SPEAKER_02 0:32

In the morning, I wake up to the morning. That everything just stand in the back. Your face in the top. It's food in your coffee. I speak to the fire.

SPEAKER_06 5:39

Lori, can you share a little bit about your backstory and then maybe roll into your pro life uh journey or story that got you into this space?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Sure, I'd be happy to thank you for having me on the program. Um, my backstory with pro life work started in the early 1990s. I was a health education major at a large university in Texas and um was pursuing my degree in health education. My new husband got a new job in Houston, Texas, and I began looking for a job there as well. I don't know how I came across the pink brochure that was, you know, on an old Xerox machine trifold, you know, about the Women's Pregnancy Center. But it sounded like something that might have to do with health and health education. I should add that I really had a call into missions um in high school and wanted to do full-time mission work. So I wanted to put that health education degree together with missions. I saw the women's pregnancy center and and called them up. I didn't know what a pregnancy center was and um or nor what the kinds of services they offered, but I I placed that phone call that said, Hi, may I please speak with your human resources department? Because that's what they tell you to do in college, right? Is is call and ask for the HR department. Well the other side of the phone was Karen and Diane looking at each other like, uh, is that me or is that you? Because there was a small pregnancy center with two ladies on staff and um and uh they didn't, you know, have a a human resources department. But I went in and met with them and heard a little bit more about the work of the pregnancy center and um was drawn into the work of it. The the beautiful part of that is they were looking for someone to start an outreach program, a prevention outreach program into the community, as we called it back then, an abstinence program. The um part of the board and the staff especially was, as they said to me, we want to reach the girls before they need us. So that was where I came on. Um, was offered a full-time position at a local hospital, making$28,000 a year, which that sure seemed like a million at the time. And the pregnancy center said, Well, we can pay you$500 a month. And um, I remember going home and it was one of those, Lord, speak to me through your word, turning to the pages of the Bible, and there was uh John 627 that clearly says, Work for food that endures for eternal life, not for food that spoils. And so it wasn't about dollars as much as it was the mission of the organization. I should say also that before I went into the Women's Pregnancy Center, I would not have considered myself pro-life. I wouldn't have had an abortion. I was committed to my faith and values and save sex for marriage and all those things, but I wouldn't have had the conviction to tell someone else that they couldn't have an abortion. Largely because of my own ignorance around the issue, what an abortion was, and certainly ignorance around what the scripture says about it. And Karen and Diane sent me home with a purple brochure from Focus on the Family that was said, What does the Bible say about abortion? And I remember that night reading through that brochure, scripture after scripture, it became clear, black and white, how God feels about abortion. I remember specifically Deuteronomy 32, 39 says, I am God and there is no other. I bring to life and I put to death. And there was just something about He's the one that begins life. Period. Yes, and amen. And who are we to end that life? Or think we had a good reason to do that. So I became pro-life that night with that purple focus on the family brochure. And uh, you know, through the years have certainly grown in that conviction and greater understanding not only what does the Bible say about it, but how detrimental it is to uh to women, to our families, to our nation as well. So that was kind of my entry. That was in 1995, and um that pro-life journey and health education journey has looked different through the years, but really their mantra of reach the girls before they need us has guided my work in prevention education since then. About 15 years after that, um, a couple of children after of our own children after that. I took a uh a couple of years as a director at Life Talk Resource Center, a pregnancy center in Frisco, Texas. So I've worn the executive director hat as well, and and and all the and appreciate all the different elements that executive directors have in this work in the pregnancy centers. So I love pregnancy centers, love supporting Heartbeat and CareNet and others and their good work, and have found myself kind of in the training and education piece around prevention education and sexual sex sexual wellness and sexual wholeness. Has that for a long answer?

SPEAKER_06 10:49

Oh, that's great. Yeah, so so um yeah, so how did it how did you transition from being the uh well from the work at LifeTalk uh as the executive director, how did that lead to the founding Beacon Health education?

