This is my first 40 days for life ever and I’m very excited to be a part of this and see what God has planned for Germantown specifically, and just in general.  So, it’s 4:30am and I’m waking up to rain falling outside my window and I’m thinking OK – this is the first day of the 40 days for life campaign and I’m getting ready to take the first prayer shift of the day – 6:00AM – YIKES!  Am I crazy?  I am so not a morning person but therein lay the sacrifice I suppose.  OK 6AM it is, every day of the campaign except Sundays!

I left my house at 5:20 on this first morning so I made sure I had enough time to get there and figure out where I should park.  Well that was easy I was settled 10 minutes early.  Now, I am wondering if I’m going to be walking up and down this sidewalk by myself – it’s dark out there.  Thankfully, I am not alone.  I am met by another gentleman named Jim who has picked up a bunch of signs that are just placed along the sidewalk.  The signs say things like – “Pray for an end to abortion”, “pray to stop late term abortions that happen here”, “40 days for life”, etc.  Well, Jim and I now walk up and down the sidewalk on Wisteria Drive in front of the office park where Dr. Carhart’s abortion clinic is located.  There are quite a few people out at 6am.  There is a lot of traffic on Wisteria Drive and a lot of people out walking/jogging or heading for a bus.  So, we know a lot of people saw our signs and some may have heard us praying!

When I first started to consider this I wondered what am I going to pray  about for an hour on the sidewalk?  I knew I was praying for an end to abortion but what form would that take?  Then Lord showed me exactly how to pray.  He said – “pray the Rosary” and I thought how perfect is that.  I can pray through and meditate on the mysteries of our Lord’s life while asking our Blessed Mother to intercede on behalf of the women who are deceived into believing they are doing the right thing, the clinic worker who is also deceived into believing that they are providing a necessary service, for Dr. Carhart’s salvation, and mostly for the aborted babies who will never have the chance to live.  The Lord showed me that I should meditate on His Joyful mysteries (the annunciation, the visitation, the nativity, the presentation, and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple) for all of the aborted babies.  He showed me that I should meditate on His sorrowful mysteries (the agony in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and the crucifixion) for Dr. Carhart’s salvation.  He showed me that I should meditate on His Luminous mysteries (the baptism of the Lord, the wedding at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist) for the clinic workers, and he showed me that I should meditate on His Glorious mysteries (the resurrection, the ascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit, His glorious return*, and His reign over all the earth*.  (*Not traditional) for the aborted babies.  My intention is pray through one set of mysteries for a week before moving onto the next one.