Sunday Snippets 11/13/11

Here are my posts from the last week:

Beards for Breath Through 2 a recap and bit of encouragement for those participating in Beards for Breath through 2 weeks of November.

And

My Favorite Vets about my family members and friends that have served our country.

Beards for Breath through 2

Day 1

Here is a message I sent to the participants (those who have indicates they are "attending") of Beards for Breath event on Facebook.

Here is a link to the Facebook page for the event : Facebook : Beards for Breath

Day 10

Prayers for you all!!

Almost 2 weeks is up, can you believe it!? How are the beards coming in? How itchy has it been? Isn't it a beautiful thing that in our lack of comfort and less than desireable appearance (maybe for some) that we can offer up our suffering and unite it with the suffering of our Savior, Jesus Christ?!?! Amen!

Know that our prayers do not go unnoticed. They may appear to go unnoticed in our eyes or in the eyes of our peers, but God recognizes what we're doing and what great cause we are praying for. He is (as always) listening to and answering our prayers.
Did you know that in just 2 weeks that follow conception the cells of a human are already moving and those cells are the blueprints of hair and eye color, height and sex? Or that digestive organs begin to develop along with bones and muscles?!? Isn't that amazing??
Praise God for the gift of life and how each of us is beautifully and wonderfully made in His image.

If you have a specific prayer request for someone you know or know of, please share on the event page or please inbox me and I will anonymously message all or post on the event page.
God bless you and keep it up prayer warriors!
**Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. Please spare the life of the unborn child that I have spiritually adopted that is in danger of abortion.**
**Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. Please spare the life of the unborn child that I have spiritually adopted that is in danger of abortion.**
**Jesus, Mary, and Joseph................**

Beards for Breath Year 2

Here is a link to my blog from last year when I first introduced Beards for Breath.

Beards for Breath 2010 Blog

Here is a link to the Facebook page to join the cause this year.

Beards for Breath Facebook page

And here is what Beards for Breath is all about:

For the 2nd straight year, through the power of beards and fasting we are uniting to pray for the sanctity of life.

Most of us are familiar with what has become known as "No Shave November" a great time for men everywhere to join uniting in hairy faces. Each year I am asked to join friends in this shaveless endeavor and each year I am hesitant to commit. There are a few reasons I am hesitant, 1. I have symmetrical bald spots o...n my face preventing the growth of a full and natural beard. And 2. What is the reason for not shaving, is there a cause or what?

So this November I again invite you to join a cause for “No Shave November” and that is “Beards for Breath”. Some of you know that October is/was pro-life month, but why should it end in October? So instead of just not shaving I invite you to FAST from shaving, thus an opportunity to offer something up in prayer for the protection and sanctity of life at all stages.

Last year several women told me of penances they offered up in conjunction with men growing beards. Several told me of not shaving their legs and some even went as far as not dying there hair for the entire month! Thank you ladies!

So every time you itch your face or are running your hands through your beard and think how much it is driving you crazy, offer it up and say a prayer for those little ones that have yet to take a breath, for those who were never given a chance to breathe, or for those whose life was unjustly ended.

Now I understand that some of you may be hesitant to commit to this due to a female influence; girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, etc. Well invite them to join you. Not to stop shaving, but to offer up how bad you might look or how much they might hate your facial hair in prayer that the unborn might have the chance to breath.

So many men & women are contracepting or considering an abortion - most have never even considered the life they have created.

Have you thought of your beard as a weapon? Well this month it can be. Just think, each time someone asks you why you're growing out your facial hair you have a great opportunity to witness to the pro-life cause. And each day you look in the mirror know how angry the devil is at the choice you've made to stand up for life.

So men (and women) let us sharpen our razors one last time this Monday the 31st and then let us unite in prayer and hairy faces as we pray for an end to abortion and for all to have the right to life!

At request of Papa

About one month ago I came up with the “Beards for Breath” idea. I wasn’t quite sure what the response would be or if people would even want to take part in it. Well only a few weeks into the event hundreds of people said that they would be uniting in my prayer for lives of the unborn. And I’m sure it made a difference.

This past month I have prayed so intentionally for an end to abortion. This past month of prayer has been an emotional one for me, I have been in tears and I have rejoiced. I’ve been In tears because if you have a heart and you think about what abortion is and what it does to a person or family..... are you supposed to be happy? I rejoiced after this: about halfway through the month someone asked me to pray for a girl that her 16 year old sister knew at school. The girl was pregnant and asked a friend to take her to an abortion clinic, but the friend said no. (Praise Jesus!) But the friend that said no was worried that the girl would ask someone else to take her. It was at this point that I learned about this girl and asked the “Beards for Breath” group to pray specifically for this girl and her unborn child. About a week later I learned that the girl that was pregnant had since asked her friend that refused to take her to the clinic to be with her when she told her parents that she is pregnant and that she wanted to keep the child!!! (Thanks be to God!!)