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Well, there were a couple of steps in between. Mostly they line up with my children and where they were in school and my availability to work outside the home. But Beacon Health Education Resources is is my consulting work now, where I do consulting and training around health and sex education. And a lot of that is partnered with pregnancy centers to support their work in sexual wellness and prevention education out in the communities. The last couple of years I've really enjoyed kind of growing the resources for how to incorporate sexual wellness or sexual wholeness, sexual integrity. Everybody uses kind of different terminology, um, but God's beautiful plan into the different avenues that pregnancy centers are reaching clients. So that that comes into client counseling, that comes into post-abortive counseling, that comes into um even maternity homes. How do we help our clients in in pregnancy work have a better and clearer understanding of God's beautiful plan for sex and sexuality? And how do we help them live into it when likely they have not heard of it before or understood it before or had the guidance and support to live into it? So kind of that broader space of how does sexual integrity fit into pregnancy help.

SPEAKER_06 12:31

Yeah, so um so how do you help pregnancy? Because when it comes to what you're doing with pregnancy clinics, um what does that look like? Like what does that work uh resemble?

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Well, it's largely gonna be training. So um training at conferences or doing individual center training and consulting around um the prevention education space. That's kind of its own big space, is how do centers do excellent work in the schools and community organizations and churches in their area if that's something they choose to do. Um, you know, I think about you know the heart of pregnancy care is decision counseling and support for for life. And yet they also do um often prevention education and they also often do post abortion ministry. So um I'm I I speak largely on that prevention space. So helping them uh improve their curriculum, helping them market their programs, strategies for partnering with schools. Um every state has a different set of standards and um learning learning standards and laws that help them know what to teach in the classroom. So how can centers help position themselves to meet those regulations and requirements? So that's part of on the prevention side. And then as I was mentioning, I love to get into a center and think through how can we incorporate a sexual integrity message throughout all aspects of the of the work. So it's not just you know how to save the baby and help the mom take good care of it, but how do we help that mother have good relationships? Um, how do we help that mother walk in integrity and wholeness and health? Um, how do we help that mother if she needs it get support for sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment? Or how do we help that mother navigate into healthy relationships especially? I sometimes as part of that training, I will have centers do a quick search on mother's boyfriend. And if you Google search mother's boyfriend, you will be surprised. Um, the dangerous place that a baby finds, you know, a baby is in in the care of a mother's boyfriend. There's just one after another of tragic stories of what's gone down with a mother's boyfriend and the baby in their care. So um that should compel us to help have a broader support for new moms, um, especially. And then we really have an opportunity with those who are not pregnant. Um, it happens less than it used to since pregnancy tests are so readily available. But if we've got clients who are not pregnant, we've got a keen opportunity to help them uh really examine kind of what got them there and how not to get back again, you know, the next time. So it takes a lot of different um a lot of different angles to support the sexual integrity message across pregnancy care.

SPEAKER_06 15:33

Interesting. Um so this podcast is built to reach well mostly executive directors of a pregnancy clinic, but also pro-life leaders. So speaking to pregnancy clinic leadership or pregnancy clinic executive directors, um which center might be a really good fit to connect with Beacon? Like how would you describe the center that needs you a great deal? Like what would be some signs or some some marks that would sort of help someone realize, oh, I would benefit from reaching out.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Sure. So um it could be a center who's in the considering stage of doing prevention education in the community. A number of centers have said we want to reach our schools or we want to reach our churches. So even if you're just considering that, I love to help you think through the resources it's going to take, do some strategic planning around if this is a fit, um, and then understanding kind of the lay of the land in your community also. So if you're in the consideration stage of looking to do prevention outreach, if you're in the consideration stage of incorporating sexual integrity broader throughout your center's ministry, so um that would be a part of it. And then maybe you already have a prevention and education program. Maybe you're using something you all wrote, maybe you're using something that um a national curriculum that you've been trained in. I love to do a curriculum review, whether that's a medical accuracy review or a content review, an evaluation of your program out in the schools to help improve the impact you're having in the schools. So um there could be several different ways that we can partner together.

SPEAKER_06 17:19

Okay. And then for those who may not be connected with, you know, the school program, what um what compelling reason would you share that would maybe help you know, help them um to build up that desire to engage in the schools. Um Yeah, what what's the what's the uh what's some of the reasons that would be that you see where that is very impactful?

