We’ve all heard the saying, “It takes a village” when people talk about raising children. And we are here to attest that “It takes a village” to run our monthly club! We are constantly amazed by the fabulous volunteers who pour out their time, energy and love into making club welcoming, fun, meaningful and special each and every month. This year, Laurie Bradley stepped into a new role as Club Coordinator. Each month she worked behind the scenes to make sure we had volunteers to cook and deliver a delicious meal, a childcare team to care for babies, a team to welcome moms and their babies, a team to lead us in fun games, a craft team, and someone to share the club talk. We asked Laurie what it meant to her to be the Club Coordinator this year and this is what she said:

Laurie doing one of her favorite things – cuddling a sweet baby!

“I’ve been so blessed by relationships with the teen moms this year. Last year I served in childcare and I was able to get to know the babies but not really their moms. This year I was able to get to know teen moms personally. I was so blown away by their desire to be open and honest about their lives and struggles. I was able to offer motherly advice, pray with and just listen to them. It was a huge blessing for me! Also, getting to see the girls engage in relationships with each other and their mentors was really special. I’ve had a front row view watching the body of Christ work together to make YoungLives happen – people with different gifts, skills and passions all working together to serve teen moms, dads and their babies. Watching God work in the lives of these girls and guys as well as all of the volunteers has been amazing. I love serving in this ministry!”

We are so grateful for each and every volunteer who makes YoungLives possible. It truly is a beautiful picture of the body of Christ working together, each in his or her own gifts!

 ^“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8 (New Living Translation)