Hi and thank you for participating in the 1st Annual Live in Love Scholarship Fundraiser.  My name is Terah Thomas and I am the Founder of Live in Love Community Service; an organization geared to help others through various acts of love.  

I am a mother of two girls, Nyah (3) and Malayah (almost 2); Motherhood is such a privilege but I didn’t always look at it that way. I can remember when I went through a season of depression during my pregnancy and post pregnancy. People who were close to me began to break my spirit. I was very stubborn, hardheaded, and determined during that time; but I had feelings.  I wanted to make my family proud, to be accepted, and not condemned.  I wanted pointers on motherhood, those girly talks where women share their experiences without judgment.  I wanted support, but I was closed off, confused, and combative at times.  I was told:

"I don't know how you're going to do it with two kids.  You should let someone else raise one"

"See, that's what you get when you're not in the will of God"

"You is a hoe"

"Don't ask for my help, you didn't need my help when you were laying down".

Now, can I be honest?  These statements may have had some truth to them (except for the hoe part lol), but the intensions and method of delivery may have been off.  Pride, disappointment, and ego may have been intertwined with "tough love" in hopes to build me up.  But in the most critical point in a woman's life, when she is bringing forth life-- she needs love. 

I know of a few young women whose stories are similar to mine, and they still managed to overcome, submit to God, and succeed.  They were told:

• "You've disgraced this house and you've disgraced me."   - Church
• "All she does is make babies... Are you gonna just keep having kids" - Mom

I challenge you to take a moment to reflect on how you've viewed someone who became a mom before marriage? Can we look at ourselves and say we did not judge them, condemn them, or think lowly of them?

Instead of judging, let’s begin to uplift and inspire. Let’s motivate and equip young women with tools that will help them with relationships, spirituality, goals, financial literacy, and more. I’m sure that this positive approach on preplanned pregnancy will be far more effective than condemnation.

This has inspired me along with my team to start the 1st Annual Live in Love Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to assist a high school graduating mother with furthering her education by awarding her with a $1000 scholarship.  The scholarship will be an initiative of encouragement to reach career goals while also being a mother.

Even in the midst of my shortcomings, God has blessed me to still earn my baccalaureate degree in Psychology from Norfolk State University and serve as a Therapeutic Day Treatment Counselor for elementary school aged children. God is faithful and as much as He has been a blessing, we feel compelled to help someone else. But we can’t do this alone, we need your help.

Live in Love is not just a name, it's a lifestyle. When a young woman has become a mother before planned, give her love. Invite her to church. Highlight her strengths instead of her weaknesses.  Compliment her.  Inform her about community resourses.  Help her with a career plan.  Teach her a few things you've learned in life.   

God knows our hearts, and I feel that when our heart is right the love will be accepted and welcomed.  That’s when the ministry begins. And if the love is rejected, be kind and pray.  That's the Kingdom way.    

Please support the cause by donating to the 1st Annual Live in Love Scholarship Fund and share on your social media websites. We really want to make a difference; The goal of Live in Love Community Service is to motivate, equip, and serve individuals in the community to reach their fullest potential and meet their goals.

Your support means so much to us, and I know it will mean so much to the award recipient. Feel free to leave an inspirational comment once you donate, it would be awesome for the recipient to see it.  Any amount helps - the deadline for accepting donations is May 31st!  All donations will be posted on the site, even the ones given offline. Live in Love will give ALL donations to the award recipient, down to the cents; we will keep you posted on the progress of this movement once you subscribe to this campaign.  We hope to exceed our goal so that more than one scholarship is awarded.  The Scholarship Committee will be selecting the award recipient.  The committee is composed of mothers who graduated from I.C. Norcom High School (Tiffany Stokley, Christina Hayes Nash, Iara Mangum-Hall, and Terah Thomas) along with the Author  of ‘In Pursuit of Me’ and mother, Ms. Brittney Dennis.  We will keep all supporters involved with us on this journey.  So, tell errrrbody you know who may benefit or support the cause! Lol

Thank you for visiting. Thank you for being the village.