Appeals Courts Uphold Abortion Finding

NEW YORK - Two federal appeals courts on opposite sides of the country declared the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act unconstitutional Tuesday, saying the measure lacks an exception for cases in which a woman's health is at stake.
The first ruling came from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hours later, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a similar decision in a 2-1 ruling.

The New York decision affirmed a 2004 ruling by a judge who upheld the right to perform the procedure even as he described the procedure as "gruesome, brutal, barbaric and uncivilized."

Tuesday's ruling was marked by an unusually sharp dissent by Judge Chester J. Straub, who said he believed Congress' determination that the procedure was never medically necessary to protect a women's health was well founded and supported by a lower court ruling.

"Allowing a physician to destroy a child as long as one toe remains within the mother would place society on the path towards condoning infanticide," he said.

He added: "I find the current expansion of the right to terminate a pregnancy to cover a child in the process of being born morally, ethically and legally unacceptable."

The California court said the law was vague and so broad that no other remedy was possible except to throw it out.

"We are reluctant to invalidate an entire statute," Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote. "However, after considering all of the obstacles to our devising a narrower remedy, we conclude that such is our obligation."

The panel also rejected arguments made by the Justice Department that there was general agreement among doctors that such late-term abortions were never necessary to preserve the health of a woman.

"The government all but admits in its reply brief that no medical consensus exists regarding the need for the prohibited procedures to preserve the health of women in certain circumstances," the panel concluded.

Justice Department attorneys also said the procedure is inhumane and causes pain to the fetus. A government lawyer argued it "blurs the line of abortion and infanticide."

The law, signed in 2003, banned a procedure known to doctors as intact dilation and extraction and called partial-birth abortion by abortion foes. The fetus is partially removed from the womb, and the skull is punctured or crushed. The procedure is generally performed in the second trimester.

Monster Jam 2006

Yeah Baby, this was so much fun. I will post the pictures and links
later!!!!!!

Journal entry 1/24/05

My world is spinning
How can I make this stop
Lord show me how to cope
I am nothing more than your hope
How can I slow things down
Why do I keep getting stress
I turn to you in my weakness
Even when things look so bleak
Did I not praise you enough
Things are so rough
Show me your glory
So I may praise your name every sunrise
Lord help me get through this trial
I am overwhelmed and tired of crying
This world spins so fast
Dizzy I still try and find my way
Father in Heaven, I need your strength
Bring tomorrow a new beginning
Letting go of things below
Adonai, I focus on you
My El Shaddai, you never say Good bye
Keep me close to your warmth
Straying from you, you are my North.

A little overwhelmed

I find myself lately always being totally overwhelmed and just crying because I just do not know how to handle all that is going on in our lives right now. I have a new boss at work who is totally crazy, on a power trip, unable to communicate, and totally lost all at the same time. It's making work very tense and uncomfortable for all of us girls in the office right now. None of us know how to handle this woman, and all we can do is log the actions of this new boss that are wrong and bring it before the big boss to try and correct the situation. All of the girls in the office have sat down with this woman to tell her all the issues we are having and nothing has changed. So that's one thing...
Second, Ministry is taking up a lot of time. We find a lot of days out of the week we are never home. Our place is constantly dirty because... well I am never home to take care of the place. Part of the reason is our ministry is in Riverside and we live in Colton. We never have food in the house because well we are never home to eat it and if I do buy food it goes bad before we ever touch it. I am not much feeling like a good wife who takes care of the house because of these things. I want to be home more and I know when I have kids things are really gonna have to slow down for Andrew and I because I refuse to be a "single mom"... and I mean that in the fact that if he doesn't slow down he will never be home to help raise our children. So anyway, we're mad crazy busy... ehhh.
Lastly, we spent $600 last month to fix Andrew's truck. This month, we spent $300 to fix my car because well our buddies put my brakes on wrong and a ball joint went out. Then the mechanic proceeds to give us a page long list of things that need to be done on my car in 5000 to 10000 miles. I am freaking out a little because we had planned on waiting til next year to buy a new car for me and my future kids. We are not ready financially to be able to afford another car payment let alone us being able to even qualify for the loan. It's a vicious circle right now. I pay stuff off and then stuff like this happens right after. I want a new car but man we just cannot afford it right now. So, our problem is this... do we spend the $3000 to get all the things wrong with my car fixed or do we use that $3000 to put down on a new(er) car. We don't know what to do, so basically we are praying really hard right now and waiting til after tax returns to see where we are financially to move onto the next step unless something horrible happens in between now and tax returns.

Arghh, so much. Keep me in your prayers as everything is just coming in all at once right now weighing heavy on me. I am really keeping all this in prayer that I won't be stressed out. It's so hard for me to understand why for some people my age things fall into their laps and for us it just never seems that way.

2 burros hit in one day

If you don't already know out in Reche Canyon wild burros live in the
canyon and signs are posted everywhere in the canyon about beware of wild
burros. I am so outraged at the people who drive through the canyon like
idiots and hit these burros and they die. This morning driving to work a
person was killed because the burros went through the windshield. And
tonight in front of me the car hit the burros and just kept driving it is
so sad. So I am in the process of writing a letter to san bernardino
newspaper to report the incidents and ask people to please SLOW DOWN while
driving in the canyon.

