The Family Playbook: The Game Plan: What Are We Playing For?

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Thanks for joining us for this week's Real Life Church Podcast. We'd love to know if God is using this ministry to bless you in some way. And if you'd like to share your story or get connected at Real Life Church, you can visit us online at livereallife.com. You guys ready just to kick things off with a life change story? Yeah? There you go. You guys are energetic. You guys are in that good mood because Ohio State won yesterday. So there you go.

We won't talk. There was one boo. Do you hear that?

Probably from the team up north. He's probably in a bad mood. Everybody pray for him. We'll lay hands on him after the service.

But one of the ministries here at our church is Embrace Grace. This is a powerful ministry where we minister to single pregnant moms. And it's an 11, it's this 11-week course. And then at the end of those 11 weeks, we put on a shower for them and just bless them. And this is such a powerful ministry because God is continuing to do so many great things in the lives of these pregnant mothers. And we're going to show you a video here of one of those stories. Her name is Ashley. So if you will, direct your attention to the screens, and let's hear her story this morning.

Ashley (1:22)

I found Embrace Grace from a Google search out of desperation. I was at the end of my rope. My husband and I had just come a cross country, a cross country move from California. And we, I started a new line of work. And we were having a rocky relationship. Our relationship was rocky. He was having addiction issues.

And I didn't have any, like, social network. I didn't have a church. I wasn't going to church. And I didn't have friends or a community. And I felt super isolated. Then I found out I was pregnant. And that was not in the plan. So once I found out I was pregnant, my husband did not like the noose. He did not want another kid. And it was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. And he ended up moving out. And we were separated. And I felt terrified of, like, how am I going to raise my toddler, who I had, and now this new baby? And I was so desperate that I looked up, like, pregnancy support groups for single moms. And I Embrace Grace came up. And I was hesitant once I found out I was affiliated with a church, because I, like, didn't want anything to do with, like, church people, because I had been hurt by the church I went to as a kid.

But I was so desperate that I ended up coming, because I was at the very end of my rope. When I first came to Embrace Grace, I was, like, because I was nervous around church people, I was pretty reserved and hesitant. But I thought, hey, I'm desperate. I'm just going to give it a chance. And I came, and it was a little uncomfortable at first. I was very reserved, like I said, but the women at Embrace Grace, they, like, poured out love on me week after week.

And even though I had really, like, I had actually thought I was, like, better than and smarter than Christians, I realized through their love that they had something I didn't have. And yeah, it was amazing that they were so dedicated. I thought, like, that I didn't deserve it. I didn't understand why they were so nice to me when I had done nothing for them. Like, before Embrace Grace, just with my one daughter, it felt very taxing to be a mom. And I felt, like, distracted. And I would, like, get on my phone to try to check out and numb myself from the pain. And it was, like, hard to be a mom.

And I was scared to have the second one because, like, how can I handle a baby on top of this one when I'm already struggling? I'm already, like, drowning.

But since having my son and after Embrace Grace, I, like, have poured myself into my kids. And now I've been blessed to not have to work outside the home since having him. And I pour all of myself into my kids. And it's been this biggest blessing. And I get so much out of it too. It's just, it's a beautiful thing to be a mom. And I've realized, like, it's an eternal, it has eternal repercussions. And I just enjoy it. And I'm so invested in it now. So I'm just incredibly thankful for Embrace Grace, for planting that seed and bringing me back to the Lord.