The first time I met a young woman in need was almost 10 years ago. It was Christmas Eve, she was barely 18 and already had two babies with her boyfriend. The pastoral leader of my church and I picked her up at the women’s shelter and took her to where her boyfriend was staying. I wondered if she realized when she and her boyfriend were intimate for the first time that she would end up on that night being allowed to only hold her child for a brief few minutes.
I volunteer at a local food bank and I see women in there every week — only now they’re almost 30 and have three or four children. I am grateful for a network of social services that keeps them and their children fed, but to all the men out there who have put these women and children in these situations, it’s time they became responsible.
Frankly, these children deserve better, they deserve the dignity of parents who are married and committed to each other. It’s time for these men to put aside their immaturity and be the fathers they are capable of being. There is a vast network of places out there to help — the best ones are churches. Find one and put your life in order.
Steve Walhood
Battle Ground