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Great question. So one way I might answer this is to simply say that Planned Parenthood is the largest sex educator in our nation. And they have stated their goals with sex education is to draw in young people, right, to their services. So if we can get into the school with Planned Parenthood, the we, I guess I could say it that way. You know, if Planned Parenthood gets into the schools, then they can develop that trust with the young people, then get them feeling like it's okay to be sexually active as long as they use contraception and have consent. So now they're calling Planned Parenthood for contraception. We know that contraception will fail and they're gonna need to have an abort, you know, then they're gonna want to come back for pregnancy testing and and and likely encourage it into an abortion. So it's all part of their business model to reach young people. So um there's a piece by the CIS. CECUS is called uh uh is it their name stands for Sexuality Information Education Council of the United States. They are in cahoots with Planned Parenthood, they're working together to get to come for our kids with what is called comprehensive sex education. They are out in front of us in many ways with messaging to young people and particularly around the abortion issue. SECAS has a piece that says, you know, if you care about abortion access, then you should care about sex education. And here's why. Here's how we get abortion access through sex education. So the reason, Jacob, I would say we've got to be out there is we've got to get the truth to the kids and counter the lies that they are bombarded with from um so-called experts of uh Planned Parenthood and CIS, advocates for youth is another one that are working with their message and their business model to reach our young people. So we have to counter comprehensive sex education. Um, and in my view, um, and it's a really important part of ending the demand for abortion, is that upstream message, right? It's not so much saving the babies as much as preventing the crisis pregnancies in the first place. And I don't want to sound like I don't believe every pregnancy is an ordained gift, you know, from the Lord Himself. But if we can be responsible to help some of those crises from happening and and help get sex back in its intended context of covenant marriage, we will end the, you know, decrease the demand for abortion for sure. And when we are out there in schools with the prevention message, we also have the opportunity to educate about abortion. I've been talking with leaders lately about we've got to do better education about chemical abortion because the the girls are thinking two pills and I'm good to go. And yet they don't really understand what the abortion pill is, what it does, what you will experience, all of the reality, the really the horrors of the abortion pill. But that's an education piece. That's where we've got to get our message out to the young people who are are getting bombarded with the lies instead.

