Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be a teenager today?  Do you have any idea how much harder it is to be a parent of a teenager today?

I pray everyday that I am raising this child {actually, all of my children, but especially Taylor right now} to be a person that will glorify Him one day.  I second guess myself and the decisions I make almost every. single. day.

I love this child.  And I want her to be happy.  But I am also her mother and I have a job to do.  I have been seriously blessed with this tremendous opportunity and I don’t want to screw it up.  I need to remember that ultimately, all that matters is that this child will one day go out into the world and be a responsible, caring, contributing adult … who knows how to glorify the Lord.

Taylor recently asked for a purity ring.  Say what?  Okay, I didn’t see that one coming.  {P.S., thank you Jonas Brothers for raising awareness and making it cool}.

I was kinda freaked out, wouldn’t you be?  On one hand … wow! how very cool.  On the other … say what??

Seriously …

How do you begin to ask if she really knows what that means?  If she understands that it is a huge commitment, not to be taken lightly?  And the hardest one … does she understand that by making this commitment and wearing this ring … she may actually find herself a target of someone cruel enough to try and break the vow.

She understood it all and claimed she was ready for the commitment.  I didn’t want it to be about just getting a ring and saying she made the commitment.

So I decided we would watch a series called “Kissed the Girls and Made them Cry” from Lisa Bevere.  It’s about purity.  Not just sexual purity, but whole-being purity.  We need to guard our hearts in what we listen, what we see, what we hear and how we dress.  It really is a great series and I’m glad we watched it together.

We recently finished the series and after a longer discussion with Taylor, we picked out her purity ring {online} and she’s proudly wearing it today.  I asked her if someone asked about it what would she say … she said she’d let them know it was a purity ring and a commitment she’s made.  She’s made this commitment to God, herself, her parents, and her future husband.  I couldn’t be prouder of her!  Here are some photos I took of her the other day …

Pretty, no?  And my job as a parent is to make sure she’s beautiful on the inside.  My wish is to one day stand before the L
ord and hear him say, “You did well.” {with the way I raised them}.

Taylor’s grandfather {opa} died this past Wednesday night.  Frank’s dad, my ex father-in-law.  Willi was such a spit-fire of a man.  German, head-strong, and sharp as a tack!  He came over here from Germany, started with just about nothing and made a great life for himself.  It was the saddest thing to see his mind go over the last year or so.  He suffered a cardiac arrest Tuesday afternoon, and his family had to decide to take him off life-support Wednesday night.  Taylor doesn’t usually show much emotion regarding these types of things, but I wasn’t prepared for how this would affect her.  She took it pretty hard … I just couldn’t help but thinking, “I shouldn’t have to be holding my crying daughter explaining her Opa just passed away.”

I’ve been doing a lot more thinking about the bible study.  I’ve had maybe 4 people say they are interested … and I started second guessing this whole thing.  I had dinner the other night with two good friends and they encouraged me to keep going … so I am.  Even if you do not know me, but have happened upon my blog and are reading this, you are invited.  If you are reading this and are unsure if you should come … you should.  If you would like to invite a friend … you should.  If you don’t know Christ and feel funny about the whole religion thing … you should come.  I’m going to be putting some dates out soon, so stay tuned.  I encourage you to let your friends know about the bible study and I encourage all to come.