This week’s guest blogger is a true friend of The Sparrow’s Nest. We’ll call Brett Kunin one of those uncut diamonds in the rough. He’s hysterical but cutting, but at the very core one of those really good guys who takes parenting very seriously. I never knew his story until now. I hope you will be as blessed as I was to read his guest blog. 

There’s this nightmare that plays over and over in my head. My girlfriend and I are standing in our kitchen arguing about what to do about the situation we’ve found ourselves thrust into. There’s a Yellow Pages book open on the kitchen counter. The phone book is opened to abortion clinics.

You see in January 2001, my girlfriend became pregnant. We were shocked. We didn’t know what to do. We had been living together for a year. She was 22. I was 30. I was established in my career. I owned a home. Still we contemplated doing the unthinkable. We didn’t plan for her to be pregnant. We didn’t know if we wanted a child.

Thank goodness we shut the phone book that day and never opened it to that particular page again. Today I look at my son and I shudder to think that if we had made that choice he would not be here. How different would my life be today? I know that my life would not be filled with the love and daily doses of laughter and joy that my son gives me.

Now think about a teenage girl. She’s 16 years old, a sophomore in high school. She’s made a mistake. She’s made the same mistake that many of us have made. Her family is horrified. This frightened teenager’s parents are so upset that they kick her out of the house. Her boyfriend and his family offer no help. She doesn’t know what to do. There’s nowhere for this young pregnant girl to turn. It seems like she has no choice. Her parents want her to choose an abortion.

There’s another girl out there who’s homeless to begin with. She was orphaned as a baby and has been in and out of foster care her entire life. Now she’s pregnant and living on the street. What’s she to do?

My girlfriend and I were in a position to care for a child. We had a warm home, the support of our families, and the financial means to care for our son, yet we were still terrified. I cannot imagine the terror that surely goes through a teenage girl’s mind when she learns that she’s pregnant and is now faced with the overwhelming responsibility of surviving pregnancy and raising a baby.

I remember how difficult pregnancy was on my girlfriend, who soon became my wife. She was nauseous and uncomfortable; her clothes quickly became too small. There was so much to do. We needed to buy a crib, a car seat, and a high chair. We needed bottles, diapers, and clothes for the baby. Again, we had a comfortable home and it was still miserable for my wife during pregnancy. Now imagine a frightened, homeless teenage girl going through these same experiences. It’s almost unimaginable.

Up until now, an abortion may have seemed this young girl’s only choice. That is changing however. This girl now has a real choice. The choice is now available for her to turn to caring arms and motherly wisdom. She now has a place to go where she will be accepted. She will have a place to go where she will learn that she is not alone. This place will give her and her baby a fair chance. It will be a place where she will learn to make healthy choices for herself and her baby. That place is the Sparrow’s Nest.

I choose to donate to the Sparrow’s Nest because I’ve made mistakes, but always had the means and the support to recover from my mistakes. Many teenage girls don’t have the means or any support so they make a decision that they must live with and will likely regret for the rest of their lives.

I choose to donate to the Sparrow’s Nest because I’ve witnessed firsthand how difficult pregnancy is on an adult woman who has a home and a partner. The burden on a homeless teenager is not something that I’ve witnessed and I feel no one girl should be forced to endure pregnancy and childbirth alone.

I choose to donate to the Sparrow’s Nest because I understand that my donation is an investment in the future of my community. I realize that helping a young mother and her child get started off on the right foot in life can make all the difference.

I choose to donate to the Sparrow’s Nest. Will you?

You can read more about Brett’s life as a single dad at http://www.1andahalfmen.com/

Eighteen months ago it seemed like a pretty simple concept.

• Pregnant teens needed a home

Logically speaking when you see a problem you search for the solution. This one seemed like a no-brainer.

• Get them a home

I honestly couldn’t figure out why I seemed to be the only one to see the solution. I’m a fairly intelligent woman but not always the sharpest knife in the drawer. As each month passes it’s pretty clear now why nobody wanted to touch this one. As each month passes the stacks of papers, regulations, applications, policies, procedures, licenses, requirements grows exponentially. The budget is nowhere near what we originally thought. We have to convince a whole heck of a lot of people that what we are doing is a good thing. And now we found out we have to have a parking lot.

A Parking Lot? Really?

All we want to do is help those in need

And that, is exactly what we are going to do.

Are you ready to dig in with us? Are your knees ready for some bruised up prayer time? Are your knuckles ready to be bloodied as we climb the side of this cliff?

We have a tough road ahead but it’s necessary.

Are you in?

Leave us a comment below to tell us. Thanks!

One step forward, two steps back.

Two steps forward, one step back. 

It may sound like a country line dance but it’s the reality of starting something from scratch. For every yes we get , we also get 4 no’s. For every step forward we seem to have to take 2 steps back. 

We move forward in church support and then realize we don’t have licensing determined because we don’t have the house yet. Some people don’t think they can invest in The Sparrow’s Nest because frankly, we don’t have The Nest yet. We apply for our maternity home tax credit but don’t have our letter of standing with Children’s Services because we don’t have the house yet for The Sparrow’s Nest. 

Do you see the common thread?

We don’t have the house yet.

I don’t want you to focus on the don’t part. I want you to focus on the yet part. 

