As I glanced across the room, there she was, the young mother who had reached out, longing for a place to call home – longing for someone to see her, to hear her and to love her. As our eyes met, I could tell she was hurting and broken inside – and she struggled to make eye contact. Alone, afraid with no one to turn to, she heard about us through a friend. I could see she was scared. Where was her mom? Where was anyone, for that matter?
You could tell it was hard for her to meet, to share about her life, her pregnancy and her fears of bringing a child into a harsh world that had forgotten about her, left her all alone and told her she wasn’t worth it.
Given no choice but to rise up as a warrior, a mother and a survivor, she bravely walked through the door of choosing life in the midst of dire circumstances – and she did it with grace and poise.
There was a hesitation – from years of being rejected, abandoned, and abused by people who were supposed to be safe. Yet, there was also a glimmer of hope – could it be true that we would accept her into the SONshine Home with open arms, teach her new skills, show her another way – a way besides poverty, neglect, abuse and rejection? And could we possibly truly LOVE her AND her baby?
Our intake team softly and quietly offered her reassurance, and let her know she was loved, cherished and adored. I saw her briefly look up; her beautiful brown eyes, and long, silky braided hair – just longing to be accepted. You could see she was fighting back the tears.
This precious one, this sweet Mama is truly everyone’s child – she is my child, she is your child, and she deserves the same love and kindness that our own children receive. Much like the Lord has adopted us into His family, we adopt our young mothers and their babies into our family – into the SONshine family.
Galatians 4:4-5 says “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption to sonship”.
Under Roman law, an adopted child was guaranteed all legal rights to their father’s property, even if he or she was formerly a slave. The child was not second class – the child was an equal. As God’s children, we share equal rights to all of God’s promises and resources, and can claim our full identity as HIS children. This is our wish for the young women we serve – that SHE will not only be part of the SONshine family, but that she would become part of God’s family.
Our greatest measure of success has been and will always be hearts changed for Jesus.
May we see her, may we hear her, may we LOVE her! Blessings dear SONshine Family!
