When raising your children you sometimes find yourself wondering if what you are teaching them is “sinking in.” We parents spend countless long hours teaching, preaching, talking to, and praying over our children all in the hopes that they will grow up to be strong capable adults that make the right choices in their lives. And as a Christian mother my hope and prayer is that I raise my children in the Lord. To me this means raising them to know God’s word and his promises for their lives. To be blessed and live, knowing they are blessed by God, because when we know that we are blessed by God we can live in freedom to bless others.
God smiled on me recently and I wanted to share it with you.
Our daughter Jessica is now 13 years old. She turned 13 in December. (Yes I know I am a little late posting about this) So, before her birthday she came to me and Todd and asked us for something very specific for her birthday. She asked, well really begged for, a purity ring. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? When most teens would want an Ipod, clothes, money and every other worldly thing, my daughter asks for a purity ring! How blessed are we?
I know some of you are thinking, uh oh you had to have “the” talk, right? Nope. Jessica and I had already had that talk 2 years ago. But we did need to have a talk of another kind. Because I am an adult and have experience behind me, I needed to explain some things to her that goes beyond the mechanics of the birds and bees.
I told her it was fantastic that she had made this decision all on her own. We were beyond proud of her in making a good choice. But she needed to understand that just because she made it didn’t mean it was going to be easy. At 13 it is real easy to make a pledge of purity. But when you are 16, 17, 20 years old and sexual awareness has awaked in you, as God designed it to, it is harder to keep that commitment. Not impossible, but harder.
We talked to her about ways to avoid situations that would naturally test it. For example, no matter how much you care about a boy DON’T be alone with them. Even kissing can awaken a lot of things and push your body to want and desire things. You need to always be aware of this. It is hard to stop, so just don’t start to begin with. It is easy now to say you won’t, but until that is tested, and it will be tested once you take a stand, it is wise to have a game plan.
We shared with her that even when she was weak she had Jesus who would always be strong for her. That WITH him she could overcome ANY temptation!
We were very fortunate to have a friend’s son who never went on a date with his girlfriend unless his little sister could go with them. And if she couldn’t they went to his house or her house where the parents were. That way they always had a chaperone per say with them. This is a choice HE made for himself. Well my girls observed this and had him as an example. They thought that was cool. We were blessed to have a real live example.
More recently one of Jessica’s youth leaders had a purity ring and so did her fiancé`. She got to share with the youth girls her story and her choice to wait for her husband. What a testimony to Jessica when she attended their wedding and saw them exchange their purity rings as part of their ceremony.
God has been sending a message to our daughter. He has used us to plant the seed and used others to till the ground, put nourishment in the soil, and water the seed. God made her heart tender to his calling and praise God she heard him!!!!
So Todd, Jessica and I went to the local Christian bookstore and looked for rings. She found one she really liked. We purchased it. But we told her she didn’t get it till her birthday a few weeks away. She didn’t like that, she wanted it now. Little did she know we had been talking to our pastor about presenting it to her in church! The Sunday we wanted to do this (the week before her birthday) our pastor’s message just happened to be about purity! No coincidence there!
Why IN church? Well Todd and I didn’t want it to be a little thing of just giving it to her on her birthday in a box. We wanted it to be a BIG deal. We wanted it to be presented in a way that she would never forget. We wanted her choice to make a big impact on her mind, heart, and spirit. So that IF she was ever in a situation where she might be tempted, then that moment would be burning in her memory to make the right choice and resist.
So, our pastor started the sermon and right in the middle called us up to present Jessica her ring and share with the congregation what Jessica had decided. Jessica had no idea this was coming. At first she was very embarrassed, but later told her daddy that she was glad we had done it like that and that she wouldn’t have had it any other way!
I have shared countless times that I feel so unworthy to raise this precious little girl. Jessica feels like such a gift from God. I am dumbfounded that he thought I was the best choice to raise her. So many times I feel so unworthy. She is such a joy to us and to me personally. I have known since she was five that her heart is so sensitive to God. I can not wait to see where the Lord takes her.
Bravo baby girl for taking a stand to be pure!
Hugs, Kristina
God smiled on me recently and I wanted to share it with you.