About this same time of the month I learned that Pope Benedict XVI called for a worldwide day of prayer with the intention being an end to abortion. Certainly he was calling on the Catholic Church, but really the invitation was to everyone with a pro-life passion. The day was yesterday 11/27/10 and Pope Benedict began the Advent season by celebrating a solemn “Vigil for all nascent human life” at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Yesterday I thought about this day Pope Benedict called for and thought about how neat it is that the entire Catholic Church was praying for the same intention yesterday. I thought about this especially when I prayed my rosary last night. Saturday the mysteries of the rosary are the Joyful mysteries, there are 5.

1.The Annunciation of Gabriel unto Mary. (LK 1:30-38)
2.Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth (LK 1:39-45)
3.The birth of Jesus (LK 2:1-7)
4.The presentation of Jesus in the Temple (LK 2:22-24)
5.The finding of Jesus in the Temple (LK 2:41-51)

To those unfamiliar with the rosary: it is a devotion to the Blessed Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary. We reflect on moments in the life of Mary and Jesus while reciting the Hail Mary. Tonight it was more special to pray this than usual. I offered the intention of praying my rosary last night for an end to abortion and for the lives of the unborn not realizing that I would soon enter into prayer while contemplating the single greatest pro-life moment in the world. That moment when Mary, a virgin was told she would conceive a child, but instead of taking her fate and the fate of the child into her own hands, she simply said YES to life. Then Mary visits Elizabeth and Elizabeth recognizes her as blessed and finally Mary gives birth to Jesus.

From the beginning life has been a gift from God and although we may not have planned a pregnancy, God has. And even when we think we may have “planned” a pregnancy, God knew even before conception of that child.

I feel there is nothing coincidental about the timing of Pope Benedict’s call out to Pro-lifers to unite yesterday in prayer. Last evening as the official beginning of the Advent season we need to pray for more than an end to abortion and for the gift of life, but we need to pray for and prepare for the most important birth in the history of the world, a birth that we will celebrate in just 27 days. Are you ready?

The Devil hates Beards

Monday morning, like any other morning I left my apartment, hopped in my truck, and drove to school. I arrived, got out of my truck and started to walk away when I noticed something strange on my bumper. I have 4 stickers on the back of my truck, 2 U of WI Eau Claire, 1 Green Bay Packers and one that reads "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." Jeremiah 1:5 ProlifeWisconsin.org. One of these stickers was partially torn this morning. Any guesses as to which one? It looks like an animal took a bite out of the corner of it, certainly something that was carefully done, not just by chance or nature.

As I walked to campus with a few coworkers I shared with them what had happened. After a short pause I told them, "the devil hates my beard." And there is no doubt that this month the devil hates beards being grown for "Beards for Breath," and if he hates it, that can only mean that Someone else loves it. Did you ever think that a beard or prayers for beards (thanks ladies!) would bring glory to God?

If Jesus has a plan for us before we are formed in the womb, wouldn't satan want that plan derailed before one was out of the womb? Satan loves to see souls ruined in the womb, or out, and Jesus loves to see souls, that He has created, come into the world moving closer to a relationship with Him and closer to bringing Him glory.

And this month with a lot of prayer, a little sacrifice and suffering our beards are bringing glory to God and saving souls and lives.

So persevere through the discomfort and itchiness because not only does satan hate it, but Jesus loves it.

Amen.

Beards for Breath Recognition

Well as some of you know, earlier this week I created an event on Facebook called "Beards for Breath". The idea started to develop last weekend while I was at Montclair State University for a men's night hosted by Fr. Jim Chern and Patrick Rivera-a FOCUS missionary at Montclair State. In all there were about 15 men that attended, we had a lot of great discussion throughout the night. My favorite was probably reflecting on a video we watched. The video was an episode from the "Band of Brothers" HBO series. I'm not sure what the episode was called, but it was about the medic of the platoon while the men were fighting in France. It showed how much this man served as a servant to those men and how he guarded the heart of a nurse that he no doubt had a desire for. It was great for us men who are in a battle of our own (a spiritual battle) to see a man serving his brothers and sisters so well and so courageously.

Throughout the night we enjoyed some great food, a bonfire, small explosions, and ended the the night as all manly men did last Saturday night, by watching the UFC Fight. Between the fights during UFC the topic of "No Shave November" came up. Several men were talking about how they would do it, but would like to do if for a purpose, cause, or motivation. I agreed.

A few days later I came up with the idea for "Beards for Breath". I was hesitant to share the idea at first because I thought it seemed like a bit of a stretch, but then I thought and wrote my last blog and with the encouragement of a few others, I shared it with the Facebook world on Wednesday.

Since then over 1000 people have checked out the "Beards for Breath" event page. And 400 of those have committed their facial hair ( or leg hair, way to go ladies!) for the next month to the lives of the unborn and preborn. Check out the page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=156894877678868&index=1

The page has also stirred up a great debate. More than 50 have posted their own thoughts on the page, most of them stating their stance on the issue of abortion. Every time I check the page more people have been invited, so thank you to all for inviting your friends.

The page has also attracted the attention of a nationally known speaker Dave DiNuzzo. Today he posted on his website, some information about the "Beards for Breath" event. Thanks Dave! See the blog here: http://www.truemanhood.com/

The idea behind "Beards for Breath" is described both on the Facebook event page and in my last blog. The idea is to offer up our suffering and fasting of not shaving for the souls of the unborn and preborn, but over all to bring glory to the Kingdom of God.