Kaliya

This is the name of my friend J's daughter. She is not born yet, but will be early in 2006. J is moving to Hawaii this month to have her baby, and to be close to her Father's family and her sister.

I am thrilled to death for J. But I am also concerned for her. She is only 21, unmarried, and still - in many ways - a child herself. I only pray that she would find in Hawaii the kind of love and support she is going to need during the first few months of motherhood. And, when she returns to SF in August to finish her last year of college, I pray that she would be welcomed with open arms.

Part of my concern for J stems from the fact that she is a Christian. I am concerned that church homes she might seek out will judge her for being an unwed, single mother. I thank God that (at least to my knowledge) our church here been supportive of her pregnancy - and I am truly grateful that she chose to keep her child. But, I can't get out of the back of my head those little concerns about what will happen once she has the baby.

We had a similar situation happen at my church in CO a while ago--unwed teenage girl getting pregnant. But, she was not as accepted. There was a lot of drama surrounding her circumstances-lots of judgement from church leaders, which made me sick. As Christians, we are called to LOVE. L-O-V-E. Why is that sometimes such a hard concept to grasp?

Pray for J and her new baby girl on the way - - - that they would be surrounded by love, and supported (physically, mentally, emotionally) in the months and years to come.