March for Life ~ guest post by Xavier McCoy

My oldest son wrote a blog post about his experiences at the 2014 March for Life.  His post follows:

 

 Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 we marched for life to stop abortion. The reason we marched on the 22nd was because it was the anniversary of Roe VS. Wade,which made abortion legal. The theme of this years March for Life was Adoption, A Noble Decision. Because, adoption is a bond of love that unites the birth mother with the adoptive family in the bond of love for the same child. The weather was bitterly cold Mom even told us to wear 3 to 4 layers of clothing, because it was -4 degrees, yet people still came, that is amazing.

     At the march, there were thousands of people that braved the cold. Many of them were from out of state, from Michigan to Mississippi, from warmer places.  They came to D.C. for this great cause.
     When we were there, we saw Matt Maher in person and heard a few of his songs. Matt Maher is a contemporary Christian singer.   We were so psyched to know that he was going be there.  Then, Bishop Demitrias of Mokissos opened it up with prayer. The following list is all of the speakers:  Rep. Eric Cantor, Rep.Vicky Hartzler,  Jeanne Monahan (President of the March for Life), Pope Francis sent tweet supporting March for Life, Molly Ann Dutton, Nicole Peck, Giovanna Romero with Latinos por la Vita. " We are the Pro-Life generation." Dr. Donna Harrison, M.D., Ryan Dobson, , and Dr. James Dobson who said, "I know your faces are cold, but your hearts are on fire.  Adoption is a bond of love that unites the birth mother with the adoptive family in the bond of love for the same child.  Let your baby live!"

      After all of the speakers had spoken, we started to march. At first we, or at least my family thought we march to the Capitol Building, but instead we marched to the Supreme Court Building which is farther from the mall than I thought. so we marched a good 1.75 miles (1 3\4 mile) it is not too far away. On our way people started to say chants like "Hey hey ho ho Roe v. Wade has got to go" and "We love babies, yes we do. We love babies, how 'bout you" and "Hey, Obama, your mama chose life."


      I liked the march and best of all I liked to be in the march.  I learned something new there, that no matter what the temperature is, GOD wants people to still be willing to  march for life. I also liked it because i spent time with my family, and I love life.  
And, I have determined that my generation will be the generation to end abortion.

Voices

There is absolutely no secret to most who know me that I'm political.
And I hope that it is absolutely not a secret that I LOVE my Lord.
And I love the quote that goes something like this:
"I can't separate my politics and my faith, for it is my faith that determines my politics".
That isn't an exact quote, but you get the idea.

Now, I will confess something to you all.  I struggle.  My faith determines my politics, but sometimes, I struggle with marrying my faith and politics.  Politics was never really discussed in my house growing up.  Not much ~ occasionally.  From what I recall.  But, maybe I'm mistaken.  I have a pretty fuzzy memory for stuff like that.  And, I wasn't that concerned about politics, either.  I grew up the daughter of a Pastor.  And I am thankful for my heritage ~ as I've grown up, I have chosen a different path of faith than what my parents are (or would have chosen me to have), but that doesn't mean I can't be grateful for the lessons I learned along the way!

As I said before, I can't recall much "political" talk around the dinner table growing up. I can recall a few things from my growing up years ~ President George HW Bush drove through our town ~ and I can't rightly recall if it was after his election or while campaigning {probably the latter} ~ and my family and I drove downtown and waited along the curb to wave as he walked by.  I also recall moments during the first Iraq war, my parents encouraging me to write letters to soldiers overseas.  One wrote me back a cute little note (I still have it somewhere) and he enclosed an Iraqi dollar and something else that I can't recall.  My dad was drafted during Vietnam ~ and taught us to support our troops.  And the other significant "political" event that I recall is being a part of a "Life Chain".  I remember in between services one Sunday afternoon, we (as a church) met along one of the main streets in town and the goal was to link arms (not blocking the flow of traffic) and just silently stand there to stand for life.  There were many signs held up by everyone there ~ it was a city wide event, not just our church ~ and we stood for life.

So, I grew up with the foundations of politics.  Those are the foundations that formed my future political life.  Patriotism, Civic Service, Speaking for those who have no voice.

But, I still struggle.  I struggle to marry my faith and my politics.  Show grace and mercy while not backing down from what I feel to be unBiblical or immoral.  Sometimes, I fear that I'm not showing Jesus in me enough.  And so, sometimes, I cower and don't show HIM at all.  While I blast my politics ~ no matter who it stings.  But then sometimes, in an effort to show HIM, I slink away from voicing TRUTH.  It is a balance and one I do not quite grasp, yet.  But, I'm learning.  And I want to model it for my children.

January 22, 2014, here in Washington DC is the March for Life.  My boys and I will be there.  To stand up and speak for those who have no voice.  To speak that there is a massive holocaust being visited on the unborn boys and girls of our country.  And we will be there to say CHOOSE LIFE.  We will be there to say EVERY BABY IS SPECIAL.  To say  BEFORE WE WERE FORMED IN THE WOMB HE KNOWS OUR NAME.

Won't you join me to speak for those who have no voice?  You don't have to come to DC (although, how cool would that be?!) to stand and speak for the voiceless.  But, don't silence your voice for fear.  Speak while you can, because there may come a time in our history where we will have no voice.  Speak truth even if  your voice shakes.  But, at least SPEAK.  Because your mom?  She chose LIFE.


cross-posted at Smart Girl Politics Action