SPEAKER_06 21:06

Oh, that's that's so good. Yeah. Um and when it comes to the abortion pill reversal, that you know, helping someone know that it exists um is something they need to know so that they are more likely to look for help if they are in that situation where they change their mind after taking the abortion pill. Um so I've got a question for you. Um how might a let's say we're in a county and there's three to four pregnancy clinics serving that populated county, how might those clinics work together to div maybe work together in some way or divide and conquer, or somehow as a team of pregnancy clinics who have different boards, different EINs, different fundraisers, different teams of people? How could they work together to provide care to the schools? Because they share the Same school systems or same, you know, the same set of schools. Is there a bridge there? Is that something that does show up occasionally? I've I've not heard the answer. Yeah, I've not no, yeah. I would love to see a new bridge show up in the pro life space. And I'm just wondering if there's a bridge there or if that's an opportunity for bridge building.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Yeah, I love it. I think there are several beautiful ways to partner with schools and partner with each other. So I would identify the pregnancy centers who are serving the same schools or school districts and get together, you know, start a coalition here of partnering with schools and think broader about how to partner with schools. We want the schools to know who we are and trust us in the care of their students who may need our services, right? So I remember loading up a crib in the back of my minivan and driving it to a middle school because they had an eighth grader who needed a crib for her baby she was soon to deliver. And they had called us and we were able to provide the crib for this eighth grader. So partnerships with schools should be broader about all of our services that they know who they can call when they have a student in need. So that's partnering with the counselors or partnering with those that are leading the pregnant and parenting teen programming in the school district, if that's such a thing. But then on the education side, another thing on the services I should say also is um partnering with the school nurses. Um, we can get some of our brochures in a nurse's office sometimes to give them the information for be a source, a resource for them serving students. So I didn't want to not mention nurses. But then as far as kind of the sex education space, it starts with an assessment of what is being taught in your schools, um, and then what is required to be taught. And that's looking at two things. You'll want to look at your state health and sex education standards, which sometimes they're in changing, like in Michigan right now, they're on fire as they debate what health and sex ed should be required for the state. We had that in Texas several years ago. So you want to find out what are the state learning standards? That's the requirement of what should be taught in schools in health and sex education. Sex education typically is rolled up in health education. And then you want to look at the state laws, and there's several sources for knowing what your state laws are for sex education. One of them is an organization called StopCse, Stopcomprehensivesexed.org. And that website gets you into some of the state laws. And because every state is very different. I might say it that way, Jacob, is it's like I can't give you a prescription because some people are in more favorable states, some are in very closed states, some teaching abstinence, some teaching all kinds of crazy things. So um, you've got to know your state. Another source is that CIS that I mentioned, S-I-E-C-U-S, they have state data also, state profiles, and they grade every state. Now keep in mind, these are our opponents. You want them to give you a bad grade. If you've got a good grade with CIS, you're in trouble because because they're exactly our opponents. But find out the laws. So find out the standards, find out the laws, find out what's being taught in your schools, and then determine this would be back to your group of centers, your coalition again. How could we meet the gaps? How could we serve the schools? Is that bringing in an outside national curriculum? There are a number of those used in pregnancy centers. Those curriculum providers are often exhibiting at conferences and kind of you know sharing their resources out through centers. Or do you want to develop your own content that would be specific to your school district? Um, again, those are all things that I I do and can help with, but but there is a great need for this idea of partnership for you to help the school do the school's job better. Um, a lot of schools are overwhelmed, understandably, with all the things they have to teach. There might be an opportunity to say, we can come in and teach uh this segment, or we can train your teachers with this curriculum. So that's kind of what I was thinking about as you were speaking of how can centers work together to serve in the schools. Another, another opportunity, many school districts have some sort of council or committee. It might be called a school health advisory council, a school health advisory committee, uh, sex education advisory committee, I believe is what they're called in Michigan. But um, those are good places to serve, also. Those are decision makers overseeing health and sex ed. That's kind of where I got started too was serving on the school health advisory council in the school district where my kids were going to school. So look and understand ways to get involved. Um, of course, we always say run for a school board because we need good, um, good, faithful servants on the school boards also. And a lot of decisions happen at the school board level.

SPEAKER_06 27:20

Wow. Yeah, that's some good insight. Um maybe, yeah, I feel like there should be some follow-up questions, but at the same time, I want to switch over to asking you about the same question framework, but for the churches. Um, so yeah, talk talk more about um how you support pregnancy clinics in connecting with church bodies.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Well, if I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, We want to get in our churches, but we can't. We're trying to get into our churches. The churches won't let us in. Um that's kind of been the story of a lot of centers. What'd you say?

SPEAKER_06 27:56

You'd have a lot of nickels.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah, I'd be rich. Yeah. Um, but I think part of the posturing of serving churches is that idea of service. That it's not so much, hey, we want to talk to your kids about sex, um, because churches are understandably protective of outside groups and protective of their students and their population. Um, but come in with that posture of service. Is there anything we're doing that you know that we could provide to help support your students? One strategy is to go to the parents first, um, maybe a parent Sunday school class or a parent education class and help the parents be equipped. Goodness knows, if we could equip parents, um, that's really who needs to be the primary sex educators of their children. And so many parents just are ill-equipped or had such a negative experience themselves, they just don't know how to fix the sex talk with their kids. So um, so I I would think about reaching the parents because the parents, and this is true for schools too. If the parents like what you're doing, they may be the ones who then say, let's bring this in to the students also. Um, but it might be that you provide a training or a resource or a book or video or something like that to the youth minister or the youth pastor, because it's it's their kids in a lot of ways. A lot of those youth pastors are protective of their kids. And you and a way that you might want to say, well, we any resources we can provide to help you address these really tough topics. We know that the church in many ways is silent and lacks the courage to stand on really the faithful principles of truth and make them known. I my heart breaks for the church not stepping up and letting the world fill the voids here. Um, I like to say, you know, the church has the answers our hurting world needs. And um, if we can find um open-hearted ministers who are willing to address these topics or, you know, even let us come in and address them, that's a miracle there. So I always encourage everyone to be about prayer and leading with prayer to open those doors really to build the relationship. I think it's a trust relationship that churches especially need to have with us. Do we, do we know their doctrine? Do we know that church's specific stance on these issues? Um, there are some beautiful faith-based resources and ministries on a national level that can be a resource to share as well. Um, but yes, reaching churches is is is needed and difficult. But I like to say if we can reach them at home, at church, and at school, we have a fighting chance against the pressure of the culture because they are hearing so many lies, misinformation, and pressure from the culture. If we can partner up around them with homeschools and churches, then we'll our kids will be better off.

