Tag-Archive for ◊ Younglives ◊

20 Apr 2009 My Journey as a Mentor Mom continues…
Author: admin |  Category: Stay at home moms  | Tags: , , , , ,  | One Comment

As you know (if you’ve been following me :) ) that I am a Mentor Mom for YoungLives which is part of YoungLife.  In my last post My Journey as  Mentor Mom part 1 my Teen Mom was MIA!  Her phone had been shut off by her Grandma and I had no way to get in touch with her unless I hunted her down and I am not inclined to do that, it just isn’t my style at all.

So, I sent her a card shortly after that and had no response which sorta bummed me out a bit but I wasn’t totally surprised.  Then about a week ago I received a bunch of upcoming events for YoungLives and I thought maybe this would get her attention so I sent her another cute card with all the info on and asked her to  CALL ME!! (which I wrote all throughout the note as well :) I can be a bit obnoxious when I want to be!! ha!!)

And Wohoo!! last Monday she called! YAY!! Sure enough one of the “events” had gotten her attention so we are back in the loop again!!!  We had a Spa day yesterday which 9 girls attended and got pampered beyond belief.  My Teen couldn’t be there but she is interested in the upcoming Club we are having on Wednesday where we are taking pictures of the girls and their babies!  She also wants to bring a friend as well who has a 2 year old.  I am thinking, this is great!!! God is good!

We have talked several times and hopefully soon she will have her phone on again soon but in the meantime she has given me the times when I can get in touch with her via her Grandma’s phone and that yes she does want to still have me in her life which I am excited about.  From my own experience as a Mom I know that teenagers can be a bit flighty and change with the wind and I am hopeful the wind will blow in my direction for at least a little while.  I know the other women I am volunteering with have been praying for my situation and I am so thankful for that.

With the nice weather I am hoping my Teen mom and I can get together more and do fun things like play-dates at the park, hitting some yard sales, swimming, bar-b-ques etc.  She is a very sweet girl and a great mom and I am praying for the opportunity to really get to know her better, get beyond the niceties and fluff and who knows…..I am sure to learn something along the way!

So I leave you feeling hopeful!

Enjoy!

Grace

25 Mar 2009 My Journey as a Mentor Mom…..
Author: admin |  Category: teen moms  | Tags: , , , ,  | 2 Comments

OK, so I have told you about being a Mentor Mom with YoungLives (part of YoungLife) well I guess at this point in the process I have reached frustration!  A couple of weeks ago, I guess three now, I picked her up and she and I and our little ones went to coffee and had a good visit.  She was excited to be going on a Ladies retreat at church with her Grandma and her boyfriend and her brother had just gotten baptized and I thought this is great!

Well, then the following Monday when I called to see how the retreat went etc and to just touch base with her she didn’t answer so I left a message asking a couple of questions and letting her know we had Campaigner’s (which is more of an intimate gathering) on that Wednesday etc and to please call me back when she got the message.  I don’t like to be a pest so I left it at that.  I did not hear back from her so the next day I called and her phone said she wasn’t accepting phone calls……sigh!

Bummer! so I kept trying thinking it might work at some point.  No, WRONG!  It didn’t.  Well on Wednesday I volunteered to give a ride to another teen mom with her kids to the meeting and before picking her up I swung by my teen mom’s house to see if she was around.  Her brother was in the yard with some friends so I talked to him and he called her as she was at her boyfriend’s house but something got lost in translation as her boyfriend hung up on him…..hmmmmmm!!!!!

We had a meeting about a week and a half ago with all the Mentor moms and talked about where we were at with our teens and so forth.  Well, at the moment I am not anywhere.  I am hesitant to track her down so to speak.  I sent her a card with all my contact details asking her to please get in touch and I that I missed getting together and hoped she would give me a call.  Well, so far I haven’t heard anything from her.  I have my now four year old with me and I don’t want to bring her into what could be an awkward situation if I have to go over to her house.  So, basically I don’t know what to do.

My leader stopped by her house last week and no one was home.  I am hoping she will try again.  In many ways these are girls who need someone constant in their lives but at our meeting we talked about the fact that some girls don’t have a Mentor and might want one do we continue to try if we are a Mentor to a girl who doesn’t really want one?  Hard questions I know.  I thought we were just getting to the point of having a connection together and then it falls apart.

So, at this point I am praying for her and not really knowing how to proceed.  I know I am not the only Mentor having these kinds of issues so I am thankful we have each other to talk to and some of us have small children of our own and keeping them safe and in a good place is first on our list.  I am not the kind of person that pursues someone…..I just don’t operate that way, maybe when I was younger but not now…and maybe that means I am not cut out for this.  I don’t know.  I think I am in it for a reason so I don’t want to give up but I do feel a bit lost!

Till next time….
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