I am a mother of 5 children and I married at a young age.  I was barely 18 and my husband was almost 19  and we married shortly out of High School.  Although I was not pregnant when we married we chose to start our family early.  I was 19 when we had our first child and 30 when we had our last child.  Today I am a few weeks from turning 51.  In the past 33 years we had 2 sons , ages 31 & 24 and 3 daughters ages 29, 27, & 20. We have also added 3 granddaughters and one grandson to the mix. 

As parents we taught our children morals, taught them right and wrong, took them to church every Sunday.  But even doing ALL we could to to prepare them to be morraly clean young adults, they each faced opposition, made mistakes but still they have all grown to be wonderful loving adults.

I truly believe that as parents we can teach our children values and morals and prepare them to be own their own one day, but what we can't do is take opposition from them.  They are IN the word surrounded by the good and evils of this world and influenced by it and those they choose as friends.  All of us have been raised by one or both parents, a grandparent, or other family member who has shared their values with us be they good or bad values, and we have had to decide what kind of person we want to be.  My parents were in their mid 20's when I was born and I am one of two chilldren from that marriage.  I have had children who chose to walk in a different path other than the one that was taught in our home.  Of my three daughters, two of them became pregnant out of wedlock.  So does that mean I should cast them out, that I cease to not love them because they made a mistake?  NO...it does not.  I believe when our children make mistakes it is then that they need us more.  They hopefully will seek wise councel from us their parent or parents (guardians). 

We fail them when we cast them out because they chose not to follow the values we set for them.  Although I was disappointed and my daughters knew I would be, I never stopped loving them.  Today they are both married, and I enjoy the time I spend with my 2 granddaughters (both my daughters had girls). 

Are we as parents failures because of this...I don't believe we are.  We all have agency to chose for ourselves.  I did my duty as a parent in teaching my children morals and values, loved them seen after their needs. 

My heart goes out to Sarah Palin.  She seems like a good mother who also has tried to set values and standards for her children.  Her daughter being pregnant and not married doesn't mean she failed as a mom, it only means her daughter made a choice with her agency. 

I want to say in closing that it's interesting in how many teens are getting pregnant and not being married and how young some of those teens are.  Sarah's daughter is not the first and she won't be the last.  Instead of looking at her and judging her unrighteously, we need to see that no one is really protected from this epidemic. Whether we are known by the world because we are in the limelight or just one of a million moms who quietly serve their families in communities all over the world.  I hope if anyone takes anything away from this is to look around and see that it could happen to any of us, and work on finding a solution to this issue.  Does this mean it doesn't make Sarah a good leader, a  good candidate for Vice President?  I don't believe so.  I've yet to read of a President or Vice-President that is perfect!!!