SPEAKER_06 31:04

So so what I'm hearing is that you have you if if in the ideal world, the parents would be connected with a positive message regarding um relationships or sex at at school. And essentially with them being able to, you know, providing then providing the teaching, and then at church they would have the support and you know, le you know, connection with church leadership to again provide that that positive message or that healthy message and with the ultimate uh goal of having the ch you know the child who is of school age or young um being supported while they're in this culture. It sounds like that's the ultimate goal is to wrap around the child with care and education that will help them um will protect them from these, you know, these dangerous arrows that are coming at them.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Exactly. Very well said that I love the the term you use to wrap around um that our our kids need us. They need to hear that message reinforced. So it's not just mom and dad saying it, but they're hearing it at school and they're hearing it at the church too. Um, because we know what they they're hearing through social media and their peers, which is is not those true messages.

SPEAKER_06 32:24

Um when it comes to school, can you talk about uh public versus Christian? How like public may normally gravitate towards overexposure and Christian may gravitate towards underexposure, and what and what might be a healthy position for both?

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Well, I love what you've said about us public schools overexposure, Christian schools underexposure. Um, Christian schools, many ways, like the church, are are quieter on these critically important topics. Um, I've met many Christian schools that are differing to parents. They they think this is, and understandably so, that this is a topic for home. But I I will push back against that a little bit and just say, as we said earlier, they need the reinforcement. And if if the school is silent on these topics, then that communicates something also. It communicates that these things don't matter and these decisions, name it pornography, name it dating, healthy relationships, you know, those topics are are hot topics among kids. And if we're silent on them, then we're communicating that we don't care or we don't know what's best for them. So um, so there are some Christian curriculum, right, that are available to be used in a faith-based setting. And I would recommend that Christian schools look into that. I um there are several national organizations that would have some resources for you in that regard. Um, the public school, um, I don't want to assume every public school is teaching bad things. Um, I always say find out what they're teaching at your school, because there are some beautiful, um, we call it sexual risk avoidance. We used to say abstinence. Now we say SRA, sexual risk avoidance. There are many beautiful curriculum, uh sexual risk avoidance curriculum that schools are using across the country and kids are getting good messaging. Um, so so you you've got to find out what they're teaching at your school. Sometimes it varies classroom by classroom almost based on the teacher and what what the students are actually learning. Um but in the end, young people need truth and love, just like all of us in a sense. They need that the rules and the relationship is another way to say that. Um, a context of clear direction. Their brains are concrete and still developing. And we want to help give them concrete guidance, really scaffolding, like you think about on a big building, to hold them on the straight, up on the straight and up until they're able to stand on their own. And that's really not until um into the early 20s, even that their brains are fully developing. So I love to help parents and teachers and decision makers think that through also. So yeah, um, I think school's really important. There's some excellent curriculum. There's a nice uh resource I would make sure everybody knew about called the Universal Standards for Optimal Sexual Development. They're available from an organization called Ascend at weascend.org. That's the Universal Standards for Optimal Sexual Development. I led the team that helped write them, and they're intended to be a strong positive alternative to comprehensive sex education. So we we want sexual risk avoidance, we don't want comprehensive sex education. And I've got some resources around that language and those two approaches as well, if needed, because a lot of people are confused about how those terms are used.

SPEAKER_06 35:59

That makes sense. Um, so in this journey of education and and helping centers, what what's a story that comes to mind where you've seen God's fingerprints and you were just amazed at how he showed up?

