ExodusMagSep2017

E-WOMAN
A child is a God given gift.
Nothing and no one creates
human life except for God.
Hagar had no idea that she was going to
develop certain feelings against Sarai when
she was pregnant with ‘her’ child. Her imagination
was that she would get pregnant,
give birth and life continues. However, feelings
developed that caused her to be driven
out of Sarai’s household. After that she found
herself having to take care of the child
alone, a child she did not plan to have but
someone else wanted. But because of wanting
to satisfy the madam, she did what she
was asked. A young girl fooled by love is no
different to Hagar.
My heart sank once when I heard a 17-yearold
girl telling me that her friends were laughing
at her and calling her dumb because she
had not yet gotten pregnant. They have a
belief that when you get pregnant you are
firming a relationship. I was never so puzzled
in my life the way I was when I heard that
statement. What age would be the father if
the mother is 17 years old? What does any of
them know about parenting when they are
both still in need of parenting. This made me
realise that there is somewhere we are lacking
in carrying out our social and family responsibilities
as adults. These girls need to be
taught how to value themselves, they have
no idea how to do that. So the question then
becomes, ‘What is the society doing to combat
teenage pregnancy?’ Yes, Social services
is giving out grants to take care of the
children that are already there, but what are
we doing to ensure that girls wait and not fall
for premarital pregnancy myths.
We as society need to teach our young girls
that waiting for a husband to give your virginity
to, is not at all taboo or behind as the
world paints it. It is valuing yourself better
than the world values you. It is understanding
who you are in Christ and the plans He has
for your life. This is what Society should be
teaching to teenagers until it is gotten right.
South Africa has a huge number of single
mothers. Some children don’t even have the
privilege of knowing who their fathers are.
There was a time when this was a shame, a
period where in some families, the mother
would adopt her daughter’s child as her
own. In some families when the young girl
falls pregnant out of wedlock, the parents
would arrange for the child to be given up
for adoption right at the hospital. However,
today we speak a different language.
Women have choices. Some choose to have
a child or children out of wedlock because
they purely want children and are not convinced
that they will or even want to marry.
Others choose to have a child because they
are worried about their biological clock. Others
have divorced or separated, and a
‘majority’ was unplanned or somewhat
planned pregnancies. The latter is the basis
on which the earlier mentioned ignorant
statement was formed.
What then do we say about Women that fell
pregnant out of wedlock; women that are
old enough to make decisions regarding
their needs for motherhood and how it
would affect the lives of the children they
are bringing to earth?
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