Saturday, February 19, 2011

Porn and Pastries

Last night I attended an event hosted by my church, Westlink Christian Church, as a part of our "Porn Weekend." This event was for women only, 500 women gathered at our church for pastries, fellowship, and to hear a couple speakers from xxxchurch.com.

As you would expect this event and the advertising done by the church was a controversy in our community over the last month. I've heard before if you are not making a fuss in your community, then you are not doing your job as a congregation. In this case that statement totally applies!

Craig Gross and Shellie Warren were the guest speakers, they were merely amazing. They addressed talking to your children about sex and porn, dealing with porn addictions in your family, living a life that is pure before you enter a covenant as husband and wife, masturbation, knowing your worth as woman in the context of your sexuality, and your relationship with the Lord. They encouraged us as believers to be open about all of these issues in our families, friends, and church life!

On the website for the event, people shared their concerns about talking to their young children about sex, porn, etc. Some were offened that the church would post the word "porn" for anyone of any age to see. It was emphasized that if we can't talk about it in the church then where are these kiddos going to learn about it? Craig talked about the "sex talk" he just had with his 7 year old son. He reminded parents that if you talk about it early on you can avoid the awkward talk with an older kid that has already learned about sex from society. When you introduce it at a young age you can gradually build the comfort in talking about sex and grow with your child as they learn more. They will be more comfortable with coming to you with questions if you are open and honest with them. We are kidding ourselves if we think our youth don't know about sex and that they are not exposed! Shellie said "It they are old enough to ask the question, then they are old enough for an answer." She went on to say the answer definitely has to be age appropriate, but they need an answer.

During Q&A a woman asked about talking to her young daughter about "loving" Justin Bieber or The Jonas Brothers. Shellie gave the advice that more than anything you need to use that as a teaching moment to teach your child about the word "love" and how to use it. Encourage them to "really like him" and "love" someone you actually know and have a relationship with, I loved that advice!

When Shellie was talking about "making love" she reminded us that you don't make love with sex. You can definitely have sex and not be making love. I loved that she talked about the purpose of sex. She said that the purpose is not to procreate or to have pleasure, but the oneness that it creates with a mate.  Shellie also spoke about loving someone that loves the Lord first. That you are worth more than you give yourself credit for and that the Lord has set a path for you. She spoke about the woman as a helper, that you don't need to change for the man or strive to be with him, but that he needs you as a helper and the right one will see that in you. She reminded the women that "if the man you love is faithful to the Lord then he will be faithful to you." She encouraged single women that delay is not denile, the wait is not a no, but honoring the yeses. I really felt like she made a good point that the wait is worth it and that the Lord has a plan.

In talking with my mom (60 years old) she felt lucky to be in a situation where a different generation could learn more about the current generation. She and I talked about how people my age were just about the first people to be able to access the internet as preteens. It is a whole new world when you account for what you can access on the computer, ipods, and phones. The speakers touched on this too because it is more of an issue than it has ever been. 

Lastly, they talked about helping spouses, family members, or friends that do have sexual addictions. They gave advice on being open and building those people up and honoring the Lord by sticking with them and helping them.

I could go on forever, but I won't. I feel so blessed that the Lord has given me the ability to be open and able to talk about just about anything. I will leave you with one reminder...use the abilities the Lord has given you in sharing your faith, love, and spirituality

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Life as a first grader

I wish we could remember our experiences like they were yesterday. I would love to see myself in first grade to see what I was like. Now that I'm 26 and in first grade things are really great, I am a total know-it-all, I rock at art class and all the kids want to play with me at recess! It amazes me each day when kids say the most amazing things. Yesterday a kid was asked his favorite body part...of course he said "nose, duh." Another one of the students said that if he had $100 he would buy "a hot rod to pick up hot chicks."

Daily I'm reminded through these kiddos how great life really is and how when we grow up and lose our childlike view on things life seems to be crap. Today my student (hard of hearing/spec ed) used a complete sentence to let another (regular ed) kid know he spelled a word with a d instead of a b. I cried. Although she stresses me out (hourly) she makes great gains each day and I get to be there for it all! I felt like today was useless and that my job was crap, until this happened and I realized that I really am shining my light for not only my student, but others around me. God never ceases to amaze me when it comes to His greatness!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Snow Days

I don't mind having snow days, especially if traveling to work is going to be crazy. I enjoy being home with my husband and not having to stress about any part of the day. It may put us a little bit behind, but really a day off is worth it!

My uncle posted about how the snow is an inconvenience to us, but that God put it there for a reason. The reason was not to inconvenience our lives, but to make us stop with the busyness of our everyday and enjoy each other, resting, and the beauty of it all. I totally agree!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

First Blog of 2011~

Sharing who I am and who I strive to be is a daily thing for me. I love to talk and I love to share my experiences. Enjoy as I go on and on about nothing much, but stuff that is way important to me!