SPEAKER_00 36:15

What a great question. Thank you. Well, it comes to mind the number of young people, and I can almost see some of their faces as I think about the hope that they receive, even in a classroom environment. So even in a public school, we can't say the name of Jesus, but we can bring in his way and his truth and his life. Um, and and we do that. And part of that messaging is always the hope of forgiveness. When we know that one in four young people are sexually abused by the time they're 18, then we can assume that those sitting in front of us have the same kind of ratios of those who've been sexually abused. And to be able to say with all compassion in my voice, and I slow down and help them know no matter what the circumstance, it was not your fault. Sexual abuse is never your fault. No matter the circumstances, no matter what happened, it can never be your fault. And then to give that person the hope that they, just like everyone else, have the opportunity to make the best choice for their future. They have their whole future ahead of them and they still have choice. That's a message of hope and grace and forgiveness. And sometimes people have said to me, but you can't say Jesus in the classroom. And I always say, But I can speak his love and his hope and forgiveness. And and and time and time again, and in a you know, a 16-year-old handwriting will get a comment that says, No one ever told me that before. Or I've I've never heard that before. I have some of those comments saved in my files. And to know that I could help a young person know that they still have hope, um, when the world's been pretty harsh to them, that's pretty encouraging.

SPEAKER_06 38:06

Wow. What comes to mind is you're saying Jesus without saying Jesus. Like it's sort of how the mountains proclaim Jesus, um, or you know, how creation proclaims, or how you know, just by um, you know, the acting like Jesus also proclaims Jesus, I believe. Um there's a long story about well, not long story, in my mind it's long, but um Darrell with Heartbeat International gave a talk years ago about how Catholic princy clinics will often um show Jesus through action, more so than word, and evangelical will they default to word. And and but in the end, they're both proclaiming Jesus, and there's a lot also a lot of like half Catholic, half-evangelical um uh princy clinics. I'm not sure I'm not sure what they do. They probably do a little bit of both, but in the end, it's you know, Jesus is the is the answer to all of those um scenarios or questions. Um okay, so I want you to share a story of encouragement to Princeton Clinic leadership. What would be something that you would like to share that would be encouraging to those people, those groups you're trying to serve?

SPEAKER_00 39:18

Well, I've noticed that we are sometimes afraid to talk about sexual integrity with our clients. Um, most of them, you know, are there as single and uh, you know, clearly not living a life of sexual integrity or they wouldn't be in our you know pregnancy center. Um and so we kind of focus on right away on, you know, oh, she's pregnant. Well, let's, you know, get the save the baby and help the baby and get her into parenting classes and all of that. And I would just challenge that piece of compassion around really addressing some of these personal issues with the thinking that no one may ever have talked to her about another option. No one may ever have asked her this simple question. Is not having sex an option for you? That feels like a mountain to overcome sometimes to even say it and go that personal with her. But I think about Jesus who met the woman caught in adultery, and he said to her, You are not condemned, you are forgiven, neither do I. And then he said, Go and sin no more. In his compassion, he had an opportunity to address some personal issues with her. And, you know, they we we have them in a vulnerable space. Um, they have they're facing this decision, this crisis, and life as they thought it was is changing forever before them. So we've got this golden opportunity. So I would encourage to have that courage, encourage to have that courage, um, to speak into the relationship side, the the parenting side, like I said earlier, take a look at mother's boyfriend and and how can we nudge her to look at the relationship? Is it best for her? Is it best for her and that child? Is marriage an option to be considered? Because we know the safest place for a newborn is with a married mom and dad who love each other and are committed to the child and raising together. But even that, we're like, oh, we're stepping on her toes, we might be offending her. And yet we are offering truth to her in our context of compassion that she may not hear anywhere else. So be brave to cross into some of these deeper conversations with her and offer that same kind of hope that she's worthy of something better if she's in a not healthy relationship. Now, with the child coming into the picture, better, you know, worthy of a safe relationship and an opportunity to change. I think grace is the opportunity to change and not be stuck on the same unhealthy patterns you may have been in for life. You've really got to be wise and discerning to know that the openness to change. There's a trans theoretical model of change which looks at their readiness to change and this transition of moving towards changing behavior. But many of them are more open than we think. And I just would encourage you to think about how we can talk about sexual integrity and bring that idea of not just physical health, but emotional and mental and and relational and spiritual health as well.

