10 Inspiring Pics! :)

Created By Katelyn Carter

Because I care....

How can I be praying for you? 

My Prince has come and his name is Daddy!

Hey gals! Have any of you seen the new movie Courageous? If not, I highly recommend that you do! It’s an amazing movie. Before I begin sharing what God has laid on my heart I want to say that I understand many of you do not have good fathers. They are not eh “Prince” type or anything close to that. Some of you may not even know who your father is. I understand that. My heart breaks for you…. Some of us have amazing fathers. Are you one of those girls? You could only dream of marrying a man like your father. No matter where you come from hopefully you can relate in some way.

We talked about submission a couple of post back and I made it clear how I find it comforting to submit to my father. I trust him and rely on him often. This is not the way many girls view submission. Some see it as a bad thing, a struggle, and they just honestly rather not do it. God calls you to obey your parents. Can we be real here? You may to their face honor them (Some do not even do that, but lets hope you do.), but what is your attitude towards them when you are not looking, when you are hanging out with your friends, or just in your thoughts. Do you value your father’s opinion? We have all at sometime thought that we knew better than our parents. It’s true isn’t it. How did it end up? Girls, I’m here to be real with you…. You are not smarter than your parents. You do not know what’s better for you. There is no reason to “Hide” things from them. If you cannot talk, touch, or look at that guy the way you do in front of your dad then you shouldn’t be doing it. It’s that simple. If your dad doesn’t like the guy no matter how head over heals you are for him you according to the Bible you are called to respect your dad and obey his wishes. I’m not saying it is easy, but I am saying that it is what you are called to do. You may be closer to your mom than your dad and that is fine, but babe the bottom line is if you cannot respect your father now you will have a hard time respecting your husband one day.  You may be thinking….yada yada yada but this is real. One day you will realize that you could have missed lots of heart ache and pain if you would have just listened to your dad.

With all that said though…. Let your father be your prince! You may want a husband so bad that it physically hurts. I hear ya… I want one too! The thing is though until God brings your Prince dance with your daddy! Let him protect, comfort, and guide you. It is what you are called to do!

If you do not have a father once again, my heart breaks for you… Babe,  I’m…. Im just sorry. The things is though if you have accepted Christ as your Savior you do have a father. A perfect one at that! One who loves you and cares about you more than you will ever know! Cultivate your relationship with your Heavenly Father… You will never regret it!

JEN

Quote of the day!

"My prince has already come and his name is Daddy!" ~Movie Courageous

I HIGHLY encourage you to go see the movie!

What do guys REALLY want?

Lets be honest girls... we all want a guy. It's that simple. We love God and we want God to guide our relationships, but that also means we want a guy. Is that a bad thing? I think not! God created us to be this way! It's truly a beautiful thing! So, my question is... what do guys really want in a girl? Does he want her to be totally hot, "experienced", and always ready for a party? Some guys may, but from what I've observed the type of guy I'm hoping you would want and the type of guy I would like to have doesn't quite find that so attractive. Follow me here.... Last week in youth our youth minister was talking about purity and he asked the guys (Keep in mind these are just typical teen guys... not some oh Holy ones. just normal guys.) how many of them wanted a girl who had never been "around". I was astonished by the response! Only two out of about thirty guys did not raise their hands. Does this seem right? Honestly... it doesn't. The way it often looks is that the guys are all over the girls who do not value themselves and will give anything. In reality though yes guys may give those girls attention, but when you talk marriage and settling down they want the girl who has waited. Now, I will go ahead and say.... God and i have talked about this alot lately. I have a hard time feeling that it's fair. As my daddy always told me growing up though, "Life isn't always fair.". Why am I saying all this? To open your eyes to the fact that what you see isn't always what is truly happening.

Another thing that guys want... this is just purely from observation and reading many books (including the Bible!). Guys want a woman who wants (Notice.... not just will, but wants to!) to follow God's plan for women. When i say this I do not mean to start a debate on women's rights. I simply mean God has placed inside a man a want to be the leader of the home and at the same time the desire to treat his wife as if she is a princess. It is not that he thinks he is any better than her, but simply he wants to protect her and guide her. I personally believe that we as girls have this pride about us that we think we do not need a mans help or his guidance. This may be true.... women can do anything that men can do, although i challenge you to think... is that the way God created it to be? Yes, it is possible for women to be the same as men, but does that mean it is the best way to do it? I strongly believe it isn't. The other night some of us were sitting outside the dorms and one of the guys made a comment about how he would love to see his wife over the stove with a baby on her hip, My first response was to be offended. Shouldn't i have been? Not at all. He didn't mean it as if he wanted his wife to be his slave or anything of the sort. he was simply saying how to him and other guys for that matter it is simply beautiful to see a woman taking care of her family and holding a child. Was he saying he would never cook or hold the child? No! He didn't say that and he didn't mean that either. He was just stating a fact that he found that attractive. So, I say to you.... Enjoy your femininity! Guys do! Why shouldn't we? Learn to enjoy cooking, cleaning, caring for children, and serving your dad! It isn't a bad thing. Honestly, i find it comforting.... there is comfort in knowing that my dad has my best interest at heart and that he is watching out for me. It will be the same way when i have a husband!

JEN

David's Heart!

Purity Modesty and The Male Mind

I was 7 the first time I was exposed to a dirty magazine. My friend’s dad had a stash in his basement he thought no one knew about. He was wrong.

On average first time exposure happens at age 11; we’re talking 5^th and 6^th graders here. Now why am I bringing this up in the middle of a series on modesty and purity? Because I want to give you all a true male’s perspective. Yes, a male who has been saved by Christ alone, but a visceral desire-oriented male nonetheless.

We fight an uphill battle, I fight an uphill battle; constantly pulled between what I know is right and what I fool myself into accepting as good. Even at a young age, both boys and girls are shown what is contrary to Christian morality and, as I think, true Christian beauty. Men are at a disadvantage in some respects because of the apathetic approach to correcting their distorted views. It’s hard to correct something everyone struggles with. Our sin of lust is far more than simply looking at what we shouldn’t, it creeps into the very pours of our desires and warps our ability to experience the ‘new life’ God promises.

But here, ladies, is where you enter.

Why bother being modest? Because, and please believe me when I say this, it stands in such stark contrast to everything else we see. Purity is not some ethereal concept we pursue, it’s real – as real as what we choose to wear, as real as what we choose to let our thoughts drift towards and as real as what our source appears to be.

For women it’s worth and for men it’s joy.

This is the answer to being pure.

Remember Matthew 5:8. What does this “they will see God” mean? In short (if I don’t cut myself off sometime we could be here a really long time), usually women struggling with this issue need to reevaluate where they believe their worth comes from. That will show you where your investments are going: investments of time, of thought, of money, of emotion. If you see your worth in Christ, if you understand your beauty as being directly tied to who you are in him – then aren’t you going to see God more clearly? And isn’t purity going to be a natural side-effect of you seeing things as they truly are, namely yourself?

For the guys reading, and I am taking idea this straight from Piper and Driscoll, you have to be on guard to see where your joy comes from. Too often we settle and stop short of the immense pleasure we could experience in God. You have to become dissatisfied with anything less than the extraordinary – only then can you desire the joy found in Christ alone – and then you will see God because your desire is pure.

I guess when it comes down to it, you can measure a person’s purity by asking how valuable Christ is to them. Is He the source of your worth, of your joy? If not, than what reason is there to chase after purity? It seems like a lot of work for very little reward, if that reward is anything outside of Christ.

But it is worth it. And ladies, guys do notice – more than you could ever know.

Immodesty may grab our attention, but purity will win our affection.

David