ultrasounds.
My friend parks the emptied out RV with large lettering on the side advertising the service in front of the abortion clinic in Orlando. He offers $100 to any woman willing to come inside and get an ultrasound. Money talks. Lives have been saved.
Abortion is wrong. I have heard many reasons why it's wrong and have seen many presentations- including one on campus by the Genocide Awareness Project or GAP. I have even given a presentation to my junior year AP US History class attempting to swade the class to Pro-Life. I know that from my presentation, I at least changed my teacher's perspective on the issue. I decide to put my stance in practice by visiting the abortion clinic with my friend, observing him try to save lives of the innocent.
I didn't know what to expect, so I was nervous on the hour drive to Orlando. I had, in mind, the stereotype of abortion protests where a group of people have signs and are chanting and yelling Pro-Life phrases to convince others that they are killing babies. I really didn't think about what to expect- most situations are better left to be a surprise.
When I got there, I was surprised. There were only about ten people on the sidewalk in front of the abortion clinic. Two girls my age were praying the rosary to one side and next to them were a group of four seniors praying from a prepared prayer service. The others stood on the sidewalk with pamphlets and a graphic picture of an aborted fetus. I expected to find Pro-Choice people there as well, but there were none. Only Pro-Life people who were praying and pleading with the mothers that walked in and out of the clinic. There weren't any heated debates or angered yelling, only pleading and prayer full of compassion.
I have seen the graphic pictures, I have heard the reasons, but the most convincing experience was what I saw today. A woman walked into the clinic at about 7:00 in the morning. About three hours later she walked out with a small bag full of pamphlets and Post-abortion information. Her face showed her emotional exhaustion and considerable emotional pain and clearly conveyed that she had just aborted her pregnancy. Walking into the clinic there were two lives. Walking out, there was now only one.
I was standing in front of a concentration camp- a house of death.
We were there from about 7:00 till 11:00. Not many mothers came today- about ten or so. Some were coming for post-abortion checkups while others were getting pregnancy tests and gathering information about abortion. The pro-life advocates tried to talk to everyone. Some mothers listened while others walked away. One flicked a cigarette at my friend. I came to observe to see what his ministry was all about. I experienced emotions of sadness and compassion. At one point, I was nauseous of the thought that they just prepared the mothers in groups of five, as the abortionist went from room to room aborting life. Abortion is a well-defined process.
I plan on going back next Saturday. In the meantime, much prayer is needed for the innocent lives that are being slaughtered, which happens seven days a week, not only in the 5 abortion clinics in Orlando, but in all abortion clinics around the country.
Help me pray for the lives of the innocent.
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Friday, September 19, 2003
Sore from Everything
Wow. Time sure does fly by when I'm having fun!
There is a lot that has been happening lately...
Last weeked, I went on a retreat. There, God graced me with His presence. It was awesome. Currently, I am working on a letter to explain some of my new learnings. I'll post it as soon as it's complete.
Last Tuesday, I participated in the InterCenter Run/Walk. This event is put on by NASA and includes 2mile, 5km, and 10km courses. I ran in the 10km race (a little more than 6 miles), which took me about 51 minutes to complete. The coolest thing about the race was that it was held on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF)- aka LARGEST RUNWAY IN THE WORLD! The SLF is a 3-mile runway for the shuttle when it lands after its mission in space. It was definately an awesome event to participate in. Upon deciding whether to walk with some of my other co-op friends or run the race, I noticed a couple things. We drive cars on parkways. We also park cars on driveways. So, what should people do on runways? I considered walking the race just to follow this silly string of logic, but then decided that it would benefit me more to run. I ran the 10k race and was exhausted at the end. Not to mention that a 70 year old guy whooped me!
Now, 3 days later, I am still very much sore, just in both of my calves; the reason being that I make a concious effort to get in the habit of running on the balls of my feet so that I can play soccer better. In soccer, it's better to be on the balls of the feet instead of the heels so that one can change direction much quicker. So, since I was running on my toes, my calves got the work-out of their lives. (Try to stand up and tippie toe, feel the calves go to work?) That and I am very much out of shape. I haven't run in about a month and this was the first run in a while. I think that I over did it.