SPEAKER_06 42:54

That's so good. So um, and I love that that uh what Jesus says is go and sin no more. I just want to slow it down, and he doesn't just say sin no more, he says go. And and go is a a very um well, it's amazing how how much is in that word. I mean, uh to me, that's like you know, do good, um, you know, be more. Um you know, go and share. Like that's what she that's what she does. She ends up sharing. But um so there's a uh a psalm I want to read that connects, I think, with that that phrase, go and send no more. So it's Psalm 130. So I'm assuming it's written by David, but I don't actually know. Um but it I'll I'm gonna go ahead and read it. Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord, hear my voice, let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. And then verse 3 says, If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? And so that really speaks, I think, to um the overwhelming shame. And burden of sin. And then verse 4 says, But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can with reverence serve you. And I think that speaks to what Jesus was saying in a go and sin no more. Um and then it continues on about having to wait for mourning and how hard that is, and just waiting through the darkness, um, which certainly represents just being lost in some ways. But all that to say is, you know, this is uh a message that is Jesus said and he was echoing words from the Old Testament and and um yeah, go and send no more. It's a really impactful phrase and and the send no more I think we all hear every time we hear that, but the go, I think we ought I at least I have glazed over that go word and didn't give it the attention that probably it needs. Um that's a really impactful word. Um and because God's calling people to yeah, go and send no more.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

You know, I love that. I don't know that I've thought about it in quite that way either, Jacob, but I think you know, if I were her, I would have wanted to stay with him. Like stay right here. Um it it makes me, you know, I found this one who's taken me in and you know, compassionate and and and forgiving and loving and all those things, but he says go. It reminds me of the story of Hagar when she's run from um you know Sarai and Abraham, and uh, you know, she's pregnant and Sarah has despised her and sent her, you know, she's run away. And God tells her, first of all, he says, I am the Lord who sees you, uh El Roy, the God who sees. And then he says, Go back to your master, and he tells her, Go also, go back and deal with a very hard situation, but I will be with you. And I I hear that in this story also, it won't be easy for her to go back. But he gives her the courage and and the belief that she can go and sin no more. We don't know if she did or if she didn't, but I can guess she didn't because she received the the forgiveness and the the the belief that she doesn't have to live that way anymore. And I think that's that's part of this message is you don't have to live like that anymore. We're gonna help you do differently. I always say pray for those longer relationships with clients because this is not a turnaround and two hours kind of thing, right? It's it we want them to come back, and that's some certainly what sometimes the baby boutique or the classes, the childbirth classes, you know, those kinds of things keep us in relationship with her longer to really work on some of these other harder heart issues also.

SPEAKER_06 46:47

That's good. So one of my last questions is um so doing this work uh and working with so many privacy clinics, what is something that most prancy clinics may not know or they may not be practicing and they should they should know more about? Like what would what comes to mind? And I know there's probably like a lot because based on the work that you're doing, but what's one of the things that you wish you may it may only have less than 15%, you know uh less than 15% of privacy clinic leadership seem to understand what's something that's sort of in that ballpark of like they need to know and it's really important, and not not a lot of people know.

SPEAKER_00 47:28

I'll probably circle back to the prevention message and and working upstream of the abortion issue. That it's not just meeting her at her point of crisis, it's that there's a compassion in prevention that says we've got to reach them before they need us to really work in that space that may be praying for your community and praying for your schools, that may be serving on the school board, that may be getting an SRA program in your center that goes out into the schools, but be aware and have that awareness of the prevention side of the pro-life movement. That I think it really gives strength to our message to say not only are we saving babies, but we're working proactively in a prevention space to save the crisis pregnancy from happening in the first place. I feel like that's part of our responsibility as part of this messaging. Um, we want to be there uh for sure in the crisis to support life and to bring diapers and education and doctors' visits and all those things that that life is needed. I that's another thing I've been thinking about a lot lately is how do we keep the saved babies safe and stay with them longer in positive parenting, safe parenting kind of support. So many of our clients have such little parenting skills. Um, and and and we set them off with this baby. We take their cute picture and then they're on their way, and at two years old, they're a high susceptibility of abuse. So that's a sorry, that was a total total uh diversion from my prevention message, also. But we want to work upstream and then for sure let's keep the saved baby safe with the way we're doing parenting education and and mentoring and support for those new moms for a good while on up to five or six years old if we can.

