An Open Letter to the Lady at Target

9 Responses

  1. Lauren D says:

    Thanks for sharing. It was a good reminder to me to check my thoughts when I see someone who is struggling. Do I respond with pride, apathy, or with the love of Jesus?

  2. amanda says:

    Daniel Franks – I simply love you. You are a good guy and a wonderful minister.

    My family is lucky to have you in our lives.

  3. Robin Pike says:

    This was a very touching post you made. They words you wrote brought tears to my eyes as I was in the same position 30 years ago. I wound up pregnant and had no one to turn to. I wish you would have said something to that lady as I am sure she would have appreciated it and just collapsed in your arms because someone was truly concerned… I know I would have loved to have someone like you.

    I know that God will help her through her time of distress and that He will guide her through the right decision.

    I have a feeling that I have found this post for a reason — God wanted me to read it. My family and I are struggling right now with not have a roof over our heads for a couple of weeks and now living in a home that doesn’t have fridge or stove, no tv, or phone. But we are working very hard to get ourselves out of this mess… and we will.

    Again, thank you for sharing this store… it has gotten my mind thinking…

    Robin 🙂

    • Danny says:

      Robin, thanks for commenting. I’ll be praying for you and your family as you work through your current struggles. I’d encourage you to memorize Lamentations 3:22-24: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

  4. Billbad says:

    So, let me get this straight. A perfectly normal girl is feeling nauseous one day and, like most normal girls, she presumes she must be pregnant, so, in between vomiting, she runs into her local big-box consumer store to get a test, …and someone concocts this entire sappy story from it? She’d probably get a kick out of this if she knew.

    The worst part of this story isn’t the possibly-pregnant girl who doesn’t happen to be a Christian cultist, but the millions of Chinese people living in shacks who made the big-box store possible for the writer (and the girl) to practice his/her fat, lazy, American consumerism. If there is a “sin” in this story, here it is!

    If the girl in Target was feeling any shame, it came from your widespread cult brainwashing, not from your imaginary sky man who would be forgotten if you wouldn’t keep convincing helpless, naive people.

    Where I come from, children grow up healthy & happy, with one parent or several, “married” or not, and, like me, they never quite understand the 3000 (yes, that many) conflicting cults of the world.

    I am the confident, educated, guilt-free result of not having a cult-twisted parent and I feel sorry for anyone who was, but not so much for the girl in Target who is enjoying her youth and ultimately continuing the cycle of human life outside of your archaic Christian ideology, as she should.

    Now, erase this quickly before you have time to consider it, then ask your imaginary friend to “save” me.

    • Danny says:

      Billbad,

      Thanks for taking time to comment on the post. Even though we’re in disagreement on my encounter & subsequent response to the post’s subject, I think we can clearly agree on one key point: if the lady was indeed pregnant, what she didn’t need was shame. She needed compassion, she needed a friend, she needed kindness (and of course that would be true whether she was pregnant or not). I hope you sensed that was my intent. I don’t subscribe to guilt, but grace, because that’s what I’ve been shown.

      While I can’t engage all 3000 “conflicting cults” in the world, I can engage you, since you responded to the post. I’m sorry you hold the view that you do on Christianity. While it’s certainly your right to do so, it’s simply not accurate to paint all Christians with the broad brush of “brainwashing…archaic…ideolog(ists),” just as it would be unfair for me to say that all atheists / agnostics / etc. are educated, articulate, free-thinking individuals. You fit that category, but certainly you can point to people who do not.

      You’re dead on that some Christians fall into the fundamentalist trap, but Jesus portrayed a gospel of grace and mercy. Don’t get me wrong – his life wasn’t just a model of how to “live right.” His death provided a way out of our sin. It’s obvious you don’t see that – perhaps because the hypocrisy and fundamentalism you have seen is clouding your view – but I’d encourage you to intellectually engage with scripture and with intelligent, articulate Christians before writing the whole thing off as the mad ravings of a cultist.

      I appreciate the open invitation to pray for you, which I will certainly do. Feel free to contact me either in this comment thread or via email (“Make Contact” tab above). I’d be happy to talk more.

      -Danny

  5. Amber says:

    Well Danny, This post certainly portrays the girls we see daily. They are scared and they need support and they need people like you who care.

    It brought tears to my eyes as you asked about her family, boyfriend, etc because that is what is so sad to us. So often she is alone or even worse she is being pressured by them all to do what her heart is telling her not to do.

    Yes, it would have been a bit weird and even creepy for you to approach her…BUT, I encourage you to get a few referral cards to the pregnancy centers and throw them in your wallet in case you have a similar thing happen again.

    A board member of mine would have them in her purse and if she saw a young person who was pregnant she would walk up and say, “You may have everything you need for your pregnancy but if you don’t then these people are here to support you.”

    I see your pastor’s heart and I appreciate it!
    ~Amber

  6. Cherry Jo Mercer says:

    Awesome insight Danny….God is certainly using you and Marion, your family, and your ministry for His glory. God bless you all. Praying for you as you guys minister at Cottage Grove this weekend.

  7. Amber says:

    I was so not looking for you to get blasted like that…..yowza. Thank you for responding from the same place you wrote the original piece. You showed class, compassion and good boundries both times. I appreciate a pastor modeling appropriate behavoir in real-life situations. This is what it is to be salt and light…..and to take the time to let God craft a loving response to senarios, real or imagined.

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