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Yesterday, I got a free Flu shot at the NASA health facility. I figured why not, it's free and it might help me not get the flu. I told him to do it in my left arm, which he did. Surprisingly, I didn't feel a thing. After removing the needle, he didn't even have to put a bandaid on because I didn't bleed. After a couple hours, some other people were whining about their arms being sore. Luckily, my shoulder wasn't sore at all. Today, my arm still doesn't hurt that much, but I can feel that I got a shot yesterday. No Flu for me!
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Today, I gave blood at NASA. I had them take it from the left arm, because I'm right-handed. This was the second time giving blood, my first being almost a year ago in December. I had been looking for a blood drive for quite some time, and one finally came up- right in front of my building. The blooddrive was actually put on to try to find a doner for a co-worker who has been diagnosed with leukemia. I wonder if I'm going to be a match. If so, I'll be asked to donate some of my bone marrow to try to help his disease. If asked, I think that I'd do it.
After they got a pint from me, it was time to head back to work. This time, I actually felt a little woozy getting up. I dismissed it and decided to head back inside the building to the 3rd floor of my office. I didn't walk outside very far until I felt my eyes starting to give out. I knew that at any moment that I was gonig to pass out in front of the blood mobile. I quickly sat down trying to eat the cookies that they provided. My stomach ached and I was extremely dizzy. I didn't know if I was going to make it back to work. After sitting in the Florida heat for about a minute, I decided that it would be good if I could get inside to the lobby, then rest there. I got up and felt so sluggish. My eyes were barely hanging on, and I probably looked like a dang zombie trudging toward the front of the building. I told myself that I could make it. I kept walking and walking and walking (mind you, this is only 10 yards worth of walking but it seemed like an eternity). I made it to the automatic glass sliding doors and saw the couches that I could use to rest. I stumbled over there, trying to hang on for dear life. I was going to faint at any moment, and I knew it. Sorry to disappoint you, but I did make it to the couch and assumed the "head between the knees" sitting technique to try to get what blood I had left to my head. (Don't I make it sound as if they took all my blood? :) ) I sat there wondering if I was ever going to feel better, so that I could go back to my desk (this is about 15:00). I then laid down and began to watch the extensive Hurricane Isabele coverage on CNN to get my mind off of things. I proped up my feet and just sat there and relaxed for a while. Minutes later, I was feeling a lot better. I hobbled to the elevator, pressed three, and hobbled to my cube where I finished the day.
My arm is definately sore from giving blood. Tomorrow, my limbs might fall off and I could become a semi-paraplegic; no legs and no left arm- just a body with a head and right arm.
Tonight, I went to the local community college to listen to a community band that they have. The concert featured famous works by John Williams. If you don't know John Williams, he composed the theme songs for movies such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, ET, Saving Private Ryan, and also composed the Olympic fanfares. The concert was free and was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, I really had my hopes up to hearing a professional band. I quickly learned that they weren't professionals and had some problems with timing and the trumpets had trouble hitting some of the high notes. Nevertheless, it was quite enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I'm going to head to the FedEx place to pick up my package. It's a replacement soundcard- the one that they sent me the first time didn't work properly. After that, I'm going to clean my room because it is a total mess. I might actually do some laundry. Today, I washed and vacuumed my car, so that's good. After doing some cleaning, I'm going to finish that letter so that I can mail it out to certain people and post it here.
Till next time...
Mr. Chuckles: "OO OO AH AH, EEK"
Translation: "Have a wonderful day!"
There is a lot that has been happening lately...
Last weeked, I went on a retreat. There, God graced me with His presence. It was awesome. Currently, I am working on a letter to explain some of my new learnings. I'll post it as soon as it's complete.
Last Tuesday, I participated in the InterCenter Run/Walk. This event is put on by NASA and includes 2mile, 5km, and 10km courses. I ran in the 10km race (a little more than 6 miles), which took me about 51 minutes to complete. The coolest thing about the race was that it was held on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF)- aka LARGEST RUNWAY IN THE WORLD! The SLF is a 3-mile runway for the shuttle when it lands after its mission in space. It was definately an awesome event to participate in. Upon deciding whether to walk with some of my other co-op friends or run the race, I noticed a couple things. We drive cars on parkways. We also park cars on driveways. So, what should people do on runways? I considered walking the race just to follow this silly string of logic, but then decided that it would benefit me more to run. I ran the 10k race and was exhausted at the end. Not to mention that a 70 year old guy whooped me!
