Reflecting on the March for Life

The conference that Y4Life hosted was also an amazing experience. We heard from multiple speakers who talked with us about how to defend life from a Gospel-motivated perspective while still holding fast to our beliefs. We learned how dating and marriage are both sacred gifts from God, even though the world is attempting to redefine, destroy, and abuse these gifts. We learned how our lives are infinitely valuable to God and discussed how He calls us into many different yet specific vocations. We also discussed our identity in Christ, and we were reminded again and again that we are loved, baptized children of God, and that is where our true identity is found.

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Love Like St. Valentine

How interesting that Valentine’s Day, February 14th, the day we celebrate love, is St. Valentine’s death date. At first glance it is odd, but the Christian can see the beautiful association of love and death. In a way, agape love or sacrificial love is death; it requires doing what is necessary to uphold another’s life – even laying down one’s life for another. Jesus died on the cross, not merely to show us He loves us, but also to pay for our sins and our shame. His act of love enables us to put to death our love of worldly sinful things. St. Valentine befriended Julia, healed her from her blindness, and shared the Gospel with her. Jesus befriends us and heals us of a different type of blindness, the blindness we have towards our sin. Once we see our sin, we understand the fullness of the Gospel and the Word of God through the Holy Spirit. 

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Suffering – Useful or Useless?

By Macy Froetschner Canada has one of the highest euthanasia rates in the world. According to The Guardian, euthanasia is among the top six leading causes of death. Why is Canada, and many states in the United States, choosing to …

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Lessons in Suffering

By Jenna Smith It is a natural human reaction to dodge suffering. We all procrastinate homework, swerve around potholes, and take painkillers to keep from feeling pain and discomfort. This was my experience when I was 15 and my parents …

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Becoming a Mother: Three Lessons on Love

Nadia Hartwig Ever since I can remember, my dream has been to be a mom. Simultaneously, my whole life, I have believed in the sanctity of life. Naturally, these two aspects of my identity have overlapped and informed one another. …

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Bearing Burdens with Joy

By Macy Froetschner As I reflect on Ephesians 4, I am humbled by the beauty of Christ’s Church. Paul paints an image of one body, intricately connected, with Christ as the head. This body is held together by God’s perfect …

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Waves and Ripples

By Michelle Bauman, Director of Y4Life The spring rains have come. The trees are budding, and the flowers are blooming: It will be graduation season soon. As a former teacher in Lutheran schools, the month of May carries with it …

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Crown of Thorns

By Kate Roberts While wandering around the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I stumbled across a plant called the crown-of-thorns plant, or the Christ plant. A beautiful succulent with a thorny stem and brightly colored flowers, it is …

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