Welcome

Hello there!

I'm thankful you found your way to this space.  You are welcome here just as you are.

I want to take a few minutes to let you know how and why Teen Mom 365 exists.

I got pregnant with my first son, Jared, when I was 16 years old.  It was one of the scariest things that ever happened to me and also one of the very best things that ever happened in my life {more on that later}.  Jared will be 18 in May and is a senior in high school.  We have literally grown up together.

I've spent a lot of time thinking lately about all the things I wish I had known when I sat in a bathroom stall in a convenience store in 1995 and watched the lines on the pregnancy test confirm my suspicions.

For the next year, I am committing to share those things I wish I had known with you- the young mom finding her way.  You- the mom still in high school, the mom with a job at the drive thru window, the mom whose parents kicked her out, the mom who just aged out of foster care, the mom who feels defeated, judged, tired, hopeless and alone.

--If there is one thing I want you to know by the end of these 365 days together it is this: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!  This world is full of moms like you and me. Moms that started out young and grew up with their kids.  Moms that want desperately to give their kids everything they didn't have as a child.  I am here for you and with you to walk this journey of young motherhood.  I'm honored to share this next year with each young mom that reads these words.

And, it's not just me.  There is also a God who loves you more than you can imagine.  He chose you to be your child's mom and knew your situation before you ever did.  God has this amazing way of taking our mistakes and turning them into the best things that could have ever happened.  I hope by this time next year, you will know Him better than you do right now. Your life and the life of your child(ren) will be better for it!

Join me tomorrow as I explain how this blog will work. The devotion posts will begin January 1, 2014.

And, please {pretty please with a cherry on top} share this blog with any friend you have that is a pregnant or parenting teen. My goal in this space is to reach one teen mama each day that needed to hear exactly what I'm writing about that day and I will need your help to spread the word to accomplish that goal.

Till tomorrow,
Melissa