Tag-Archive for ◊ teen moms ◊

04 Mar 2009 Teen moms, a new ministry for me….
Author: admin |  Category: Stay at home moms, teen moms  | Tags: , , , , , ,  | One Comment

Last week I met with our Director for YoungLives (a part of YoungLife Youth Ministry that works specifically with Teen Moms), I have been involved with this for about 3 months now so I am definitely a newbie…. She was just checking in with me to see how it was going with the young teen mom I have been mentoring. I think it is both up and down but that is really how it is with teens anyway so it wasn’t a bad observation really. We are slowly getting to know each other and my thing is to just let her know I am there for her and I am a constant in her life. Someone who will listen and just be there.

As we were talking I realized how little we all know about the young girls we minister to, our goal is to really share God’s love for them and their babies and hopefully lead them to making the decision of accepting Christ as their savior. We invite them with no questions really, we don’t pry or judge, we just want them to come and get involved.  Many of the girls go to the same school which is good since they already know one another.  It is wonderful when a young woman is drawn to one of the volunteers and they make a connection.  That is the goal of mentoring as well, to make a connection and have a relationship that doesn’t require anything from the teen but being real and being who they are.  We try and provide a very safe environment for them so they want to come back and they want to get to know the other gals.  It is sad really that so many young women in our valley don’t have a family unit they can rely on. There isn’t the stability or model of a family for them to look at and model themselves. In some cases the women who volunteer in our group are the only real examples they have.

Some of the girls have more than one child, they are so young themselves and raising children is such a huge responsibility.  What I have seen so far is these girls love their babies and are trying their best to be good moms and do what they need to do to provide a good and stable home for them.  It’s hard to not swoop in and try to “fix” their lives, I know that is not our job but our job is to show them by example how God works in our own lives.  It is really awesome to watch some of the leaders that have been involved for quite a while interact with these girls, they are like lionesses, loving and protective!

It’s funny really when you volunteer to be a part of a ministry hoping to help and make a difference and you end up being the one impacted by the people you are trying to minister to. I find myself looking forward to club and the message as the gal that shares at each Club is just an incredible women of God and I just enjoy getting to know her better! It also gives me another opportunity to spend time with and share with my teen mom and I like that as well, she gave her heart to the Lord a while ago and has been opening up to me more and more and I feel so privileged to be part of her life. It has been a 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of process getting to know her so if you are reading this….pray for us!

Being a Stay at Home Mom opened up this opportunity to me and I am very thankful for that! My little one gets to play with the kids and I get to have fun as well, a win win situation all around!

We have Campaigner’s today which is a more intimate discussion group, hopefully my little gal will remember!! (the last club we had, I went to pick her up and she had forgot :( , that would be the 1 step back!!! :) )

Have a blessed day!
Grace

02 Feb 2009 YoungLives – a ministry for teen moms…..
Author: admin |  Category: teen moms  | Tags: , , , ,  | One Comment

Last November I was approached by a friend of mine to see if I was interested in becoming a Mentor Mom for a teen mom.  She has been working with YoungLives which is part of YoungLife, a Christian based organization active in high schools and they work specifically with teen moms.   When I was a teenager I was involved with them and was able to go to their  Malibu camp which is in Canada and went on a hiking trip called Beyond Malibu the following year so I knew a little about what their mission was all about.  My husband and I have also been involved with youth in the past and he has an ongoing ministry he does that works along side YoungLife as well.

I told her I would give it some thought and pray about it and let her know.  I talked to my husband and he thought it was a great idea and what did it involve etc.   The commitment is for a year, and that you would attend the monthly club meetings and contact your teen mom once a week either by phone or getting together with her etc.  Feeling I had a lot on my plate already I thought about it and prayed about it and decided I could probably fit this in my schedule and I would like to get involved.

I meet up with my friend and went through all the details, I told her I was a bit nervous about this and felt very inadequate, she assured me I was a “cool” mom and that I would do great!  Feeling encouraged I told her to set up a meeting so I could meet my teen mom.

With one thing or another we didn’t get to meet until December and the first club wasn’t until December 17th so I have only been at this a few weeks really, she is a lively young woman with a lovely little girl who will be one in a couple of weeks.  She has a lot of challenges ahead of her but has some family support which is great.  I am working through the getting to know her process and trying to build our relationship.

There are quite a few young mothers involved with Young Lives, it is amazing to see them with their little ones, really only children themselves being forced to grow up quickly and be moms and make adult decisions.  The role of the Mentor Moms is just to be supportive, teach life skills that might be lacking and just be there to listen and well just be there, be a constant in their lives, someone they can depend upon especially in the cases where maybe no support system exists.

We had another club meeting in January and that was quite fun, we played games, did a craft and had dinner and we have a wonderful mom who is a speaker for each meeting and she really has a heart for the Lord and a heart for these young women and their children.

It’s always amazing to me when we get involved with things, having the intention of helping other people and then we end up getting so much out of it ourselves.  God is so good that way!  I am looking forward to the year and building this new relationship and hopefully with God’s help I can we can make a difference in this young life!

Do you have a story to share?  Something that has touched your life?  Write to me and let me know!

Blessings!

Grace