Happy Independence Day from Nebraska!

(PC Angela Marino)

We had an amazing weekend in Lincoln celebrating independence!

(PC Angela Marino)

On the 4th, we headed to the Omaha Zoo, the top zoo in the nation. They had an aquarium with puffins, huge fish, sharks, and best of all, penguins! This one very happy penguin kept swimming into the glass without realizing it. Bump, bump, bump, and he just kept swimming forward with an adorable smile. So cute!

(PC Angela Marino)

(PC Angela Marino)

The zoo also had spindly giraffes, rhinos which loved to roll in the mud, all the big cats you can imagine, bears including a very hot polar bear who looked out of his element, and an entire butterfly pavilion! Unique to this zoo was the habitats – a desert, swamp, and rainforest with many animals living in the same environment. It was quite an adventure.

(PC Clarissa James)

Afterwards, we headed back to our wonderful hosts…the School Sisters of Christ the King. They barbequed kabobs and corn, fed us all-you-can-eat watermelon, and topped it off with s’mores. We had such an enjoyable evening talking and hanging out with these lovely brides of Christ.

(PC Clarissa James)

(PC Angela Marino)

Once it was dark, the sisters set up a humongous collection of fireworks. Being from California, I’d never set off any that shoot up into the air. Even the sparklers they had are illegal in my home state! We joined a few of the younger sisters in setting off the fireworks…they had a blast! Since they live in the country, we could see a score of firework displays from Lincoln, lining up along the horizon line.

Mother played her guitar as we sang patriotic and folk songs. The sister’s sweet voices filled the air, and although we constantly messed up the lyrics, it was quite lovely. The evening ended with compline, night prayer. The fireworks sounded on through the night, stretching out over fields full of fireflies.

Corn, Cows, And…Is That Salad?

Oh, Nebraska. You have taught me so much. For one thing, you’re not just flat corn fields. I’ve seen cattle ranches (that smell to high heaven), green meadows over small hills, and clouds that stretch out across the sky like pink frescos of the Sistine Chapel. Lovely orange sunsets sink before my eyes behind silhouetted trees.

(PC Lauren Mach)

(PC Lauren Mach)

Nebraska is also very wild. I’ve shot my first gun, seen a tractor rodeo and a beard growing contest, and jumped in a bin of corn. I’ve tried Runza (I wasn’t too impressed), rhubarb pie (again, not that impressive), Nebraskan beef (okay that was good), an old fashioned chocolate ice cream soda (yum!), and discovered that salad in Nebraska usually involves fruit, marshmallows, and Cool Whip!

(PC Angela Marino)

The people here are so friendly and generous. We’ve been taken out to breakfast nearly every day this week and last! More people have honked, waved, and given us thumbs up than anywhere else.One lady in North Platte gave us three huge pans of cookies saying, “You’re walking for Jesus? Then you get ALL the cookies.” 

Once after daily Mass, a couple parishioners took us out for breakfast. But when they went up to pay, we found out a an anonymous stranger had paid for our ticket! Last night, we headed to Applebees to celebrate an awesome day. A lady came over to our table and said, “Did I hear correctly that you’re walking across the country? And you all are pro-life? That’s so wonderful!” When we asked for the check later, the waitress told us this sweet lady had paid for us.

Keep it up, Nebraska. Your parishes are actively pro-life, your people are wonderful, and we are very blessed.

I’m Walking Across the Country for Life!

One walk. One RV. 8 people. 15 miles per person per day. 3000 total miles.

San Francisco, Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Lincoln, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Steubenville, Washington D.C.

Today, I leave on the adventure of a lifetime. For the next several months, I will be walking with Crossroads Pro-life Walks to raise awareness for the dignity of all human life, especially the unborn. We walk in shifts throughout the day, camp out at night, speak in churches and pray at abortion clinics on weekends.

So, why am I doing this? First of all, I feel called to do something more for the pro-life movement. The new evangelization calls for creativity. If abortion is the greatest human rights abuse of our time, we need to do our utmost to raise awareness to it, educate people, and then end it. Doing something radical like walking clear across the country definitely draws attention to the pro-life cause!

I’m sacrificing my summer (and my feet) because I want to raise awareness of the value and intrinsic worth each human being possesses. I’m doing this in memory of my 55 million unborn brothers and sisters who have been killed by abortion. I’m doing this for the mothers and fathers who have suffered the loss of their child, and live in silent regret and pain. I’m doing this to touch the lives of the silent majority who refuses to speak up for the unborn because of apathy.

I’ll keep you updated as often as possible through this blog. Please pray for me as I embark on this journey. God bless you all!