Make a Difference Today: You Can!...Set Up a Babysitting Network for Teen Moms

Part of our calling here at Treasuring Grace Ministries is to help make it possible for women to say YES to having babies, even under difficult circumstances. That is why, on our blog, we list resources for Moms in need.  Everyone can make a difference, and the organization "Do Something.org" recognizes that as well.

I found an article on their site about how people can put together a babysitting network to help out teen moms who might need that extra helping hand to make it possible to return to school or find a job. They offer tips on how someone might go about organizing a network and making a REAL difference in their community. 

I find this to be very INSPIRING. and I hope that by sharing it here, it will spark an idea within you to get busy in your neighborhood, church or community to start a movement to help others.  Check it out....

How To: Set Up a Babysitting Program to Help Teen Moms

Only 1/3 of teen mothers earn high school diplomas. Set up a babysitting program that allows teen moms extra time to study and pursue goals that will benefit them and their child.

• Recruit your sitters. Find experienced babysitters that are willing to volunteer their time. Ask your friends, classmates and other neighborhood moms for referrals.
• Set requirements. Your sitters should pledge a certain number of hours a week that they will help out.
• Learn some extra expertise. If your team of caretakers isn’t fully confident with their child-watching skills, sign up for a babysitting and/or CPR course at your local community center, YMCA or Red Cross location.
• Find moms in need. There are plenty of moms to choose from! To get some business, you can:
• Advertise in your community (hospitals, supermarkets, schools, newspaper, etc.)
• Contact the National Association of Social Workers and ask them to connect you to possible clientele
• Snag the necessities. In order to do the best job possible, your sitters are going to need a few vital details from their prospective child-bearing clients. Such information includes:
• Emergency contact information (where to reach the mother or family in case of an emergency, child’s physician, etc.)
• Where the mother will be, if they are not staying at home
• Any allergies or medication that the child has
• Preparation for the job. Participating babysitters can brainstorm to figure out the most effective ways to entertain and take care of the child while the mom is studying. Whether you want to stay at home with the child or go on excursions to allow more peaceful study time for the hard-at-work mother, talk with the mama to decide the right call of action. 

From: 
 http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/how-to-set-babysitting-program-to-help-teen-moms

The Right to Choose? An Argument about Rights

Whatever you think about the pro-choice camp, they don't want for cleverness. The idea that abortion is a woman's right is very powerful. We are a nation of rights.  They are prominent in our founding documents.  Our hearts beat a little more quickly when we think about liberty.  The mere suggestion of abortion as a right conjures an image of battle-weary women marching behind a flag, fife, and drum. 

Embrace the fiction for a moment and suppose abortion is a woman’s right. Instead of mere cleverness and an appalling Supreme Court decision, suppose it was actually listed in the Bill of Rights along with the other freedoms that we hold dear: speech, religion, assembly, press, etc. We would be basically where we are, except we would be spared the “safe, legal and rare” mantra spewed by pro-choice politicians when giving full-throated support to abortion and a deceptive nod to life.

Of course, a corollary to this right would have to be the right to actually have the baby.  They are two sides of the same coin.  Intrinsic in these rights is the notion that the unborn baby has no rights whatsoever.  It can’t, or they might interfere with the mother’s right to abort.  Also, the unborn babies must have no inherent value.  They can’t, or the father might have grounds for an objection which might interfere with the mother’s right to abort.

Not all countries are as free as us, though.  So, maybe some of the more outspoken abortion activists should visit a clinic in China.  There they can comfort one of the mothers undergoing a forced abortion.  As she wails hysterically for the child she’ll never know, they can pat her hand and explain that it’s no big deal.  It’s not infanticide or an atrocity of some kind.  The baby had no value.  Her government is just a little more restrictive, and this is simply one of the rights she doesn’t enjoy.

~ Rob

A Message from Rob: Co Author of Treasuring Grace

I think it’s important to start by echoing what Jake says in Treasuring Grace.  “There are two victims in every abortion.”  That’s our belief.  Our greatest hope is that the story may lead victims to understanding and forgiveness and help others to avoid the heartache completely.  No strong words on this site will ever be directed toward a woman who has suffered through an abortion.

However, on occasion, there will be strong words.  There are forces within our society that have an agenda that is abhorrent to the cause of life.  They are deceivers, and more of us need to be aware of them and their lies.

Take care,

Rob


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Treasuring Grace: A Call to Action

People have asked me after reading the novel Treasuring Grace, "What can I do"?

First, I tell them to pray!  We can begin in prayer asking God to guide us and others to the truth.

Then, we need to be informed of what is the truth.  I have mentioned how the precious feet (tiny feet the size of a baby in utero at ten weeks) amazed me with the truth.  It wasn't enough for me to know the truth, but that I needed to share it with others.

Next, share the truth!  I did this by wearing the precious feet and explaining them when asked.  The truth may not always be easy to accept, so again go to God in prayer!

Above all, love others.  It is not our right to judge.

"Guide us, we pray, as we go forth and proclaim your truth, always doing so with a spirit of love and compassion, as was demonstrated to us through the work of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  In His name we pray, Amen."  A Prayer from the 40 Days For Life

Believe,
Tracy

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  John 1:17

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