With Us, Not For Us  Today is World Down Syndrome Awareness Day and the theme is With Us, Not For Us. The theme may sound a bit odd until you think of how we might unconsciously "other" those with Down Syndrome. According to Down Syndrome International:
"The message of With Us Not For Us is key to a human rights-based approach to disability. DSi is committed to moving on from the outdated charity model of disability, where people with disability were treated as objects of charity, deserving of pity and relying on others for support." Did you know that children born with this syndrome usually lead full, healthy lives averaging 60 years? In spite of that fact, since the pre-natal screening for birth deformities has been available, many mothers with a positive test result are aborting their babies. The screeing is only 85% accurate, leading to false positives. We personally know of a few moms who were told that their baby would have Down Syndrome. They rejected the idea of abortion and their babies were born perfectly fine. Here at Aspire, we salute the moms and dads of Down Syndrome children and pray for our society to see ALL of God's children for what their are: a blessing from God Himself.
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Tomorrow Wednesday, March 8th has been designated International Women's Day. The banner below is from the United Nations website in "honor" of this day. Notice one BIG glaring omission? Every single woman is on a device. Where are the children? Not one of these women is holding a child, baking bread, feeding her family, or is even shown as having a family or husband! This is what those in places of power want for us women: fighting to climb corporate ladders, or being absorbed in social media instead of doing what we were designed to do! We were created to nurture, create and care. Tomorrow, let's let go of what the world wants us to do and celebrate all those who love life, care for family members and others, do the tough work of raising families and being married, or being celibate until marriage. Let's celebrate what the Lord has said is "good"!   Once again, Dick Pepin (meat master extraordinaire) is putting on a roast beef dinner to benefit the lifesaving work of Aspire Now. Please mark your calendars for May 13, 2023 at 5:30 pm to attend the "Save the Babies" dinner"
Tickets are $18.00 per person. The dinner will again be held at St. Mary's Parish Hall, 36 Fairfield St. in St. Albans. The menu: Roast Beef Mashed Potatoes Veggies Garden Salad Dessert, Coffee Vegetarian Option will also be available. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and prizes. Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus For tickets, please call: 802-524-5115 OR 802-879-0929 There is an industrious quilter up in the Franklin County area who loves babies and wants to keep them warm. Another package of quilts arrived today from her and we'd want to thank Ronna Messier for her care and thoughtfulness! Especially taking into consideration what it costs to mail them to us. Take a look at these beauties! One of her quilts went out the door today to a happy client who had just finished watching her baby jump up and down while having her second ultrasound. God is good!  Mobile Clinic Update: We want to let everyone know that we have decided to park the Clinic bus until Spring due to two critical reasons:
We are willing to travel and help where and when we can and we won't stop, but we need your prayers for favor. Thank you and God bless you!  We want to say a heartfelt "Thank You" to Holly Babcock, who has decided to retire. Holly always had a smile for anyone walking through the door and desired that all our clients come to know the Lord. We wish her all the best, relaxing and enjoying time with her family. Thank you and God bless you, Holly!  January is the month set aside to re-commit ourselves to remembering how precious life is. This year, the Sunday for observance falls on January 22nd. We have a short video which we will be asking our friend churches to show to their congregations. We're also adding it here. Please remember to pray this month for our frontline fight for life, as well as for two organizations gearing up to help new moms bypass the state systems. These are Christian organizations, offering practical help like giving rides, help with babysitting, mentoring as a family or individual, and helping with the many physical needs moms encounter when trying to raise a child. The Christian safety net, if you will! These two organizations which need your volunteer help are: Walking with Moms in Need: https://www.walkingwithmoms.com/ and Embrace Grace: https://embracegrace.com/ Let us know if you need more information on how to deepen your involvement. As always, we pray for you and for LIFE in Vermont! We have been very busy finishing out the old year and getting geared up for the new, but it's high time to catch you up a bit! We hosted an Open House for all of our friends on December 7 and 46 people attended for food and fellowship! We just want everyone who couldn't attend to know that we couldn't run this center without you and appreciate each and every one of you. We hope you can join us next year! And again this year, several friends of the ministry got together and donated gifts for the clients. We are so grateful to Diane Gates and her friends who choose a client each year and purchase gifts just for her from her Christmas list! This year's client was just so happy with her beautiful earrings, hair appointment, baby bath toys and organic baby food, that she was just beaming! Then there was another mountain of gifts that came in from several friends, representing local Catholic churches, three separate times. One man brought in his family's offerings (several bags and a box or more) because he missed the pickup date. We were able to share with him how a stocking from the main delivery earlier had just been a "God thing", as it contained exactly what the client who received it desperately needed. When Deb and Grace saw the stocking, they both thought of the same client as the recipient. God is SO good; she was just so grateful for everything. We're posting just a few photos to give you just an idea of the abundance meant to bless the clients. We hope that the Lord blesses each and every one of you with a peaceful Christmas season, filled with God's love and grace. Thank you!
 Deb and all the staff wish you and yours a very blessed Thanksgiving. God is good, all the time!  |
