Guest post by Winnie Caldwell
“Girl, this pregnancy test says I’m pregnant! Ha!” I laughed to my best friend on the phone. I was 16 years old, in high school, without a care that my life was about to dramatically change. I took another pregnancy test. “Oh my God! Girl, I’m pregnant!” I cried out.
My new life was becoming a reality after that confirmation. I didn’t cry because I didn’t want a child. I have always wanted a family. But I wanted a family that was put together from God, not me. Especially not a 16 year old me, only Lord knows the foolishness I believed love to be.
I thought love was:
- A boy showing me attention even though it was mainly him controlling me
- Literally fighting for him to stay in my life
- An “Us against the world mentality,” meaning putting him before everyone even God
I soon learned that this wasn’t of God and that I deserved better. Even though my pregnancy wasn’t planned by me, it was foreseen by God. God knew when I’d meet the man who’d be the father of my child. God also knew how I’d respond. God knew these things were only a set up for my testimony for you. I wouldn’t be able to genuinely, minister to young women reading this without true experience.
I wouldn’t know the sacrifices mothers make without experiencing them. It’s one thing to be empathetic but you don’t truly know the sacrifices until you’re the one making decisions. Now 10 years later, I am a single mother. Having my son, I have learned what true love is. Ironic right? We know the popular scripture, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV:
“4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”
My son showed me these things in a matter of ten years. No matter what kind of day I’m having, he’s patient and kind to me. Sometimes as mothers, we aren’t perfect, though my son keeps no record of that! At the age of two, he was protective of me. I laugh and smile because if there was anyone in my presence he didn’t like, without talking, I’d know to wrap that conversation up.
Look at your children as blessings…
