Teen Mom

Since my resolution this year doesn't include any exercise, we will take a quick jog down memory lane!

When I was seventeen, I was living in Pensacola, FL with my sister and her husband.  My sister was in training at the naval base there. She herself was only nineteen, so to be married and serving our country is a lot to take on, not to mention caring for her little sister.  She knew I was a handful, but she was very good at handling me.

I met and immediately fell in LLOOVVEE with a Marine. He was from Wichita, KS, and he was very different from me. But we just got each other. If you have ever met someone who “gets” you and you get him, then you understand what I am talking about. 

Well, it was just three months later when I found out that I was pregnant.  I was one of those people who really didn't think it could happen to me.  As dumb as that sounds, it is very true. 

My sister was finishing up at Pensacola Naval Air Station and getting ready to go to Cherry Point, SC. Just before that, we had a big fight, and as with fights involving most teen girls, we were not talking, and I had left. I packed all my belongings into a trunk, and hitched (I do mean hitch hiked) to where my boyfriend was working and living -- a car lot. My sister had to leave for Cherry Point  and I was staying in a camper on a car lot. We would shower with the hose used to wash cars.  

After a week or so, my boyfriend and his friend drove me to Cleveland, GA, and dropped me off at a friend's house. My friend had not told her parents that I was pregnant. After about two days they found out, and I could no longer stay there.  Don't worry, I had gone to the health department and gotten checked out and set up with a doctor. 

I went and stayed with another friend ... in the back of her Blazer. I would sneak into her grandmother's house where she lived to take showers. She would feed me and clean my clothes. 

But after a week or so of that, I found another friend! I know, it is getting a little crazy. This friend actually had a place where I could stay. She was 8 months pregnant and she and the dad were actually living together. She fed me and took care of me. But her baby was coming soon and I knew my time was limited.

When time came for my friend to go to the hospital and to have her baby, I called another friend and she said that I could come over. I had no way of getting there, so I walked 5 miles to her house. This friend was very excited that I was pregnant and wanted to help. She had not told her parents about it. We just took it one day at a time.  When she finally told her parents, they took it well, considering that she asked if I could stay the weekend and it had been over a week. I was seeing a doctor and my friend would go with me to all my appointments.  

I had a place to stay, eat, and shower! I could not get a job. I was on bed rest most of my pregnancy and because it was a high-risk pregnancy, so I could not work anyway. I took my vitamins and read all the baby books, like most pregnant women, except I was still just a kid. I was a very scared kid. 

Having another life inside of me with no means to care for myself, let alone another person was very scary, indeed. I have seen True T.V. I know what happens to young girls who hitch hike. Most people will not be able to relate to living on a car lot, or in the back of a car. My situation was defeating; I had a long way to go! 

I don't know what you would do if you were 17, alone and pregnant, without a home, job or car. I did not have parents to call to go running to for help. So I did the only thing I could, I let God carry me through! I did not deserve his Grace, but God granted it to me.

In January, after going past my due date, the doctors finally induced me. Twenty four hours and fifty minutes later I had my beautiful baby girl! She weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 21 1\2 inches long. I had gained fifty pounds, but never wore maternity clothes. When everyone else was at prom, I was taking care of my baby. Being a teen mom is not easy, and I would never recommend it.  

Yet, it is amazing for me to see now how God used it to get my attention and to change my life. I was on a path that was not godly and God was nowhere in sight. Also, after Season One of MY reality show, I did NOT get a paycheck or lots of adoring fans. What I DID get was better:  I got God! 

As I said before, when someone gets you and you get them, you just understand.