Pure Intimacy

Here's a website from Focus on the Family that brings together a lot of information in one place on sexuality, with specific sections for ministry leaders, couples, and parents.

Of special note is the section on the "Theology of Sexuality", something that ultimately informs all of our decisions around this topic: the movies we watch, if/when we let our kids date, even how we vote.

As the site says:

Although the Bible employs other analogies for God’s relationship to His people, the most common is that of bridegroom and bride. If we are created in God’s image, does this heavenly relationship have any bearing on our earthly relationships? It holds more meaning than most of us have ever imagined.

Pure Intimacy

Aggressive Girls

Who would have thought this would be a problem?

I'm not sure how it is in your circles, but from what I can tell teen and pre-teen girls are very aggressive these days. I've seen some very tasteless and desperate behavior on the part of girls who throw themselves at guys for attention/affirmation.

There are two sides to this to be sure... and I'm becoming acquainted with both. My oldest son is on the receiving end of some of this attention. And my daughter is at an age where her peers are starting to demonstrate it. In a bizarre twist, her friends sometimes demonstrate this aggressiveness towards her brother (hopefully this is helping her see the foolishness of it!)

Here's an article from well-known Christian author/speaker Dennis Rainey with his impressions of this "new" problem:

Back when I was growing up, there were some girls who were called “boy crazy,” but very few were as forward and aggressive as what we’re seeing today. Based on my conversation with parents, and what I’ve seen through research on the Internet, I think parents are facing some serious challenges. We’re seeing more girls taking the initiative with guys at younger and younger ages, and aggressively attempting to lure them into sexual activity....
the situation has changed enough in recent years that we need to ask, “How can we prepare our teenage sons for dealing with the attention and temptation being thrown at them by some sexually aggressive girls?”

Protecting Your Son From Aggressive Girls
(The Family Room - March 2008 - FamilyLife.com)

Modesty

My wife and I were rolling our eyes this morning that the latest American Girl Magazine You Pick It topic (where girls get to send in their stories/poems/etc) was "Fashion Frenzy". Our daughter was so excited to find out the topic, but kind of looked bewildered when she saw what it was.

The fact is, fashion has become an increasingly important topic to her peers, and even though she is a little behind the curve (thankfully), it is starting to become important to her as well. As this change takes place we are working hard to keep the concept of modesty in the forefront of our conversations.

Here are a couple of websites that are among the very few voices talking about modesty in fashion for girls without becoming over-zealous and weird about it:

Girl Talk Blog

Modestly Yours Blog

Modesty Survey

Generations of Virtue

With a teenager son and a "tweenager" daughter, I am always looking for resources that deal with combating the cultural pressures around them. The constant flow of information through movies, music, tv, and peers gives a pervading message of relativistic values to our kids as the world tries to squeeze them into the mold.

As fathers, it is our job to protect them and anchor them to the Truth. But how do we do this without becoming isolationists, protecting them to the point that they are unable to cope when they leave the home and are on their own? Only by equipping and preparing them now to understand the difference will they be able to survive and even perhaps lead their peers to a higher moral standard.

Generations of Virtue is a non-profit, volunteer-driven ministry that equips parents to empower their kids for purity in our world today. We work closely with parents and teens as we provide them with classic and cutting-edge resources to fight the battle for purity.

It looks like they break down their book resources by gender and age to make it easier to find appropriate material. Also, they provide dvds, audio books, and purity jewelry. Check it out at:

Generations of Virtue