Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Been a while!

Wow! I have not been on this blog in a long time! Honestly, I had forgotten I even had it!! That is BAD!
 I have had so many things going on over the past year, that I have not even done any scrapbooking! That is also bad for me! I am one, who previously would spend hours, leading into days, scrapbooking! I would not come out of my room except to use the bathroom or get a snack! But, I have gotten out of that habit! I think it is time for me to get back into it!
I have a lot of projects I can work on! I can't begin to count the photos I have that need to be scrapped or filed! But, I have a very special project coming up that is what is going to be getting my attention for a while anyway.
You see, I am a volunteer at our local pregnancy help center. This is a place for women who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, to receive encouragement, education, and hope. So often we see a teenager who is pregnant and we judge them. Yes, they made a mistake. But does that mean that they should be ostracized or banned from a local church? Should family, friends, and other "well meaning" individuals just turn their backs on these young girls? NO!
When you find yourself pregnant, especially if you did not plan to become that way, that is when you REALLY need all the support you can get! I'm not talking about just financial support though that is important! I mean emotional, moral support! These girls need to know that they are important to society! They need to know that whether they made a mistake or not, they can be forgiven! They need to know that they can, and will, be good parents! Those are things we help them to see at our center.
We do NOT refer for, nor offer abortion services. We do not encourage any of our clients in their personal choices! We educate them about the procedures, options available, risks of procedures. We empower them to make educated decisions! And once they have all the truthful information, they do just that. They make educated decisions.
I am very grateful to say that 99.9% choose life for their unborn baby!
We also share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. We do not force it on anyone. We pray, A LOT! We ask God for guidance. We wait for Him to open the door. We listen to the Holy Spirit. When He opens that door, and He does!, we share our love for Him and His love for all of us!
Back to my special project.... This summer I am going to be teaching scrapbooking to a group of our clients. Most of these girls have little to no income so I will be counting on donations as well as using whatever supplies of my own I can to enable them to create a wonderful keepsake album of their newborn baby! I know how I feel every time I look back at any of my scrapbooks, and I want them to have that same feeling.
So, right now, I am in the planning stages. Actually, I should say planning and acquisition! LOL I am so blessed to have already been promised some donations from a couple of individuals who share a love for scrapbooking!
If you would like to help in any way, just let me know and I will get you my address if you would like to send something, whether supplies or whatever you feel lead to share. If you would rather not send something, I understand. I would like to ask you to pray for this project, that it be successful, and that each girl is able to feel the love of Jesus as we scrap our little hearts out! No matter what you decide to do, thank you and God bless!