Alyssa's Special Time~

 Alyssa is our 4th child, 2nd daughter.  Dh and I took her out last night ....  she turned 13 in August and we have promised to take her out. She loves asian food so we took her to place called the Peking House. She loved it.  We suprised her with her purity jewelry.  I was very excited because I found a wonderful piece that had a special to meaning to her.  Ever since Alyssa was young we have read the book "The Princess and the Kiss." This year we have been going through the study guide of that book. In the back of the book I found the website Revive our Hearts. 

 We presented her with a Royal Princess Certificate and a necklace. The necklace is beautiful. It is sterling silver and has a small little box that says "kiss."   She loves it. The Certificate is awesome too. She loved it and I could see it fill her with praise, love and confidence.

 We encourage our children to make a commitment to God and to us.  We explain that we believe it is God's best...   and we want them to commit to purity.   Purity spiritually, emotionally and physically.  We do not want our children to "date."

 Her dad helped her put her new necklace on.  He told her he loved her and she glowed.

Isn't it beautiful....  she is too!  I am so proud of her. We talked lots and explained how she needs to guard her heart, her eyes and her emotions. We talked about how sometimes it may feel that you are all alone but God promises to never leave you or forsake you. She shared how she knows this is what God wants and realizes that it will not be too hard right now but may become much harder as she is 14, 15, 16, 17.....

Revive Our Hearts also has keychains with a shield on it for young men.  I think this would be really great for our two youngest when the time comes.  We didn't do much with our boys. Michael made the commitment when he was 13. He met Amber in college. Dakota is 17.  I will admit we were not as consistent with him and he would be our child that would "date" if we allowed it. He isn't angry or upset... he knows its best. He has agreed with us. He does have a young girl that is his age that is a good friend. Dakota will be 18 in March. We will see what God has for him.  

Each family, child and courtship is different.  No two are the same.  This works for our family. We do get some pressure at times even from well meaning family.  We have always been a little strange.... 

I know Alyssa will cherish her special night with us.  May God give her strength and courage as she takes this next step to being the godly woman God calls her to be.

Thanks for letting me share. Please know that we make plenty of mistakes, there is none righteous no not one.... plenty of things I wish we would of done. Michael & Mandi were our "trial and error" children. Really though....  I still make plenty of mistakes at this parenting thing.

It's His grace that carries me....

~just a mom like you~