War sucks. Oh well...

So, my plan was to write another post about the developments on the HHS mandate and all my battles for the pro-life cause. Well, life got a little hectic during all those battles, and with my sword in one hand and my light-saber in the other, typing up a blog post was not really an option. I'll put my sword down (light sabers are cooler) for the moment and update a little. Since I posted last:

*I signed a petition that ended up with the 25,000 signatures it needed, which was exciting, and it elicited a response from the White House, albeit a nasty one.
*Like I said last time, Komen quit funding Planned Parenthood, which was also exciting. They then further clarified their reasons for doing so, which was noble and even more exciting. I heard a statistic that the day they made the decision, donations to their organization increased 100%. Yay for women's health!
*The last time I posted, I asked for prayers for our pro-life group meeting about the HHS mandate. Good news. There were upward of 15 people (a remarkably well-attended meeting) there and the next day I mailed off 28 letters to the Senators of both Kansas and Missouri. Very exciting.
*I had a great conversation with a Protestant, explaining the Catholic Church's teaching on contraception. He seemed receptive, and asked me a lot of great questions I have to learn more about.
*I had another intensely great conversation with a some-kind-of-Christian/agnostic/spiritual-condition-unknown about the whole reason the HHS mandate is a problem. When we had exhausted the topic, all the other party had to say was "I don't know." He must have been thinking really hard. Encouraging.

So, lots of good stuff right? Many battles won/started with good progress. But sometimes, the casualties and injuries and setbacks really get to me:
**The "accomodation" made by the Obama Administration regarding the HHS mandate isn't much of an accomodation at all. I like the analogy made here:

(Marc Barnes, aka "badCatholic"-who I've very recently become a fan of-wrote a "letter" on his blog to Obama stating his opinion of the new accomodation.)

"To accommodate them [USCCB] you said the “insurance company — not the hospital, not the charity — will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge.

"Obama, who — precisely — is buying the insurance companies’ free-contraceptive coverage? Who but the Catholic institutions, the institutions morally opposed to providing contraception to their employees? All you’ve done is forced morally opposed institutions to pay for other institutions that will provide contraception. Yes, this is akin to forcing those morally opposed to murder to hire hitmen. Not only is it immoral, unconstitutional and arrogant, it’s also painfully unintellectual..."

 For full access to this intense letter, go here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/

**Almost immediately after the uproar surrounding its decision to defund Planned Parenthood, the Komen Foundation reversed it. It could have been a sucker-punch of a letdown, but pro-lifers shouldn't throw Komen under the bus yet.
"[CEO Nancy Brinker]...make[s] clear that they will amend their guidelines [for funding decisions] so only 'criminal and conclusive' investigations affect their funding decisions. They will ensure that 'politics has no place in our grant process,' and they will 'continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.'" http://www.jillstanek.com/2012/02/decoding-komens-supposed-cave/

...I don't know. These two minor calls for retreat and re-group in the pro-life cause weren't super huge considering the amount of progress made in recent months, and I haven't beeen personally handed a lethal injury in my personal pro-life battles either. But the thing about battling is: it sucks. It's tough, and even if nothing negative happens, it gets discouraging, waiting for immediate victories and conquests.

I get tired of asking the gentlemen in my life to watch their language around me. I get tired of turning off the music with negative messages that my residents like to blast on the radio in the bathroom, and coming back a couple hours later to have it turned on again. I get tired of organizing college student events that are alternatives to partying and having only 6 people show, instead of the 15 who verbally committed. I get tired of the stress of making up homework after being gone for 3 days because I was on the March for Life. I get tired of the exhausting conversations I engage in about my faith with people who aren't willing to listen. I get tired of listening to others because they just need to vent, and they never ask about how I am. I get tired of being raw and open and honest with others, when the favor is not returned.

I am not writing to complain or to demand that the opportunities God grants me to love others pass me by. Throwing up the white flag is not an option. Never has been and never will be. Fighting the good fight is what I do as a Christian woman in a hurting world. But I am writing to empathize in everything that people go through when they suit up to fight for Christ. War is tough.

But I guess thats why God told Paul to tell the Ephesians to "draw your strength from the Lord and from His mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil." 
-Ephesians 6:10-11

He also pointed out that I shouldn't get discouraged, because I'm not really responsible for victory, or in charge anyway.
"Therefore neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth." -1 Corinthians 3:7

So get off your high horse, Jecha, because
"There is only one Savior of this world, and you are not Him."
-my best friend

So what if every little pro-life battle I engage in doesn't reach my definition of success?
"God does not require that you succeed, only that you try."
-Blessed Mother Teresa

and
"There may be times when we're powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we stop protesting it." -Elie Weisel
The reason I know I was supposed to write this post, is that I was scrolling down my newsfeed on good ole' FB a couple minutes ago, being discouraged and grumbling and mumbling, and I saw these 3 statuses, from 3 people who are completely unrelated in my life. And I'm pretty sure none of them were explicitly related to a pro-life thought.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Unknown, attributed to several people

"Jesus, I TRUST in you!"

"Friggin' solid brick walls. I'll break through one of 'em eventually."

Boom.
It says somewhere in Scripture that those who love God can run and not grow weary. So I'm going to keep battling, even when I'm tired. Because guess what? War does suck.
But we're on the side that wins.


Mama, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Queen of Peace, pray for us!
Grace to you, and peace.
April :)