I feel very strongly that this piece of the puzzle in within our grasp.It is 1 of 2 main goals our Board of Directors have adopted in 2012. Obtaining The Nest may be 2 weeks away or maybe only 3 months away. But I wanted to give you an opportunity to boldly pray that The Nest is secured by a very specific date.

April 29, 2012

This date could mean an actual house, it could mean land, it could mean plans to build with an end date. Whatever it means, we’re turning this over to God. Just like Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4), we’re not getting off the wall to the negativity of what we don’t have. We’re celebrating what God has already given us.(Nehemiah 12). 

Do us a favor, share this date with your church, your small group, your Sunday School class, your bible study and then let’s stand back and watch God move a mountain. Join us in writing a big ole’ red circle around April 29, 2012. 

If you are contemplating an abortion because you feel like you have no other choice we would fight for the chance to talk to you about your real choices.

If you have endured an abortion we’re here for you and ready to walk with you through real healing.

We value all life at Sparrow no matter what the circumstances. We love you and are praying for you.

http://youtu.be/AJIKe9eJLh4

The Board of Directors for The Sparrow’s Nest decided last week that our top goals for 2012 are to:

1. Build The Nest

and

2. Build The Board

In my role I spend a LOT of time thinking and dreaming about the what, where, and how we are going to Build The Nest. I’m constantly asking myself, at what point to we decide we have enough money, when is the wise time to just take the leap, do we take a mortgage, do we pay rent, do we wait until we have all the money and what exactly is all the money? What’s the wisest, most efficient, most effective decision?

I had also been spending more time praying for a miracle. I read about other organizations receiving donations of actual houses and I find myself growing jealous of other people’s generosity. I pray that we could receive a miracle like that. I think how much easier this job would be if someone would just hand us the house and the money we need to get started. And then I started feeling lazy and guilty for praying for such a miracle. I believe very strongly that you won’t get half of what you want without working really, really hard. However, I would still very much like that miracle. How wonderful and easy would it be for God just to hand over the keys to The Nest! On the other hand, I was feeling guilty about praying for a miracle. It’s not like we have a life threatening emergency on our hands. 

And then it hit me.

We do have a life-threatening emergency on our hands.

We have the life of a precious, innocent, living, breathing baby on our hands.

We have the life of a scared, confused pregnant young girl on our hands.

One life could be lost to abortion. One life could be lost to suicide. One life could be lost to pre-mature birth. One life could be lost to sex-trafficking. One life could be lost to child abuse. One life could be lost to homelessness. 

Now, I am convicted more than ever to praying for a miracle. Praying for The Nest to become a reality in the next 90 days. Praying for a young girl to hold on just a little bit longer until we get up and running. Praying for the miracle of life within her. 

After reading this, will let us know that you are also praying for a miracle? Leave a comment here. 

Point In Time Homeless Count

Monsanto has a long history of providing generous support to the St. Louis region, donating approximately $9 million last year and more than $97 million since 2000. Now is your chance to vote for the St. Louis area non-profit projects you think Monsanto should support.

Almost 160 St. Louis area non-profits, including The Sparrow’s Nest, have submitted entries into Monsanto’s Grow St. Louis contest. Public voting will determine the top three winners of $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000 grants from Monsanto.

You are invited to www.stlgrown.com to vote for The Sparrow’s Nest: Build The Nest Project. You can vote 1 time per day from Jan. 9 through Jan. 29. 

So vote daily!

Our project entry is called Build The Nest. This goal of this project is to raise funds to build the future home of The Sparrow’s Nest Maternity Home. The mission of Sparrow is to provide a Christ-centered shelter and to educate homeless, pregnant, and parenting young women by providing me a wide range of services that empower to make positive, and healthy life decisions for themselves and their babies. 

This is an opportunity for all St. Louisans to have a voice in choosing projects they think will most help Grow St. Louis. We hope you’ll support us by voting for our entry – and spread the word to all your friends and family members to vote for us, too!

Image via Wikipedia

There’s a billboard near my house that advertises a website to access the wait times at local emergency room. My daughter and I were driving by the sign and she asked how a waiting list at an ER would work. I explained to her the concept of triage, and how the order you were treated was usually in order of the severity of your injury or illness.

That conversation made me think about how we decide who to help in our lives as well. Sometimes it seems like everybody we know and their dog is in need of something. Our list of hurting people can be longer and sometimes more severe than an emergency room.

The Sparrow’s Nest has identified a group of hurt people who we feel can no longer be ignored. We feel we can no longer push them to the back of the line and hope they hang around to get the help they need. We’re pushing to Build The Nest for teen mothers and their precious babies. We feel this an incredibly vulnerable group of people that needs our immediate attention.

We have a goal of raising $100,000 by December 31, 2011. We need you to feel the urgency of this need and donate whatever you can. You can access our secure online giving site at www.thesparrowsneststl.org

Like right now, I’m sick in bed. I should be telling myself no but even that seems impossible. 

But today, like too many other days, I had to tell not one but two people no. 

I received 2 more phone calls today of young, pregnant girls needing a safe place to stay. 

I had to tell them “No, we aren’t open yet. No, I can’t help you. No, I don’t know of any other place in the area that can take you. No, I don’t know what to tell you.”

It breaks my heart. I know I will always have to use that word. Even when we do open, we won’t have enough space for every girl that needs a home. Some girls won’t be a healthy match for our program. 

But for the ones that do, I pray very soon we have a warm, safe, inviting place for them to stay, and figure out their next steps.