Now, 3 days later, I am still very much sore, just in both of my calves; the reason being that I make a concious effort to get in the habit of running on the balls of my feet so that I can play soccer better. In soccer, it's better to be on the balls of the feet instead of the heels so that one can change direction much quicker. So, since I was running on my toes, my calves got the work-out of their lives. (Try to stand up and tippie toe, feel the calves go to work?) That and I am very much out of shape. I haven't run in about a month and this was the first run in a while. I think that I over did it.
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Yesterday, I got a free Flu shot at the NASA health facility. I figured why not, it's free and it might help me not get the flu. I told him to do it in my left arm, which he did. Surprisingly, I didn't feel a thing. After removing the needle, he didn't even have to put a bandaid on because I didn't bleed. After a couple hours, some other people were whining about their arms being sore. Luckily, my shoulder wasn't sore at all. Today, my arm still doesn't hurt that much, but I can feel that I got a shot yesterday. No Flu for me!
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Today, I gave blood at NASA. I had them take it from the left arm, because I'm right-handed. This was the second time giving blood, my first being almost a year ago in December. I had been looking for a blood drive for quite some time, and one finally came up- right in front of my building. The blooddrive was actually put on to try to find a doner for a co-worker who has been diagnosed with leukemia. I wonder if I'm going to be a match. If so, I'll be asked to donate some of my bone marrow to try to help his disease. If asked, I think that I'd do it.
After they got a pint from me, it was time to head back to work. This time, I actually felt a little woozy getting up. I dismissed it and decided to head back inside the building to the 3rd floor of my office. I didn't walk outside very far until I felt my eyes starting to give out. I knew that at any moment that I was gonig to pass out in front of the blood mobile. I quickly sat down trying to eat the cookies that they provided. My stomach ached and I was extremely dizzy. I didn't know if I was going to make it back to work. After sitting in the Florida heat for about a minute, I decided that it would be good if I could get inside to the lobby, then rest there. I got up and felt so sluggish. My eyes were barely hanging on, and I probably looked like a dang zombie trudging toward the front of the building. I told myself that I could make it. I kept walking and walking and walking (mind you, this is only 10 yards worth of walking but it seemed like an eternity). I made it to the automatic glass sliding doors and saw the couches that I could use to rest. I stumbled over there, trying to hang on for dear life. I was going to faint at any moment, and I knew it. Sorry to disappoint you, but I did make it to the couch and assumed the "head between the knees" sitting technique to try to get what blood I had left to my head. (Don't I make it sound as if they took all my blood? :) ) I sat there wondering if I was ever going to feel better, so that I could go back to my desk (this is about 15:00). I then laid down and began to watch the extensive Hurricane Isabele coverage on CNN to get my mind off of things. I proped up my feet and just sat there and relaxed for a while. Minutes later, I was feeling a lot better. I hobbled to the elevator, pressed three, and hobbled to my cube where I finished the day.
My arm is definately sore from giving blood. Tomorrow, my limbs might fall off and I could become a semi-paraplegic; no legs and no left arm- just a body with a head and right arm.
Tonight, I went to the local community college to listen to a community band that they have. The concert featured famous works by John Williams. If you don't know John Williams, he composed the theme songs for movies such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, ET, Saving Private Ryan, and also composed the Olympic fanfares. The concert was free and was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, I really had my hopes up to hearing a professional band. I quickly learned that they weren't professionals and had some problems with timing and the trumpets had trouble hitting some of the high notes. Nevertheless, it was quite enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I'm going to head to the FedEx place to pick up my package. It's a replacement soundcard- the one that they sent me the first time didn't work properly. After that, I'm going to clean my room because it is a total mess. I might actually do some laundry. Today, I washed and vacuumed my car, so that's good. After doing some cleaning, I'm going to finish that letter so that I can mail it out to certain people and post it here.
Till next time...
Mr. Chuckles: "OO OO AH AH, EEK"
Translation: "Have a wonderful day!"
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Ed
Recently, I have become aquainted with a very interesting person. This guy works in the same office as my roommate and is about 65 years old. What makes this guy interesting is that he knows where and when to get the deals on EVERYTHING! Allow me to explain...
