Yesterday was one of those days that I made a conscious sacrifice to the Lord. I knew the forecast was for high winds, rain, possible tornado, and thunderstorms. I was not supposed to be on the sidewalk that day and was glad for that when I read the weather report. However, I felt God telling me I should be there. So, I went.

The weather report was accurate. It rained for most of the three hours, and the strong wind then chilled my damp body. My fingers were numb, even though it was not really that cold. It was not all bleak misery. Nine cars stopped for me, and each driver took our Love Life information pamphlets and let me speak for an extended period about why they should not kill their baby, how God made them in His image for a Holy purpose, and how we could help them. One carload of women listened to me for half an hour. The driver even opened a bag of food, settling in with rapt attention while I spoke in defense of the unborn. 

After half an hour of nodding and agreeing, clearly convicted by the Word of God, they said they had to go since they had an appointment at the clinic. They thanked me but drove off to the abortion center around the corner. 

Utterly deflating. 

My teammate had snapped a picture of me as the rain dripped from my hood into my face while I was counseling. (As always, careful to not photograph any of the identifying car features or the passengers.) The rain stopped shortly before we left for the day, and the sun came out, sparkling on the wet grass.

We had an afternoon team that came after we left. At the end of the day, the team lead, Sam, wrote the daily report for his time there. There were two saved babies and a third saved for that day, though they could well decide to return another day. He took a photo of our outreach team praying car-side with the mom, who had confirmed a choice for life after leaving the clinic.

It was the same car that had stopped for me, the one I had counseled while they munched their lunch, listening.

Sam confirmed it was the same number and make-up of passengers. The photos revealed it was the same car! 

God’s word does NOT return void. I understood a little more clearly why God had called me into the numbing, drenching rain.