You see I am privileged to play a part in a ministry that God has entrusted me for teen moms. I will share more of my story in later posts and how I came to serve in this capacity.
You see I never thought that miracles happen today, yes I knew about the miracles that we all talk about childbirth, the moon and stars, ect. But I am talking about a real miracle. One in which you have no choice but to give ALL the credit to God and sit back and smile and praise him for the outcome. I never thought those miracles existed until I started working with these teen mommas and their babies. You see they think I am helping them, however it is without a doubt them that are shaping my life.
Over the next few weeks and months to come I hope to share stories with you about these wonderful teen mommas and their babies (of course always changing their names), but I must warn you it isn't always rainbows and buttercups. I plan on sharing real struggles and real stories not just the fluffy stuff that can be found on the outside. Be prepared to be touched be prepared to change the way you think of teen moms.
But in the mean time before I begin I want to challenge you to join me on this amazing journey and not only change a young mom and her child's future forever but to change your life, to step out on faith and walk with me.
Ways to join on this journey:
Mentoring- As of 7/31/11 have 11 teen mommas that are in our program and do not have a mentor. Many have asked me how they can get one. This is by far not only the most challenging opportunity I have but the most rewarding. What is a mentor? This is my favorite definition of what being a YoungLives mentor is: "Mentors believe in someone until they believe in themselves, value someone until they value themselves, expect great things of someone until they expect great things of themselves and walk with Jesus alongside of someone until they walk with Jesus by themselves."
Please don't discount this position! Girls need you, not the other lady reading this but you! If you are willing to make a new friend, maybe one that has no other friends and accept them for who they are and assist them in achieving their 'purpose' in life, this is the position for you.
Childcare- If you are willing to come and love some babies during our monthly meetings either every Thursday night or even one Thursday evening a month I can use you!
Partner- Maybe you don't have time to commit to either of the above positions but you want to experience this life changing walk of faith that I talk about, or maybe you would like to do one of the above in addition to sharing some of the resources that God has given you, then we invite you to share on this amazing journey with us by partnering with us each month to support this ministry. You can sign up to be a one-time sponsor or a monthly sponsor by visiting http://sites.younglife.org/sites/EPanhandle/Donors.aspx. As of 7/31/11 we are still in search of 128 more partners to assist us with at least $32 a month donation to grow our ministry.
Life Skills Trainer- In addition to loving our teen mommas and their babies we try to teach them about life. Real life lessons, things that they can use to help improve their lives and/or those of their children. If you have a life skill that you would like to teach to our teen moms please send me an email and we can chat more about it. We would especially like to concentrate on self-esteem and parenting issues.
Other- Maybe none of these partnerships sound like something you can do, however you really want to help. I have many other volunteer opportunities each special and important to this ministry so let’s sit down and talk and see where you fit in.
Please note that starting in September YoungLives will have a new division operating in Jefferson County so if live closer to Jefferson County and would like to volunteer in some capacity please let me know.
I hope that you are just as excited to hear about this journey as I am to share about it. I pray that you continue to read my new blog and join with me on this ‘Walk of Faith’ I have embarked upon.
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