1993-2000 The years of Grace

I think that for my next installment, I can take seven years at once.

Between Christmas of 1993 - Christmas 2000, my life was very full. As a stay at home mom, my life was bustling! There were school concerts, Halloween costumes, baseball games and camp outs to keep me on the go. In 1994 I began working as a youth leader at our church. There were always kids in need of an extra should to lean on, and a place to spend the night. My family of three children grew by twenty fold. It seemed every weekend my house was taken over by loads of teens needing a friend and a prayer.

My role in the youth group grew until in 1998 I became the youth director of our church. I knew that God was filling that space He had created in my heart to love children. I couldn't have loved those kids more if they were born of my own womb. Even today, I pray for these kids, for their futures for their families, for them to love their Lord with all of their hearts. I went from just hosting sleepovers to teaching high school Sunday school, teaching the Wednesday night youth group and eventually I began going on short term missions trips with my students. Traveling became a big part of my job. Peru, Mexico, Canada and the Rocky Mountains were just a few of the amazing places I was able to travel to. I would journey out about four to six separate weeks out of the year. When I wasn't traveling, I was home with my boys. I couldn't imagine a more amazing life.

I began volunteering at a local teen center. I wanted to meet the kids in the neighborhood who were not necessarily the churched kids. The kids who really needed an adult to trust. Within a very short time, I was hired as the administrative assistant for the teen center. Within months of that, I was promoted to Case Manager for high risk youth!

I felt like I had found my heart's desire. I was a mother, not only to my three wonderful boys, but also to dozens of hurting teens who needed someone to love them. I felt like God was pouring out this amazing blessing. I saw that he had led me on this journey from the first day I helped in the youth group, to that moment as I held the hands of drug addicted, abused, lost children and led them to peace and love.

My Mother's heart was overflowing.