SPEAKER_06 49:16

So I want to ask you a sister question to that, or your sister question to your answer, which is um so let's imagine there's a pricey clinic at the county fair and they have a booth. What's an example of a story that you would like them to share with someone who needs this messaging, you know, needs to be connected? You know, what's an example of how you might encourage someone to engage over that table or booth at a county fair with someone in the community? What would that look like to try and you know put that to practice? Your what your answer to practice.

SPEAKER_00 49:52

Well, certainly we love taking the baby models, the fetal development models out to the county fair and showing, you know, letting the kids even play with with the babies and letting them see life and how early life begins. I think that's one very safe, happy, healthy, family-friendly activity for that kind of setting. Um when it comes to talking about sexual integrity, that's a trickier thing at a county fair, right? So um, and yet you can still have your services available, you know, brochures with that kind of information or um that. And then you know, I'm gonna circle back to parenting education as well. How can we provide the support needed for positive parenting education and and mentoring, especially through those early years? It's hard. Those are hard years, and um basic parenting can go a long way with those new babies. But I think the county fair is also a place to just be friendly and happy and inviting so that people know that we are we are are welcoming and um and warm and competent and professional in what it is that we're doing, and um not a scary place, not a judgmental place. Um, you know, we're not here to tell you how to live your life, we're here to give you the information and the support you need to make the best decision for you. And I think we so that they get to see, you know, not just what we do, but how we do it. Um I think that's what you do at a county fair also.

SPEAKER_06 51:18

Awesome. Well, do you have any final thoughts, Lori, before we wrap things up? Or what final things you'd like to say to the pregnancy clinics or to the pro-life leaders?

SPEAKER_00 51:28

Well, of course, I'm always gonna want to give the the rah-rah go team go on everybody's effort. Uh, it is hard. There are a lot of hard days in this work, and they're not just you know hard on the surface in what we see, they are hard spiritually, and we know that there are you know demonic forces at work against us every day when it comes to saving life and and bringing truth and love to those who need it most. So I'm always gonna give that rah-rah to all the servants listening and to the teams that they are leading for sure. And um, the other part of that, um, I've I've taught this a lot is to make sure that we're coming and serving in humility. I used to say put a box at the front door that says check your flesh in here. Um, drop your flesh at the door and come in spirit-filled. In an environment that's mostly women, we tend to get our little cells, our feathers ruffled sometimes over stuff that's silly, or we get a little bit of our own pride going when we don't want, you know, it may be sort of subtle. Um but but watch out for pride and check your flesh at the door might be one piece I would say in all of that. And you know, in all things be excellent, and the Lord will bless you in that uh regard. We want to be professional. We are up against a big enemy that is better funded and better coordinated than we often are. So link arms with each other, serve well, and keep up the good fight, knowing that in the end we win. We are on the winning team, and um life wins and Jesus wins. So so yeah, keep it going. How's that?

SPEAKER_06 53:11

Oh, that's great. Oh, thank you so much. Well, Lori, it's been a pleasure to have you on here today and to hear your story. Would you um end our podcast with a prayer and then we'll we'll we'll you know ask those who are listening to join in.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

Sure. Thank you. Oh Heavenly Father, we praise you that you are the way, the truth, and the life. I praise you that there is no one but you that gives life and takes life, and our lives are in your hands, and we trust them to you. We surrender ourselves to you and fill us with your spirit, that we would be filled with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control, Lord, as we serve. We pray for the men and women and children served through the mighty forces of pregnancy help centers, Lord, that are on the front lines, community by community, serving those in need at the point of life. I pray, Lord, that you would provide abundantly to meet all of our needs according to your glorious riches in Christ, that we would trust you, Lord, guide us, um, provide for us, sustain us physically, financially, uh, emotionally, and spiritually, that all we would do would honor you, Lord. We want to um do all that we do for your name's sake. And it's in Jesus' mighty name I pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_06 54:36

Amen. Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:38

We need to Oh, that is best. It is