Dear friends, family, distant 3rd cousin relatives I’ve yet to realize I’m related to…

Do you see these precious girls and babies in the picture above? Ok-not me (the obvious whitey of the bunch). These are my younglives girls. They’re the precious Chicago Younglives. 

Do you know these girls, in their short life span have probably experienced more pain and suffering than we will see in an entire life time?

Rape…

Incest…

Abuse…

Gang violence…

Deaths of family members…

The list goes on. In fact, in every Younglives I’ve been involved with I have walked through at least ONE of these issues with a girl. All of this on top of trying to raise a child as a teenage girl…can you imagine? 

This is where I need your help my friends! 

In case you’ve missed it-some pretty incredible things have happened over the last 5 months here in Nashville. Here’s a re-cap:

-We’ve started teen parenting classes/support groups in two high schools. So far we have 18 girls and we’re not even 2 full months in…amazing!

-We have two part time staff (well coming on staff anyway!)

-We have two teams with relatively 5 volunteers on each

On average, I’ve seen it take 1-3 years to get Younglives started. As you can imagine, this is faster than anything I’ve seen. I am blown away!!!

Here’s where you come in. We NEED YOUR HELP!!! I am in the process of raising $9,600 for Younglives and am only 1/3 of the way. Whether you give $5 or all 9,600 or choose to give monthly-WE NEED YOUR HELP! Not only are you giving help and life to a teenage mother, you are giving hope to her child as well. In fact, you are helping put an end to the cycle of teenage parenting all together. AMAZING!

And we can not do it alone. Join me on this incredible adventure my friends! Go to http://www.younglife.org/giving and type in either Nashville or #TN20 then Younglives (not to be confused with younglif 

A hope and prayer for you

I’ve been listening to this song over and over tonight and thinking of you (in case you’re wondering, this is more of a “collective you”). But listen to these lyrics, let these words wash over you, dream of something big and know this is what I hope for you: 

My prayer for you today: That your soul is awakened to something greater and larger than you could even hope for. 

That you know real love. Deep, unconditional, unfathomable love. Love that says-you are enough. Right where you are. 

I pray you have courage enough to do the things you REALLY want to do. 

I pray you let go of whatever’s holding you back. 

I pray you love and love well! For peter’s sake!

I pray you are apart of something far bigger than yourself!

I pray you get out of your own way. 

I pray you realize and become ALL that you were created to be (which, by the way, is QUITE fabulous). 

“Awake my soul, Awake my soul…in these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die, where you invest your love, you invest your life…”

p.s. if you’d like to donate to Nashville Younglives it would mean the WORLD to me (seeing as I’m trying to raise a LOT of money to get it going! Visit this website:Younglives giving! Area: #TN20 special designation: Younglives and type in #TN20 Younglives). Thanks. A LOT. I promise I’m not money hungry or trying to be obnoxious! Just spreadin’ the word that we need some funds! Now go do amazing things with your life-you have my full and total support:)

Enough for today.

I hold in my heart many stories. 

Stories of loss. 

Grief.

Pain.

Beauty.

Insurmountable joy. 

Restoration. 

Hope.

I hold in my heart a journey-of life, love and happiness (in the least cliche way possible).

And I’m not really sure where this story is going if we’re being honest.

Somedays I dream it ends with a white knight riding in on his horse and sweeping me of my lead-footed feet. 

Other times I hope it ends with me on a stage in Broadway, acting and singing my guts out  (I’m talkin’ SERIOUS singing here people-I want to sing til I puke. How crazy would that be? Also, kinda sick…but DEDICATED none the less!). 

And sometimes I think it means me running Younglives, here in Nashville, doing life with my best friends, loving well and living a far less stressful and very enjoyable story here in the good ole’ souf (that’s south pronounced with an accent). 

I’ve been learning a lot about stories lately. How they don’t define us and if we get too stuck in our old ones we’ll never write new ones. How if we hold on to everything we once knew, it will define us (and I don’t know about you but there’s a LOT of stories I would prefer NOT to define me-thank you very much!). 

At that same time we are where we’ve been. We are a combination of everything we’ve been through and everything we were created to be. You can’t know where you’re going without first understanding where you’ve been right? 

And I don’t totally understand this story to be honest. It’s a pretty awesome one but it still confuses me. Why Nashville? Why Younglives? All I know is this: there were 10 beautiful teen moms waiting for class today. 10. That’s one more than we had last week (and the class isn’t even mandatory! These girls WANT to be here!!! I could BURST with excitement!! Shoooootttt!!). And my heart is a little fuller than when I started this morning. 

