That’s Not How the Story Ends
On the first day of spring, my son welcomed his daughter into the world. On Easter Sunday, she turned one month old. I was so excited to take her, her mom, and my son to church to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
One of the songs the choir sang was, “That’s Love.” As I listened to the lyrics, I thought about the meaning of Easter.
I also thought about my own life. “They hung Him high and stretched him wide, but that is not how the story ends. Three days later, He rose again. That’s love.”
The part that made me think about my life was…That’s not how the story ends.
When I got pregnant at 15, people discounted me and thought my chances for success were over. And many people may discount my son now.
My story didn’t end with becoming a teen mom. That was just a new beginning. I graduated…three times. I have a great career. And I have lived a full, beautifully challenging life as a single mother to a son. I’ve published a book, also I’ve won awards and shared my story to probably thousands of people. And my story continues to develop.
My son’s story continues too. Only God knows where it will go, but I’m thankful that God gives us a story like Jesus and the Easter story. The hard part, the valley, or what others thought would take us out is not how the story ends.
Life goes on. Greater days are always ahead.
And my grandmother gets to see her very first great-great-granddaughter, my mom gets to love her first great-grandchild, I get to help raise my first grandchild, and my son gets to be the father he never had because of it!
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I’m Summer Owens, and my passion is helping youth and young adults realize success no matter what obstacles they face. As an international resilience and leadership keynote speaker, author, S.O. What! Success Coach, and creator of the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education curriculum, I empower people to say, “So what!” to even their greatest challenges. provide a framework to help people see past their challenges and focus on solutions using the S.O. What! Success System (Overcome Obstacles + Eliminate Excuses + Calculate Choices = S.O. What! Success). Through keynotes, workshops, books, online courses, and workbooks, I use life’s challenges and my own story of resilience as a rape survivor and teen mom success story to help others confidently pursue their dreams.
Looking for an inspiring college motivational speaker? A high school literacy curriculum? A middle school life skills workbook? A great example for teen mothers? A women’s empowerment or single mother’s conference speaker? I’m your girl and will help any audience say, “S.O. What!”.
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