I’ve got an exciting series planned for you this week! One of my mom friends teaches a parenting class at an alternative High School Program called “Create” in the little town where I live. Create is a place where students who aren’t able to keep up with the normal classroom routine can finish up their credits with additional support. It’s also a perfect place for teen mothers because of the on-site child care provided.
Outside of class, my friend began to meet and mentor some of the young woman through YoungLives. YoungLives is a fabulous organization aiming to meet teen mothers on their turf, while trying to show them God’s unconditional love and grace through mentoring and monthly activities. For more information about YoungLives or how you can get involved with the program, please visit their website here.
After teaching a class in Parenting Basics, my friend decided that the world needed to hear what these girls have to say and she thought that M2M was the perfect place to do it! When she sent me four different girls’ accounts, I was completely blown away by the passion, heartache and struggle that emanates throughout their stories. In spite of the crudeness in their typing, broken English and their evident youth depicted by their simple and sometimes explicit vocabulary, their tender, young hearts and their love for their children and families shines through to weave a beautiful picture of the essence of motherhood, no matter their age.
In order to capture and show you the purity of their stories and the integrity of who they are as teenage mothers, I have done very little, if any, editing, including their use of profanity, so please be warned, some of their stories, in addition to being choppy, are raw, unadulterated and may not be suitable for all readers. Despite this, I hope you will take a journey with me this week into the hearts and lives of these four very young mothers, witness their struggles and trials, and get just a tiny glimpse at the pure and powerful love of a mother, in the simplest and almost child-like form.
I hope you enjoy and are moved by them as much as I have been as I post a new one, each day this week, starting tomorrow.
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I love this idea! I am a nurse in L&D/Postpartum/Newborn Nursery and one of my cousins works with teen moms in Alabama in a home-like setting where girls can live during and immediately after their pregnancy. They teach life skills and educational skills to the young moms. I look forward to reading the posts!
Lovely idea – look forward to reading. #PinItParty
Great idea! What a lovely amount of trust from your friend and her students to be able to share their stories here. Looking forward to reading!
Ohh….. Sounds like fun! <3
Sounds like a great idea, people think they can cope but the majority of them want and love with all their heart and will do what they can to ensure a better future x
#PinItParty
What a wonderful idea and opportunity for teen mums to show that they are so much more than teenagers who accidentally got pregnant. I will definitely stop by to read the posts.
Thanks for linking up with Monday Parenting Pin It Party!
Oh my goodness. I love this more than I can say. Having been pregnant at 16 myself, I will read the stories of my sisters with eyes of the greatest empathy. Bless you for giving them a voice. And for not editing them – as difficult of a decision as I’m sure that had to be. Your acceptance of their stories and their chosen vehicles of the words to express those stories just blesses my face off. Seriously. Thank you. (Here from Unforced Rhythms)
Wow, 16! I am sure you could be an fantastic mentor to these girls and many others! Thank you for fallowing me to participate in Unforced Rhythms and reading my posts each week and, of course, your support of this series! Bless you, Kelli!
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