I always get super excited leading up to the first Tuesday of the month because that means it’s YoungLives Santa Ana Club night! I have been part of YoungLives since November and each gathering has been so special in it’s own way. Not only is it so much fun hanging with these young teen parents, loving on their littles, and catching up with the young moms or dads I’ve gotten to know so far, but the “talk” time is also super cool.  This last Club night Myrna shared from Luke 15, which tells the story of the “lost son” or the prodigal son, who took his inheritance from his Father, went off to a distant country where he lived wildly and spent everything he had only to realize he had sinned against Heaven and his own father. When the son came back to his father, the father ran to his son, threw his arms around him, kissed him and had a feast to celebrate his son’s return!  Wow, what an amazing illustration of grace and unconditional love!

After the club talk, we gathered into small groups with the young moms and dads to chat and it was so cool to hear their perspectives and hearts. Some shared that knowing that God loves you so much makes you feel safe even when you sin. It was such a vivid reminder to me of how our Heavenly Father is always waiting with open arms for us to come back to Him despite circumstances were in or decisions we’ve made.

During craft time, the mammas got to decorate a coffee mug with Valentine’s themed decor and I was so impressed by their creativity. Some moms wrote their children’s name on the mug, some used heart-shaped stencils and others wrote dates that meant something special to them on their mug. I loved how one mom wrote her favorite scripture on her mug. I was also privileged to spend some time traveling to and from Club with one momma and her sweet two-year old boy. It was a great night and I can’t wait to see what’s in store next time!

~Kelsey Calderon, mentor