Today's scheduled post regarding wedding planning will be posted at the beginning of next week. In lieu of that, I'll be sharing some things weighing heavy on my heart today. In the coming days, we (prayerfully) will be hearing more about a man named Kermit Gosnell. If you haven't heard about him yet, it's because the mainstream media has refused to report on his trial. But many citizens are demanding news outlets stop what looks like a cover-up--we are demanding a voice for those who have been murdered inside and outside the womb for years in Gosnell's Pennsylvania abortion clinic. For more information on the trial, see this helpful post by Joe Carter - 9 Things You Should Know About the Gosnell Infanticide and Murder Trial.

We need to pray for all those involved in this trial--for Gosnell, who is not beyond the reach of grace. For his staff, who are no doubt haunted by the things they saw and did in their time working for him. For those who have attempted to cover up or turn a blind eye to the horrific injustices performed, not just at Gosnell's clinic, but every day all across our country.

But today I want to beg us all to pray for the women. The would-be mothers. The teenage girls. The terrified women who believed they had no choice.

Gosnell apparently catered to minorities, immigrants and women in poverty. Women who were told this was their only option. Women who were told, sometimes in a language they didn't even speak, they would be better off if they had the tissue removed. Women who were literally forced against their will, put to sleep only to wake and discover the abortion had already been performed.

So now the truth comes out. The horrifying truth of babies born alive and then killed. The sounds of babies screaming outside the womb, their cries falling not on deaf ears, but on ears who try desperately to forget, years later.

I cannot imagine what it is like to be told your pregnancy is only tissue, only to find out one day that your baby might have been alive when it was taken out of the womb. To wonder if your child was crying in a metal tray.

As the truth comes out, it is not just the patients of Kermit Gosnell who may be dealing with regret, guilt and fear.

These women are our neighbors. They are in our churches. They may be us.

They may not have had anyone to help them. They may have been told this was their only choice, on threat of being kicked out of their homes by "loved" ones. They may have been too scared to ever tell anyone, carrying their shame and guilt for years.

And as the news continues to come out about this one clinic, women in our communities will, once again, be reminded of a painful past. Fears will rise once again--fears for the present and the future. Fears about eternity. Fears that they are damned because of something they did fifteen years ago.

My heart aches for these women. I ache for them to know God as Father. I ache for them to know Jesus as Brother and Savior and Friend. I ache for the Spirit to comfort them and tell them they are loved.

And so, as the news comes out, may we pray. Pray for women to know the freedom only the Good News can bring. The same gospel news that tells of hope for a self-righteous church girl like me gives hope to the woman who has had an abortion. Christ died because the Father wanted to share His love with us. There is enough love.

So please, pray with me. Pray for chains to be broken and prisoners of guilt and shame to be set free. Pray for Truth to prevail. Pray for the prevention of future pain. Pray for the end of abortion. Pray for revival.

And when you look outside at your neighbors, your co-workers, your fellow church-goers, know there is pain and regret in all of us.

And know the grace of God in the gospel is greater than all the pain and regret in the world.

So let us LOVE.