Are Unborn Children Really Persons?

Check out this fantastic youtube video from thirteen year-old Lia Mills, a young Canadian media sensation who has spoken out against abortion - even at such a young age. This girl's videos have been seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide, and she has even spoken on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. Yesterday she came out with a new video about proving that the unborn really are human beings, and not just some "tissues" or "cells." I can't believe the poise, courage and power of this young girl - amazing!

Lia is a spokesperson for Teen Defenders, which can be found online here.

Jason Evert

Jason Evert is coming to Cincinnati!

If you are a student at McNicholas High School, Purcell Marian, St. Ursula Academy, or Ursuline Academy then you are going to hear him speak. Get pumped. He is incredible! He speaks to over 100,000 high school students each year and is the author of “If You at Really Loved Me: 100 Questions on Dating, Relationships, and Sexual Purity,” as well as “Pure Love.” He will be here at the high schools from November 3 – 5, and will also do a special presentation at the Underground in Cincinnati (1140 Smiley Ave) from 7 – 9 p.m on Thursday, November 4th. This FREE event is sponsored by Ruah Woods Theology of the Body for Teens Program. You can check out Jason’s website, http://www.chastity.com/, or check out a clip of one of his talks:

Planned Parenthood

How much do you know about Planned Parenthood? Abby Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood in Houston, Texas, reveals some shocking info about this well-known "health" organization that in reality is the largest abortion provider in the United States. Rocky and I had the awesome opportunity to hear her speak at a pro-life dinner last week and she is incredible! Check out her story here:

"My Drug & His Poison: My Boyfriend was Hooked on Porn"

“Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.”
~ Thomas Jefferson

Do you remember the first time you realized that you loved your husband or boyfriend? Do you find yourself often visiting that special moment in your mind? Perhaps reminiscing about the better times. Sometimes those memories are the only things we have to remind us of how we knew them to be…before porn.

Because of their addiction, we want to hold on to those memories for dear life. Those memories of the good times, when you first met them, or when you knew you first loved them, you cherish…especially now. When you see a transformation in your husband or boyfriend, to the point that you don’t even recognize him anymore due to their addiction, there is such a sense of loss that sometimes can take years to overcome and truly grieve through.
How Porn Makes a Woman Feel
The thought of losing someone to a porn addiction is crippling and feels like the most severe emotional pain that could exist, especially if it results in the complete loss of the relationship. We know the detrimental effects of porn because of its chemical nature and effect on the brain and on one’s actions, demeanor, and behavior and because you’ve probably felt it in the way that your husband or boyfriend treats you even without knowing the scientific evidence of its impact.

Because of their personal guilt and shame they feel due to their addiction, you’ve probably experienced them attempting to shift any blame onto you, while getting frequently angry. Have you noticed that they withdraw from family activities or in spending time with you, or retreat from church, and social activities – things they once were involved in?

You and I, the wives and girlfriends, know without a doubt that it changes our loved ones as we experience the pain of porn firsthand. In fact, husbands report loving their wives less after long periods of looking at women depicted in porn. Wives and girlfriends develop deep, deep wounds and they begin to feel inadequate. They don’t just feel discomfort, but the distress level can be so high that it can lead to clinical treatment for trauma, eating disorders, and severe depression. It’s not just “temporarily feeling sad” about a husband/boyfriend’s addiction—it’s a blow to the core of who that woman is, that could lead to years of depression and much more.

Many women might even say that it’s worse than actual infidelity, because there isn’t one “real” person that they are having an affair with, it’s many intangible women and they don’t know what they are up against. Many times, porn addicts do not comprehend the downward spiral that they are causing their wives or girlfriends to enter into by their actions.

When It’s Not The Fairytale
I never thought I could love someone as much as I loved my boyfriend, who I met through a mutual friend. I fervently prayed for almost five years, every single day. I prayed that if it was God’s will, that a relationship would come into being. And after five years it happened. God answered that prayer. I thought: finally, this must be God’s plan coming together because it seemed so perfect.

My life already revolved around him. He was my everything. We talked about getting married. That relationship was what I looked forward to during much chaos and major decisions that were taking place at that time. He was my joy and being able to love him is what made each day for me.

