Thankful for her, and her loving support..
In March of 2008, God planted a seed in my heart. As I was worshipping God in the midst of thousands attending a women’s conference, everyone in the sanctuary seemed to disappear, and it was just me and God in the room. God began giving me flashbacks of myself as a scared, young, single, pregnant girl that felt so alone and isolated and unsure of my future. Then the flashes evolved into me being a happy mom, full of life and God’s love, and even me throwing parties and celebrating life.
As the conference ended and the attendees began to exit, I was still trying to process what the Lord had shown me and what it could mean. I found my friend Salina, and we found a quiet corner to exchange our “glory stories.” As I began to explain what had happened, she had this astonished look on her face. She said that God had told her at the same conference something similar, sitting 4 seats down from me: to help the “mommies and the babies.”
Over the next 5 months, we met with pastors, went through training classes and planned out how to start a group that could help young, single and pregnant girls with physical and spiritual support. We prayed about a name and narrowed it down to one: Embrace Grace. It seemed to capture our hearts of what we wanted to show the girls … God’s amazing grace and that this is not the end of their lives, it is just the beginning. We started researching curriculum and soon realized that there were not any resources specific for a new single and pregnant mom. One day, Salina googled “Embrace Grace” and found a book by Liz Curtis Higgs that is called, you guessed it, Embrace Grace. It was exactly what we were looking for, simple to understand yet full of depth and a beautiful picture of who God is.
In August of 2008, we began our first class with 3 amazing young girls. They had a mixture of emotions but mainly shame, guilt and fear. Every week new layers seemed to peel away and they began to have a little sparkle in their eye again, especially when we talked about the baby. We would ask what they were having, what names they picked out, and they would always smile.
Towards the end of the semester, the girls were blessed with a giant group baby shower. Women’s Life Groups at Gateway Church all joined together and purchased new baby items, big and small, and came together for a time of celebration of life. The girls were overwhelmed that women that they had never met poured out so much love. It was definitely a day to remember!
We also had a special surprise Princess Day. The girls came dressed comfortably but with a special dress to change into later. They relaxed and had some “royal” snacks and watched “A Night with the King” in a theater room. We then surprised them with a team of hairstylists, make-up artists and massage therapists, and then the girls began a rotation of looking and feeling beautiful! After they were finished, we went out to a fire pit and threw out hurts and wounds that the girls had shared and were freed from during the semester. We also took communion. We then finished the evening by serving the girls a 4-course meal with filet mignon on fine china and a beautifully set table fit for a princess!
We have special Testimony nights where women come and share their story of how they have walked and overcome where these young girls are walking. This provides hope and plants dreams in their hearts. We finish the semester out with reflection and a celebration of the blessings that God has given them and their babies.
We have had 3 more semesters with a total of 20 mommies who have gone through the class. Each girl has such a unique story. Many have had a lot of rejection and abandonment. Most of the “boys” run away and some even change their phone number. But then we’ve had a few that got married before the baby came and they raise the baby together as husband and wife. Each girl is special and beautiful.
One girl came on the first day and still had not completely decided if she was keeping her baby. She was thinking about abortion because she was so scared and didn’t know how she could raise a baby alone. We told her about the class and invited her, but she was certain it was not a place for her. We kept praying that she would come and just try it. On the first day of class, we had a knock on the door and it was her. I’ll never forget her face on that day. She had colored her hair a bright pink color, her nose was pierced and she was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. She kept looking down and avoided making eye contact. She sat through the class barely saying a word. As the semester went on, she kept coming back every week and eventually started opening up a little more. She was very quiet for the most part but when she spoke, everyone listened. Her words were always so powerful and poetic. One day, after she gave birth to her baby girl, and I was watching her as she loved on the baby and was talking to her, I asked her, “Can you believe how not even a year ago, you were so quiet and so scared of the future, and now how happy you are and how God turned everything around for good?” She replied, “When I first found out I was pregnant, I was so sad and I thought how could God let this happen to me? And now I am just so happy, and I think, how could God let this happen to me? How could he bless me so much with this beautiful gift?” This once shy and quiet girl has now shared her testimony to new girls starting the class and has made an impact on all the lives she has touched.
Another girl in our group had a serious boyfriend, and they had a little baby boy together. When her baby was about 9 months old, she found out she was pregnant again. She told her boyfriend and exactly one week later, he died of a drug overdose. Her heart was broken, and her dreams of a family together were shattered. Not only did she have one small baby to care for, she was now carrying another miracle inside her, but this time, she was doing it alone. She had a lot of fears and worries for her future but she came every week and her hope was rising. She had a quiet strength about her and through her heartache, God revealed Himself to her in amazing ways in dreams and visions. We all marveled at what God was showing her. She went on to have another baby boy that she named after his daddy and her little family is leaning and trusting in God.
One special girl went through our course that made the strong and courageous choice of placing her baby up for adoption and blessing a family that had prayed for many years for a child. Her decision touched and inspired me so much. We celebrated her decision to choose life for her baby and threw her a party. A Gateway women’s group and others donated gift cards, worship CD’s, books, clothing, jewelry and even money to help her with a fresh start. Women who had an adoption story attended the party. Either they had given their baby up for adoption years ago, or they had adopted kids themselves or had family members that were adopted. Each shared their story and ended with a thank you to this girl that chose life. It was a beautiful time!
Some of the “Thank You’s” that have come in are so beautiful.
We are excited about what God is doing in this Life Group. Salina and I are so blessed to be a part of these girls’ lives at such a pivotal time. Through this group, lives have been transformed, chains have been broken, heads are held a little higher, smiles are brighter, and lives are being saved. God has worked miracles in these beautiful and lovely girls.
To request more information about the group or for volunteer information, email Amy Ford at EmbraceGrace@Live.com.
Amy Ford has been married 12 years and is the busy mom of three beautiful children: Jess (11), Mackenzie (8), and Landry Rose (3). Amy co-leads a Gateway group for single, pregnant women called Embrace Grace. Her passion is to reach out to the broken-hearted mommies and cheer them on and also has the added bonus of getting to snuggle on some sweet babies. She loves to sing as loud as she can (when no one is around), love on her kids, throw parties for her friends and go on date nights with her man.
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