And for today, that’s story enough. Good night world, you are quite fabulous, in that quirky little way of yours. 

(p.s. These ideas on story come from my brilliant friend, Lorenzo-Lauren for short:). Also, if you’d like to support Younglives here go to this website:www.younglife.org/giving area#: TN20 Special Designation: Younglives

I’m talkin’ to you!!!

While making the decision whether or not to move to Nashville I had several people give me this advice, “make sure before moving this is really God asking you to do this and not you running. It’s been a hard year and the last thing you want is to make it harder on yourself by completely changing your whole life.” While I cherished their advice and took it very seriously, I also knew I couldn’t step foot in church without hearing this overwhelming voice speak these words, ” You know you cannot stay here Somer, there’s nothing here left for you. I am doing a new thing-Trust me, Go. You cannot stay.” And I remember sitting in those seats, week after week, tears running down my face as I prayed for the girls here in Nashville. Girls I had no idea who they were-just that they were pregnant, alone and needed help. Girls who weighed so heavily on my heart I couldn’t help but cry out  to God everytime they came to mind. I did not know their names, but their faces played over and over in my mind-I couldn’t get away from them.

Little did I know, just four short months later I would be sitting across from those very girls I’d prayed for back in Chicago. Nor did I know we would laugh about their babies and the funny things they did, that we would eat one too many Christmas candies and green and red m&m’s would melt all over our hands. I had no idea the girls would laugh the way they did, that they would be open and responsive to us and that in such a short short time…we would actually be laying the ground work for something I could previously only dreamed about. 

All I can say is wow. 

I am overwhelmed and amazed at a God who was big enough to put something together where I had only once hoped and dreamed. I am overwhelmed at a God who loved me enough to nudge me (kick really) out the door of Chicago into something that would ultimately prove to be a better fit (and really exciting). And lastly, I am overwhelmed at the miracles He’s done. What a big God we serve. 

Here’s where you come in my friends. While all that has happened has been amazing and overwhelming…we can only do so much until we have the full funding and support we need to build a solid program here in Nashville. Because this thing has taken off so ridiculously fast, we’ve (the other lady they’ve hired and myself) had to raise funds in order to come on staff. Which means I need your help! That’s right…I’m talking to you! This year I have to raise $9,600 in order to come on staff part time with Younglives. While this part scares me more than anything else-I also know that if God’s brought me this far, He’s going to do the rest. 

So I’m boldly asking you to join me in this adventure. Join me in the makings of an incredible program that is moving and believing in an unseen people group. Join me in speaking truth to not just a teenage girl, but her child. Join me in writing a better story for someone else…and maybe yours as well. You’ve been apart of my journey this far. Come with me on the next step! 

With deepest love, gratitude and an excitement for the journey ahead

-somer

If you’d like to support me in this, you can go to the website below. The area is: #TN20 and the special designation is Younglives. Thanks so much for your prayers, love and support! Also, you can give at any time. This isn’t something that lasts only through December so if another month works better-go for it! I am soo grateful for every bit!

Younglives giving! Area: #TN20 special designation: Younglives

Beautiful Things.

AHHHHHH!!!!! Today marks a HUGE day in this crazy adventure:). I officially accepted the position of Younglives team leader for Younglives at Overton. We ARE REALLY DOING THIS!!! AND WAY faster than I could’ve ever expected. This means that the school where I ALREADY work (teaching choreography) I will now be heading up our first Younglives club in Nashville. I could fall over with excitement! Seriously-I practically screamed when I got asked. Sooo SO huge. 

To celebrate I wanted to post this video because it seems the only appropriate response to this day. Followed by a back story of course:). The week I spent at Younglives camp last summer they played this song every night the girls came into club. It was the first time I’d ever heard it but I thought it was just gorgeous. On top of that the lyrics were all to apropriate for these girls stories: “All this pain, I wonder if my life can really change, can a garden come up from this ground at all?…You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust. You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of us.” Woa! Woa woa woa! 

Jump to the day after I got back (from camp) and found out I’d lost my job (while I was at camp the Dad who I nannied for kicked the fiancee and baby out of the house-heart breaking story). I hadn’t listened to that song since camp but the second I found out I’d lost my job I went inside and literally played it eight million times…while crying…like a big ole’ baby (seriously, my roommate came home and put on Justin Bieber so I would stop being so dramatic!). It was my anthem. The belief that God was in the midst of doing something huge, that no matter how painful and hard the last two years had been, no matter how much I was afraid for the future and heart broken for the family I nannied for…God would make something beautiful out of all of this. I was certain of it.

Two weeks later all that had happened to move me to Nashville fell into place (refer to post #1) so that I could be apart of starting Younglives here. 

