Seeing Hope (7): An Uplifting Story

Take a look at the article 21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity. All of the pictures that are included in the article are definitely uplifting, but what really had an impact on me was the story shared by the Top Commenter on the article. It was a much needed reminder that donating money, writing articles, posting on Facebook, and advocating on behalf of the poor and vulnerable are all well and good, but simple, generous gestures are what really have an impact on individual lives. So reach out to your fellow man and do your best to simply be there for the people who are in your life and who pass through your life. You never know the good a simple act of love can do!

Seeing Hope (6): Grayson James Walker and the value of a life

Heather Walking was preparing for the arrival of her third child when, sixteen weeks into the pregnancy, her baby was diagnosed with Anecephaly, a fatal birth defect. In spite of the news, she carried her baby, named Grayson, to term, and was determined to keep Grayson's birth and short life joyful for her and her family. Read their story here.

"You know, my son lived almost eight hours, and he's already done in eight hours what I could never do in a hundred lifetimes, and that's awesome." - Patrick Walker (Grayson's father)

When Heather posted photos of Grayson onto her Facebook page, the pictures were deleted and Heather was banned from Facebook - but she has gotten a tonne of support and is determined to stop Grayson's life from being censored! Just an all-around heartwarming story; I bawled my eyes out reading about Grayson and the love he was surrounded with in his short life.

Seeing Hope (5): Back to Life

"January, 1973 Roe v. Wade declares abortion as a woman's right. Since then an estimated 54 million have been aborted in our nation.

This spring, 39 young women, each signifying a year marked by Roe v. Wade will walk over 250 miles from the nations largest abortion clinic in Houston, Texas, back to the Dallas court house where it all began to call our nation Back to Life."

This is an amazing idea, and I look forward to following their blog and learning more about what kind of message these young women will promote as they bring the US "back to life".

Seeing Hope (4)

So, it's high time for another "Seeing Hope" blog post!

First, an awesome initiative from Feminists for Life: a national campus registry for pregnant and parenting students. Seriously SO AMAZING! Doing research for the University Series (which I have also sadly neglected for awhile) has shown me how hard it is to find help when you are on your own and pregnant. Hopefully we get / there is something like this for Canadian student mothers! In the meantime, I'll hurry up and update my small contribution. :)

Also wanted to include this neat initiative called Image Clear Ultrasound Mobile (I See You Mobile). They are a fleet of mobile ultrasound vehicles and pregnancy centres which go directly to women and show them their unborn babies. Cool idea, especially great for women who don't have access to a crisis pregnancy centres! You can follow them on Twitter as well at @icumobile.

For another great way to see hope, just go on Twitter and view the huge number of groups posting every day and getting the word out on life. Seriously, it has been inspiring for me.

Seeing Hope (3)

This is an amazing report on prenatal surgery for spina bifida:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/11/137712436/a-prenatal-surgery-for-spina-bifida-comes-of-age

How anyone could believe that the unborn aren't human after reading about this is beyond me. I mean, a single surgery done before birth can have such an amazing affect on the rest of the baby's life! If the unborn are not truly alive, then why does the prenatal phase have such an impact on "actual" (i.e.: postnatal) life?