Now due to people driving fast in the canyon 2 people are dead in less than
4 months.

Journal entry

A page has turned in this life
a new chapter has begun
Mighty gusts of wind blow
another day passes
another moment we
haven't reached out you
The blazing sun sets an another day
felt in the heat, grow more
You stoop low
and my voice whispers "Father?"
With your love written in beauty
across the skies
How could we forget your love
Soft whispers in the wind
Do you love me?
Brought a new morning
and fresh beginnings
In each day, how can we ask for
more blessings
We have received our blessing
of breathing life and loving God
Haven't we been given enough
how can we ask for more?
In every moment it's heard
My grace is sufficient for you.

The unborn

Taken from Pastor Cor:
Our world protects the endangered species and their unborn but there is no
punishment for the unborn human. You can get rid of a baby in a dumpster
and not get punished but if you steal a endangered turtle egg you get fined.
More unborn babies are killed/aborted than people were killed during the
Jewish Holocaust.

Teaching me

So much is going on, Andrew is getting ordained in February so once he gets
tested he will be able to pastor, baptize, and marry.
God is teaching me so much right now, in a lot of ways Andrew and I are
"flying by the seat of our pants". Right now all we can see is bricks being
laid without a clear path as to where it is leading. It is so awesome
because we are just trusting God to lay out the plans for us. I am so
excited to see what lies around the corner. Our life is so simple because
of where we live. And I just love life simple. Please pray for us that God
will reveal his plan for us :)

No personal rights

" To yield this way in suffering obedience to the Father's will meant that
Jesus had to totally give up His personal rights. Paul tells us how Jesus
"did not count equality with Gid a thing to be grasped, but made himself
nothing, taking the form of a servant" (Phillipians 2:6-7 ESV). As God's
willing servant and the servant of mankind, Jesus "humbled Himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even to the death of the cross"
(2:8). Jesus gave Himself over to God, to learn and to do His Father's will.
One of the great hindrances for Christians is the way so many of us try to
cling to our rights and what we thing we deserve. The truth is, when you
became a Christian, you give over all the rights of your life to the One
who has the unquestionable right to be your Lord. You believe Him, you
trust Him, and let Him accomplish His purpose through your life without
regard to whatever you think you might deserve. Taking up your cross-
living by the cross of Christ- means no more rights....
And that yieldness, that release of Himself to God, required that Jesus
endure a horror that you and I- because of His obedience- will never have
to face this terror that He endured is something we must now emplore to
better understand the cross.' "

Taken from "Experiencing the Cross" by Henry Blackaby

God told me to Marry you??

A young man woke up with the strong impression that God wanted him to marry
a young lady he dated a few times. But, in reality, the couple barely knew
each other. The next day he called her and relayed the message. The girl
figured that she shouldn't argue with God, so she accepted the proposal.
Since their marriage seven years ago, they've struggled for survival.
Anyone who believes that God guatantees every Christian a successful search
for the perfect marriage partner is in for a shock. This does not mean that
He is disinterested in the matter. But God does not perform routine
matchmaking services for those who worship Him. To honor our trust in Him,
He gives us wisdom, common sense, an discretion, and He expects us to use
them.

-Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the family bulletin vol. 18, no. 12

My husband is so WONDERFUL!

This morning he surprised me and my office with Panera Bread bagels with
cream cheese. Cinnamon crunch is really good! Also bought me my photoshop
Elements I have been wanting and iWork for our laptop. Then later today he
had flowers send to my office, he is such a wonderful husband I love him!!!

Journal Entry

As I look at this red, red sky
Gentle reminders of your cross

A sacrfice so great it covered all my wrongs
You see my sins so serious

Why do I see it light
Your blood so precious, Your love so great

Let me be a mirror that reflects your love
Your wonderful sky and gracious light

Have sent me a vision
Visions of a path that has set my life on fire

I want to understand you more, open my mind
Open this heart so I can love you even more

Your blood atones for all my life
I thank you Almighty Father for me, you cherish

Lord, don't let me sit and not want more
Even if I can do nothing, Lord I want you to use me

Honorable One, can I sit at your feet
Let me learn more, so others can see

My wishes for 2006

Hearing Skillet play right after the clock hit 12 really helped me reflect a little more. My wish this year is just to let go more. I get better and
better as time goes on, but all I can think about is the decisions Andrew &
I make not anyone else's. I know this year is going to be good to all of my
circle of friends, and I just cannot wait to see what God has waiting
around the corner for all of us. From Andrew & I, to all of you reading
this: May God bless you with another year to grow deeper with God and that
you would allow God to use you for mightily for His glory ALWAYS. We love
all of you very deeply, genuinely, and kindly. We wish only the best for
you!!! Follow God closely and listen to and for his voice.

From our family to yours,
Andrew and Kendra Holybee