Young Lives

I have a big heart for teenagers (well, not ALL teenagers...like the ones in some of my classes I could do without..ha!) and I especially love my teen mommy's. I have been involved with YoungLife for several years now, but I work with the teen mom's which is called YoungLives. We meet up a couple times a month to either just hang out and watch the kiddos play or get committee members to watch the kids and all us girls just hang out, eat dinner, play games and just be silly. Even though the girls probably think we are crazy sometimes, we sure have a great time!

Speaking of crazy....here are things we do at club night. This is Melody with shaving cream on her face! Melody is such a sport, she's pregnant with TWINS and is still participating in these crazy activities!

My sweet friend Casey.....cheeeeeese!!!!

Melody AFTER the girls threw cheese puffs at her face :)

Each summer we also take the girls to a YoungLife camp. This past summer we went to Arizona and had such a great time. It was quite the adventure actually getting to camp....6 hour layover in airport WITH kids, being quarantined b/c someone on our bus had the flu, and flights getting cancelled on the way home. But when you look back at the entire trip it was nothing but great memories.

Getting to know these girls and being a part of their and their childrens life is such a great experience. Knowing where some of these girls come from and how they don't have a lot of support makes being a part of their lives so worth it! It truly is a great feeling when one of them gets in trouble and they call you for help, whether it's that they need a babysitter or a ride or help finding a job....it really means a lot!

Now that I am mom myself, it makes me totally appreciate those single moms out there! Even if Nick is gone for a few days, I feel totally inadequate sometimes. I have so many people I could call up in a second to come help me and lots of support, but these girls don't have that, which makes me appreciate them even more. I don't think I could do what they do, but they have to...for their kiddos.

Even though we teach these girls a whole lot about life...they have certainly taught us just as much!