My boyfriend became like my own personal drug and there wasn’t a day that went by in that relationship that I didn’t thank God that we were together and thank Him for answering prayer. When we make someone so important and critical to our lives, though, we raise them to the status of idol, and God warns us of this.


How Porn Killed Our Love
The really sad thing about porn is that it takes genuine love and it kills it. The addict doesn’t have to be in an intimate relationship, because they get “filled” by porn due to the dopamine highs they get from watching it. It removes any closeness and intimacy in a relationship, and replaces it with lust and distance, ultimately changing the addict due to the chemical nature.

I was so naïve. I had no idea the power that porn possessed, until finally, one day it killed my relationship forever. I had no idea I was up against the Devil’s chosen baby: pornography, and how serious it really was. My boyfriend distanced himself from the relationship, from me; instead of visiting, he preferred to stay at home and watch porn and would come up with excuses as to why. He blamed porn pop-ups on others who used the computer, and pushed me out of his life ultimately, until I finally heard the words, “I don’t love you anymore.”

Girls Against Porn

He gave me the vision of starting Girls Against Porn (GAP) to help other women who were going through the same thing I did. Girls Against Porn have joined initiatives with other partnering organizations and friends. Because of these initiatives, most of the airlines are filtering their Internet services, a porn club was halted from being developed on a college campus, we came close to preventing a former Playboy lawyer from receiving a DOJ appointment, and with over 11,000 e-mails and calls from the public, we’ve send a strong message to Apple to restrict pornography related apps. It has been a challenge, but such a rewarding one.

http://www.covenanteyes.com/
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This post is by Tiffany Leeper. Tiffany is the Founder of Girls Against Porn, an action coalition for women and those against pornography.

A Champion of Love

I love Mother Teresa.

Today is (what would have been....) her 100th birthday. Her life continually reminds me to fight against simple mediocrity, to strive for the best, to strive for purity - not just physically, but purity of heart, purity of intention, and the fact that loving Christ with an undivided heart is always first in our lives when trying to accomplish this.

This is beautiful....

Anyway

People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

- Mother Teresa

And who knows if she was an influence for this....

The "Love Test"

If you were to walk up to a random person and ask them what the opposite of love is, the answer would most likely be hate...

However, John Paul II has a different answer. He says that the opposite of loving someone isn't hating them - it's using them. We're human, and we have a choice: are we going to love someone for who they are as a person, or are we going to use them (physically, emotionally etc.) for ourselves? Do we see people as a means for our own end? What do you consider to be "using someone"?

For Girls
Have you done sexual acts or compromised your dignity to make a guy more interested in you?

Do you sometimes dress immodestly to get attention?

Do you feel you need a “cute boyfriend” to validate your worth?

Do you or would you cheat?

Do you settle for being “friends with benefits”?

Do you fall back into the same sexual mistakes, relationship after relationship?

Do you justify sexual acts because you feel you’re “in love”?

Do you tolerate your boyfriend looking at pornography?

Do you stay in unhealthy relationships for fear of being alone?

Do you dance in a way that invites guys to lust after you?

For Guys
When you see an attractive girl, do you automatically imagine doing sexual acts with her?

When it comes to your speech, are you respectful around girls you want to impress, but you sound like Quagmire when you’re with the guys?

Do you or would you cheat?

Do you get mad at a girl if she doesn’t want to be physical in any way?

Do you gently push your girlfriend to go further than she wants during times when the two of you are physically intimate?

Do you look at pornography?

Do you tell your girlfriend that you love her, hoping that she’ll want to be sexually active with you?

A Thought for the Day....

I happen to be lucky enough to live with an amazingly beautiful, smart, holy, and generous woman - who also happens to have a master's degree in theology, and therefore has quite a large assortment of amazing books....some of which I might currently be in the process of "borrowing."

This one blows me away.

“The soul of woman must therefore be expansive and open to all human beings. It must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds; clear, so that no vermin will settle in dark corners and recesses; self contained, so that no invitations from without can imperil the inner life; empty of itself, in order that extraneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call..." - Edith Stein