Respect

I have 2 nieces who are both single mothers. They both have or are having a child out of wedlock. This wasn't the plan they had set their sights on; however, they are both strong and will be fantastic mothers. My thoughts today turn to an issue one of my nieces went through a couple weeks ago.  We all know that being pregnant and not married is a very hard thing to go through and for some reason even more difficult in The Church.  You will always feel that you are being judged by those around you. The conversations with Ward members seem to be difficult. They are wondering what to say to you and you are always wondering what they meant by that. While this is a great topic, it isn't the one I want to share today. 

To get back on the experience at hand; my niece (she is currently pregnant) was at church one day and ran into someone from high school.  They started texting and she thought it was great to gain a friendship she hadn't had for a while. Well during this texting session he made the comment that he was open if she ever wanted to make-out or mess around. What? Yes, this fine return missionary (I have commented on RM's before), just said that. She was floored. Where had this come from? He then said that they would have to be secret, so his parents didn't find out he was with her. Yes, the scarlet letter. What? She texted and asked why he would say that. His response was, well since you are a single mother, I thought you would be into or open to that. What?

How much time are we teaching our youth about morality and chastity and how much are we teaching out youth about respect and compassion? This young man must be about 21-22. Did he just crawl out from a rock? Where would he think saying this or even thinking this was appropriate? Please tell me this young man is an outlier and that the youth today are really going to be great leaders of our future because they are being taught respect and compassion for others. It's not just about treating her this way, it is also about him being willing or hoping that this plan would go through. Where are his standards? Oh yeah, it's the we must do this in secret, so nobody knows that I am a creep and have issues.

I hope all the young women today know that this is not right and that they don't need to put up with comments or behaviors like this. We all have our own issues, but you are strong. Don't ever let someone treat you less than you are. You are a child of God. You are a child of God no matter what you have done. You are a child of God no matter what you are going through. You are his child and he loves you and will always love you unconditionally.