I have heard that statement many times, but earlier this week I met someone that defines it. I had the most fortunate opportunity to attend a speaking presentation by an abortion survivor named Gianna Jessen. She said as of this Alaskan engagement, she has officially spoken in all 50 states. Gianna’s story touched my heart and I felt compelled to share it. For those of you that may not be familiar with Gianna, she is an abortion survivor. In 1977, her mother decided to have a saline induced abortion at 7 ½ months pregnant. After 18 hours of labor, Gianna, through the grace of God, was born alive at 2 pounds. She was born in the clinic that had planned to terminate her life. A nurse instead, had her sent to a hospital. The abortionist was the one that ended up having to sign her birth certificate, what a change of events that was. She was “blessed with the gift of cerebral palsy” as a result of the saline. She mentioned several times throughout her speech that her having cerebral palsy was in fact a gift. How many of us would look at it that way? She has turned what some would consider an adversity into an inspiration.
Gianna was excited to visit Alaska. She adores Sarah Palin and admires how strongly she continues to stand despite the hateful things that are said about her. Her strength is a testament to her leadership because only the strongest can face adversity head on and still forge ahead. Gianna, like Sarah, understands that she is “God’s Girl.” During her speech she light-heartily discussed how she herself has risen above the negative actions she has dealt with from others. She stated, “I am God’s Girl. You mess with God’s Girl, you mess with my God. Have fun with that.” The audience erupted in applause.
I admired some of the conclusions about life Gianna shared with us after years of overcoming challenges and therapy. She jokingly discussed her relationship with her shrink. Then on a more serious note, she said, “I am accepted and loved not for what I say and do, but for who I belong to.” In referring to her relationship with her Heavenly Father, Gianna went on to say, “This culture is being told everything is all about us.” It is not! She went on to explain, our lives are about someone else’s decisions – God’s.
As she spoke, a single thought kept racing through my head, what a wonderful world we would live in if people could embrace their purpose in life and acknowledge the creator of that life. It requires living without fear. It requires knowing that, “You are defined by where you come from. You are defined by Christ.” Her testament of her love for our Savior throughout her talk was radiant. She spoke of being a strong Christian woman and asked that we not be "critical Christians". I personally felt that I would leave this night committed to being a better daughter of God.
This amazing lady grew up being told she would never walk. Through determination and prayers, Gianna does walk and because she is a fighter, she also ran a couple full marathons. She said, “I want to run my race, not because I played the victim, but because I didn’t.” When she got to the subject of victims, she spoke about the whiners in the world that believe they are entitled to everything. These people are willing victims that believe in entitlements such as Obamacare.
Gianna mixed no words when it came to our President’s record on late term abortions. She knows if Obamacare had been law when she was born, she would not be here today. She will continue to speak out against a government program that will dictate when we will receive health care, what kind of care that will be, and then decide when we are expendable. That decision does not belong to our government. To my surprise, she shared with us that our own president used her image in one of his negative campaign commercials to vilify John McCain for choosing life. See the ad below:
And here is her response to that ad in an interview with Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes on Fox News:
Gianna further explained that, “We want peace without justice. We want freedom without God.” She encouraged people to speak up, speak out, and take a stand. Do not compromise. Remember why we are here. “Life isn’t meant to be easy, it’s meant to be extraordinary.” She concluded by saying, “I’d rather risk never having it (life), then having a mediocre version of it.”
The room was filled with love after her talk, but she didn’t just end her speech with words, she sang a song with a voice from Heaven itself. A lot of tissues were used tonight to dry our eyes when she reached the end of her song.
It was an honor to meet this beautiful woman. The event had well over 300 people attend and what a joy it was to be surrounded by so many neighbors that choose life. I’m so proud of all of them for taking a stand!
To find out more about Gianna, please visit her site by following this link.
This is a very heartwarming article. And yes, I watched the videos also.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe that a woman has the right to abort, if she so chooses, there are a lot of things to consider. It should never be a light decision.
Now don't throw rocks at me!
On the other hand, as was clearly demonstrated in this article, being aborted at 7 1/2 months is unreal. And especially at 9 months! If it's going to be done, the first trimester, at least in my opinion, should be the time. After that, well, it's too late and should be brought to term (under normal circumstances).
But when I understood that Gianna was alive after the attempted abortion, it truly saddened me. Once a fetus is out of the womb, breathing on its own, it's a live, human being. To kill that, is murder, no longer abortion.
Obama continues to be our Liar in Chief, and to have voted four times to allow a doctor to kill the breathing baby from a botched abortion is not only cruel, uncaring, but sadistic.
I truly applaud Gianna for her hard work, and her believing to do what she does, including the fact that she walks and talks. It's a beautiful witness to the Love and Power of God.