Teen MOPS [May ’14]

Photo credit: Kathryn Bronn

Being a teen mom is r-o-u-g-h!

There’s the incessant crying, the new schedule, the late nights… and then there’s the fact that you have a baby that has to partake in all of those things too.

On top of this stress and the stack of homework beside you, you have baby formula running down your arms, and a screaming newborn in your lap. Oh, and did I mention that nothing else about life has stopped? Yeah. You’re still being thrust forward by life, while trying to figure out what “forward” means for you now:

Will I finish high school?

Who will watch my baby?

Can I trust them with the most precious thing in my life?

How can I be a strong role model for my little one when I can’t figure out how to balance sleeping three hours a night with my early morning class schedule?

To many, becoming a mom at a young age is a giant “GAME OVER” sign on their lives. People suddenly lower expectations and place pity where pity is not warranted or due.

But my beautiful, strong girls at the Denver Street School are destroying the stereotypes that are placed on young mothers. They are working toward their high school diplomas despite the curve balls that life has thrown at them.

And this next school year I have the absolute blessing of walking alongside them as they become the mothers and women that God has created them to be.

Nearly a decade ago when I accidentally acquired an infant, I found out the hard way that motherhood isn’t as glamorous as people make it sound.

For every adorable moment that you have with your little one, there has been a poop explosion, a sleepless night of screaming, a trashed home, or a night where you are simply too tired to eat anything but a Popsicle for dinner. (Sometimes, you don’t even get a Popsicle. Sometimes you just pass out sitting in whatever chair you find without eating a thing, only to wake up in your trashed home to the sound of your screaming baby and start the routine all over again.)

Anywho, for the 2014-2015 school year, I am transitioning out of the traditional teaching world and will be taking on the roll of nursery worker and TeenMOPS counselor at the Denver Street School.

Together, my girls and I will work to create a safe place for these stellar teen moms to seek after God in the midst of exhaustion and baby bodily fluid explosions.

In our course curriculum, we will cover general life skills, Christian parenting, first aid, and life’s little hiccups, as well as talking to other young women about preventing pregnancy, and finding their identity in God.

Did I mention one of the best parts of it all? My girls will be able to earn elective credit for successfully completing one of the most difficult tasks in life– successfully raising another human being.

It’s going to be out of this world!

If you would like to partner with my girls and I, you can do so through one of the following ways:

1) Donate toward the cost of our class and curriculum

We will be using various curricula from MOPS, Focus on the Family, Growing Kids, and the Street School’s own Carey Scott. And while I always try to use free resources first, one of the facts of life is that many of these curricula cost money. If you’re interested in donating toward our program, you can do so by clicking here and simply putting “Nursery” in the comments box.

2) Donate your time and talents

Are you a mom, a counselor, a teacher, a young married woman, or a woman who just has a heart for young moms? Come hang out with us and impart some of the knowledge that God has blessed you with on my girls.

3) Sponsor a mommy and baby

Donate your gently used baby / mommy stuff to a teen mom in need. Or, if you feel led, you can contribute toward a student’s tuition ($50 an academic quarter) at the Street School by sending a check into the PO Box address to the right with “Tuition for: _______” in the memo line.

4) Keep us in your prayers

While this is going to be a time of growth for both my girls and I, there will be growing pains as well. Buttons will be pushed, perspectives will shift, and differences in opinions will occur. Please pray for a spirit of unity among my girls and I as we talk through some of the hardest things about life as women and moms.

I cannot wait to write about all of the wonderful things that God is preparing for us next year. For updates, be sure to subscribe to my blog by putting your email in the subscription box on the right sidebar.

Best & blessings until then,

Kace