Our daughter Jessica is now 13 years old. She turned 13 in December. (Yes I know I am a little late posting about this) So, before her birthday she came to me and Todd and asked us for something very specific for her birthday. She asked, well really begged for, a purity ring. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? When most teens would want an Ipod, clothes, money and every other worldly thing, my daughter asks for a purity ring! How blessed are we?
I know some of you are thinking, uh oh you had to have “the” talk, right? Nope. Jessica and I had already had that talk 2 years ago. But we did need to have a talk of another kind. Because I am an adult and have experience behind me, I needed to explain some things to her that goes beyond the mechanics of the birds and bees.
I told her it was fantastic that she had made this decision all on her own. We were beyond proud of her in making a good choice. But she needed to understand that just because she made it didn’t mean it was going to be easy. At 13 it is real easy to make a pledge of purity. But when you are 16, 17, 20 years old and sexual awareness has awaked in you, as God designed it to, it is harder to keep that commitment. Not impossible, but harder.
We talked to her about ways to avoid situations that would naturally test it. For example, no matter how much you care about a boy DON’T be alone with them. Even kissing can awaken a lot of things and push your body to want and desire things. You need to always be aware of this. It is hard to stop, so just don’t start to begin with. It is easy now to say you won’t, but until that is tested, and it will be tested once you take a stand, it is wise to have a game plan.
We shared with her that even when she was weak she had Jesus who would always be strong for her. That WITH him she could overcome ANY temptation!
We were very fortunate to have a friend’s son who never went on a date with his girlfriend unless his little sister could go with them. And if she couldn’t they went to his house or her house where the parents were. That way they always had a chaperone per say with them. This is a choice HE made for himself. Well my girls observed this and had him as an example. They thought that was cool. We were blessed to have a real live example.
More recently one of Jessica’s youth leaders had a purity ring and so did her fiancé`. She got to share with the youth girls her story and her choice to wait for her husband. What a testimony to Jessica when she attended their wedding and saw them exchange their purity rings as part of their ceremony.
God has been sending a message to our daughter. He has used us to plant the seed and used others to till the ground, put nourishment in the soil, and water the seed. God made her heart tender to his calling and praise God she heard him!!!!
So Todd, Jessica and I went to the local Christian bookstore and looked for rings. She found one she really liked. We purchased it. But we told her she didn’t get it till her birthday a few weeks away. She didn’t like that, she wanted it now. Little did she know we had been talking to our pastor about presenting it to her in church! The Sunday we wanted to do this (the week before her birthday) our pastor’s message just happened to be about purity! No coincidence there!
Why IN church? Well Todd and I didn’t want it to be a little thing of just giving it to her on her birthday in a box. We wanted it to be a BIG deal. We wanted it to be presented in a way that she would never forget. We wanted her choice to make a big impact on her mind, heart, and spirit. So that IF she was ever in a situation where she might be tempted, then that moment would be burning in her memory to make the right choice and resist.
So, our pastor started the sermon and right in the middle called us up to present Jessica her ring and share with the congregation what Jessica had decided. Jessica had no idea this was coming. At first she was very embarrassed, but later told her daddy that she was glad we had done it like that and that she wouldn’t have had it any other way!
I have shared countless times that I feel so unworthy to raise this precious little girl. Jessica feels like such a gift from God. I am dumbfounded that he thought I was the best choice to raise her. So many times I feel so unworthy. She is such a joy to us and to me personally. I have known since she was five that her heart is so sensitive to God. I can not wait to see where the Lord takes her.
Bravo baby girl for taking a stand to be pure!
Hugs, Kristina
8 comments:
Well, thanks for making me bawl like a little baby before I've even had my caffeine this morning! What an awesome thing for her to do on her own. God will richly bless her and it's so obvious already has His hand on her.
Crying here!
Love you guys!!
I am SO proud of you Jessica!!
Awesome and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
love ya.
Thanks for the tears! Jessica, I'm so proud of you! Love you sweetheart!
That is the most beautiful thing I've seen. I totally cried watching this.. I know you and Todd's hearts and am so thankful for the place you guys have in my hearts.. What a great girl!!
Bawling now...
What a proud moment for your family.
Yay for Jessica :)
amazing! i'm so happy for jessica and think it's amazing she's making that commitment.
blessings,
missy
Post a Comment