We were over his house. Ed has a lovely home and greeted us with a "Hey Guys," spoken with a distinguishable Boston accent- he lived there for quite some time. The reason we were at a 65 year-old guy's house was to look at some couches that he was selling. My roommate's (Ben) parents were thinking of buying them, so we would get to use them in our bare apartment (it's not so bare anymore, I'll explain later). After taking a few pictures to send to Ben's parents so they could decide upon the purchase, we sat down and chatted with him about our futures at NASA, graduate programs where NASA pays for graduate school, and just shot the breeze. It was a fun time and we found it quite humorous that we were spending our weekend there. We later laughed at the thought of us turning down offers from our fellow co-ops to instead hang out with Ed.
We later returned to his house to retrieve some dishes, silverware, a toaster oven and a kettle (which is probably one of the most ingenious inventions). In the meantime, we helped him hang up some of his pictures and just chatted some more. I was telling him that I was thinking about getting some tinting on my car, to prevent the interior from fading from the extreme sunlight here. He said, "Oh yeah? Well, my son hangs out with a guy that does it for a living. He's good. He does all the banks and does a quality job. I was thinking about getting my car tinted. If we go in together, we could get a deal." So I said okay. Tomorrow I'm going to get my car windows tinted.
We were over his house for a third time helping him install his newly bought surround speaker system. For our efforts, he provided a nice lunch for my roommate and I. While at the table, I asked Ben what time it was then noticed that my watch was about 30 minutes behind. This wasn't the first time that I noticed this; four days before, I had changed my watch to the correct time. Apparently my battery was going bad. Ed pipes up and says that he knows a guy (Jim) in Cocoa Beach who will replace the watch battery. Usually he would charge $10 but if I tell Jim that I work with Ed, he will take off $5. I'm going to get my watch fixed sometime this week.
My roommate was telling me a story about how they were in a meeting and it came time for a safety and health guy to give a shpeal. During the talk, the health guy stated that to stay in good health, it's good to walk up 80 steps daily. Ed piped up during the meeting and said that there were only 44 steps up to the 3rd floor of the building (where everyone at the meeting works). Needless to say, everyone in the meeting busted out laughing- not at Ed, and not at the fact that he knows that there are 44 steps (because they expect that from him), but because Ed was making fun of the health guy.
So I'm in his office today and I had an interesting question for him; I wanted to test his knowledge. I asked Ed which bathroom in the building provided the most privacy. He knew and showed me. Amazing- there's no stumping this guy.
He does stuff like this all the time. Recently he informed us of a free spread (buffet) in the Air Force base between 14:00 and 16:00 on Friday. I think that I'm going to try it this Friday.
Ohh, so our not-so-bare apartment. Ben and I went shopping for some furniture for "the square" (our living room). (It became "the square" after we noticed that it is just a bare square.) So we went to the local Goodwill and found two full reclining chair for $4 a piece! ROCK ON! One chair is yellow and looks like furniture that my grandparents own, and the other is a colorful pinstripe with a durable material and looks like a Lay-Z-Boy that my parents would have owned in the early 80s. They are awesome and I christened one of them the other day by taking a nap on it. So now that we have 2 fully reclining chairs, one reclined foldable camp chair and another rocking foldable camp chair, the living room is not so bare- we still call it the square for good times sake. Meanwhile, I still sleep on a gradually deflating air mattress and have my computer on a desk built of boxes (no, there are no drawers, although that would be awesome!).
We were over his house. Ed has a lovely home and greeted us with a "Hey Guys," spoken with a distinguishable Boston accent- he lived there for quite some time. The reason we were at a 65 year-old guy's house was to look at some couches that he was selling. My roommate's (Ben) parents were thinking of buying them, so we would get to use them in our bare apartment (it's not so bare anymore, I'll explain later). After taking a few pictures to send to Ben's parents so they could decide upon the purchase, we sat down and chatted with him about our futures at NASA, graduate programs where NASA pays for graduate school, and just shot the breeze. It was a fun time and we found it quite humorous that we were spending our weekend there. We later laughed at the thought of us turning down offers from our fellow co-ops to instead hang out with Ed.
