My friend, Laura, leads the local chapter of Young Lives, a ministry of Young Life reaching teen mamas. Laura is strong, sweet, and tender hearted. She is married with two kids and developed a faith of her own through Young Life when she was in high school. 15 years later she is leading teen mamas to love their babies and love themselves all while discovering their identity in Jesus. She recently got back from camp with her girls and my heart broke into tiny pieces as she shared the ups and downs.
For many of the young moms it was the first time away from home, away from the city, and definitely the first time they had been on a vacation. They loaded up their babies and headed to the beach to enjoy each other and some time away from home. Many of the moms sat at a table and ate a meal together for the first time in their lives. They commented how they had never done that, sitting around together, sharing a meal complete with laughter, generous helpings, and even seconds. Nothing was scarce but abundant both in conversation and cuisine. Laura asked the girls what their favorite part of the weekend was and they replied, “no sirens.” As she relayed this story my heart dropped. Many of these girls live in fear, fighting failure, and in an environment of defeat. The idea of love, healthy affection, and family isn’t one of bright colors and warm feelings but absence.
It’s a rarity to hear sirens from my home. We stop, pray for whatever is happening that we can’t see and carry on. We don’t see it as a normal occurrence or one that could affect us. If it doesn’t affect my family and I then it’s not my problem, right? Do teen moms really need someone to help them out? Aren’t they just going to do whatever they want anyway? Didn’t they get themselves in this situation to begin with? These are questions I’ve heard countless times through the years from moms. I am completely convinced that what a teen mama, a broken community, and a fatherless generation needs is a voice of truth, love, and grace speaking over them vision for their lives and hope for their circumstance. I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for mentors who met me in my mess and extended a hand. Laura could be doing a million other things but I LOVE that she is spending her afternoons at the alternative high school looking mamas in their eyes and reminding them they are the mom for the job, the job of raising their son or daughter.
I know we have a million things going on and a long list of “reasonable” excuses but we have a pulse we can do something. Maybe you can rally your mama friends to collect baby clothes for the crisis pregnancy center or a seasoned mom can mentor a new mama, or even sponsor a mom in the developing world. Whatever it is, I can’t shake this feeling that we need each other. We need the teen mamas in our homes, eating from our tables, we need the mamas going through a rough patch sitting across from us at coffee shops while we remind them that this season won’t last forever, that hope is real, joy is for them, no matter what they’ve done or what’s happened to them. We need each other, we really do.