Then I started posting this song on my facebook page practically every other day. And forcing all my friends to listen to it. And telling the guys that lead worship at my church how much I loved it and that they needed to play it every single week. Turns out they would play it-one time (well the second time that I ever heard them play it but the first time we’d sung it as a worhsip song. BIG distinction). And they would play it on one condition: that I promised to stay one extra sunday for them to put it in the set. So I did. And as a little final fair well (only a handful of people knew they played this song cuz I begged them-very subtle except for me bawling my face off) they played this beautiful song. I was surrounded by some of my favorite Chicagoans (yes we were all bawling our eyes out-dramatically-in the FRONT row…I wouldn’t have had it any other way). And once again, this song kept showing up as the theme for this phase of my life. 

So I’m here. And I continue to watch in shock and awe as Younglives has just hired it’s very first staff members (there’s two of us!) as well as getting ready to start a class for teen moms at the school I’ll be assigned to (Overton). In fact…we could use some SERIOUS prayer as I will be helping with a teen parenting class. So far this is what I know about parenting: don’t let your kids die! Beyond, that…TOTALLY clueless! Ahhhh! 

In honor of this day and how God has already brought new and beautiful things to this story DAILY I am posting this video. And believing, in advance that God is making beautiful things here in Nashville. With teen moms. With me. With the leaders and supporters and donors. He makes beautiful things. He does. And I celebrate the victory before it’s even fully happened…

To the God who makes Beautiful Things:

Loved. Forever and always.

There is so much to say and no idea where to start. Maybe with an explanation of why I haven’t written in a while. No…it is not because Younglives isn’t up and flourishing. In FACT, Younglives is moving much quicker than I could’ve begun to dream. Turns out in the month it took me to get down here-8-yes you are hearing me right-8 other women contacted Younglife about starting Younglives here (half of them literally just moved here. Crazy!). We’ve formed this incredible connection already-meeting regularly to pray about what this is supposed to look like…how we are to go about starting this thing. It’s a mighty team I can tell ya that much! So far we’ve targeted two schools to go through and get this: one school is letting us START a support group just for teen moms. The SAME exact school where I just so happened to get a job choreographing for their theater department. WOA! It’s like God’s at work or something! Did I mention we weren’t even trying to start a group? We were POSITIVE they’d had one going and were hoping to volunteer there. Their response: “Well we don’t really have anything like that…why don’t you start one?” SHHEEEESH! How crazy can this get? SAME exact day I got hired. BOOM. 

So here I am…totally blown away by how big God can be. Literally besides contacting people-that’ all anyone’s had to do to get this thing rolling. I’ve never seen a Younglives start this quickly and I am in awe. 

Besides that stuff, like always God continues to teach me lots and lots AND lots. Most of them dealing with deep, gut level things I never want to own up to. So far we’ve covered everything from image to failure, to job loss to me thinking I need to keep up all these appearances of being perfect. SPOILER ALERT: I’m not! I know…you’re all peeing your pants in shock right now but try to remain calm:). The world will keep on spinning:). Actually what you’re probably thinking is, “its about time she figured that out…we knew all along”. 

What I’ve come to realize, however, is that behind this “needing to be perfect” thing is this big fat lie that says I am never enough. Somehow I still need to keep trying to prove myself. Need to kill myself to lose those 10 pounds, need to exaggerate the good things about myself to “impress others”, need to have this job or that car or that guy looking at me. Cuz’ somehow that-those external things…finally means I’m enough. 

What a rat race we choose to live in.  

But God, in his infinite wisdom, continues to put me in places of humility-places where I don’t look so hot to everyone else, places of mistakes, not being in control and ones where I’m forced to be honest. And it sucks. Big time. 

But here’s the take away lesson my friends: God still loves me. At the end of the day-even on the very worst day where I’ve screwed EVERYTHING up. HE. STILL. LOVES. ME. He still chooses me. Day after stinkin day. He still says I am His and of course I’m enough because that was never the issue to begin with. And at the end of that failure ridden day, guess who’s voice is the only one that matters? 

His. 

So fail. Big.

Take that risk that ends up with you falling belly first. Go after the thing that scares you. Stop telling everyone you’re a size 6 when you’re not. Rock those curves! Tell the world you matter instead of letting it tell you you don’t.  It’s a lie you know…those things you think you need. They don’t matter.

Not. One. Bit.

Breathe. Laugh. Let go of your mistakes. Stop striving to win someone’s approval. You have the One’s you need. Dream. And fail. Big and miserably. Then pick yourself up, realize it doesn’t define you and know its all OK.

You are loved. Big time.