We later returned to his house to retrieve some dishes, silverware, a toaster oven and a kettle (which is probably one of the most ingenious inventions). In the meantime, we helped him hang up some of his pictures and just chatted some more. I was telling him that I was thinking about getting some tinting on my car, to prevent the interior from fading from the extreme sunlight here. He said, "Oh yeah? Well, my son hangs out with a guy that does it for a living. He's good. He does all the banks and does a quality job. I was thinking about getting my car tinted. If we go in together, we could get a deal." So I said okay. Tomorrow I'm going to get my car windows tinted.
We were over his house for a third time helping him install his newly bought surround speaker system. For our efforts, he provided a nice lunch for my roommate and I. While at the table, I asked Ben what time it was then noticed that my watch was about 30 minutes behind. This wasn't the first time that I noticed this; four days before, I had changed my watch to the correct time. Apparently my battery was going bad. Ed pipes up and says that he knows a guy (Jim) in Cocoa Beach who will replace the watch battery. Usually he would charge $10 but if I tell Jim that I work with Ed, he will take off $5. I'm going to get my watch fixed sometime this week.
My roommate was telling me a story about how they were in a meeting and it came time for a safety and health guy to give a shpeal. During the talk, the health guy stated that to stay in good health, it's good to walk up 80 steps daily. Ed piped up during the meeting and said that there were only 44 steps up to the 3rd floor of the building (where everyone at the meeting works). Needless to say, everyone in the meeting busted out laughing- not at Ed, and not at the fact that he knows that there are 44 steps (because they expect that from him), but because Ed was making fun of the health guy.
So I'm in his office today and I had an interesting question for him; I wanted to test his knowledge. I asked Ed which bathroom in the building provided the most privacy. He knew and showed me. Amazing- there's no stumping this guy.
He does stuff like this all the time. Recently he informed us of a free spread (buffet) in the Air Force base between 14:00 and 16:00 on Friday. I think that I'm going to try it this Friday.
Ohh, so our not-so-bare apartment. Ben and I went shopping for some furniture for "the square" (our living room). (It became "the square" after we noticed that it is just a bare square.) So we went to the local Goodwill and found two full reclining chair for $4 a piece! ROCK ON! One chair is yellow and looks like furniture that my grandparents own, and the other is a colorful pinstripe with a durable material and looks like a Lay-Z-Boy that my parents would have owned in the early 80s. They are awesome and I christened one of them the other day by taking a nap on it. So now that we have 2 fully reclining chairs, one reclined foldable camp chair and another rocking foldable camp chair, the living room is not so bare- we still call it the square for good times sake. Meanwhile, I still sleep on a gradually deflating air mattress and have my computer on a desk built of boxes (no, there are no drawers, although that would be awesome!).
Monday, September 08, 2003
Back to Bloggin
No, that was not a test, nor a fire drill. I was going through a tough time with many questions. They all have been answered now.
I wish to reserve my experiences from past days for the confines of personal conversation.
...and now back to our regularly scheduled program...
I awoke today at 6:00 after going to bed at about 1:00. I felt a little groggy and it took me a while to actually determine that my alarm was going off. I prepared my lunch, attended church, and then went to work.
By the way. I must say that I'm very proud of the fact that I have only bought my lunch once during my two week tenure here at work. I have been wanting to bring my lunch to work to start saving money. So far, so good.
I'm resuming work on my database-driven website that I created when I was here last time. My branch used it while I was at school and, as a result of its usefulness, my supervisor wants to expand the project to encompass the whole engineering division here in ISS/Payload Processing (about 100 people). There is a lot of work in store for me!
Back to work...
I wish to reserve my experiences from past days for the confines of personal conversation.
...and now back to our regularly scheduled program...
I awoke today at 6:00 after going to bed at about 1:00. I felt a little groggy and it took me a while to actually determine that my alarm was going off. I prepared my lunch, attended church, and then went to work.
By the way. I must say that I'm very proud of the fact that I have only bought my lunch once during my two week tenure here at work. I have been wanting to bring my lunch to work to start saving money. So far, so good.
I'm resuming work on my database-driven website that I created when I was here last time. My branch used it while I was at school and, as a result of its usefulness, my supervisor wants to expand the project to encompass the whole engineering division here in ISS/Payload Processing (about 100 people). There is a lot of work in store for me!
Back to work...
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