"I just wanted to feel special"

The past few weeks at our church the middle school, high school and adult church have been going through a  "Tough Conversations about Sex" series. Now I know some parents think that middle school is too young for this or that you are just not ready to have that conversation with your kid. Well, statistically kids are exposed to some kind of sexual content by the age of 8 years old. Eight years old!! Can you believe that? The average age of kids having their first sexual encounter is 16.4. I have two daughters and I want my daughters to know what God says about sex. Not just that it was meant for a husband and wife or that you can get a disease if you have sex out of wedlock like the schools preach. I want my daughters to value themselves enough to know that they don't have to do anything to feel "special" because they are special. Just like the video above, this girl had a low self-esteem about herself and allowed satan to tell her that in order to feel special she needed to give her body to some boy.

I mentor middle school age girls and it so saddens me to hear them put themselves down. To think of themselves like the girl in the video did. That they are not pretty enough, smart enough, worthy enough for anyone to love them. They are not special. As a parent, I want to make my girls feel special, feel loved. But, I know that girls can only feel affirmation about their self-esteem from the only one whose opinion even matters, God! We as parents must direct them to scripture CONSTANTLY, God's truth. He considers us "fearfully and wonderfully made." He loves us above all others.( Ephesians 2:4,6) We are "chosen, a royal priesthood, holy, belonging to God." (1Peter 2:9) We are "accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:5) We are "precious, honored and loved." (Isaiah 43:4) We have "God's power working through me." (Ephesians 3:7)

I could go on and on about the truth of how God feels about us. I know this is a difficult thing for girls especially. Even at my age I too still struggle with this. Just think if we helped our daughters see this truth early on in life, what a difference it could make.

I know that no one wants to have the sex talk with their child, but I'm telling you that if you don't they will hear it elsewhere. And you know what? It won't be God's point of view and it may be too late. Please parents take the time to talk to your kids. Affirm them in God's love. Show them how incredibly important they  are to the One True King!!

And for all you ladies out their, gather these verses for yourself. Do NOT let the enemy temp you into thinking you need this affirmation from a guy to make yourself feel special and loved. God is the only  one we can truly rely on in all situations. For your convenience, I've added a few more verses below. Write them on your hearts!!

I am a child of God (Romans 16-17)
I am greatly loved (Ephesians 2:4,6)
I have been set free (Romans 8:2)
I am accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6)
I am given glorious grace lavishly and without restrictions (Ephesians 1:5,8)
God dwells in me & I am lovely(1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20, Psalm 84:1)
I am precious, honored, and loved (Isaiah 43:4)
I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14)
God is greater than the one in the world (1John 4:4)
I can be strong and have God's power (Ephesians 6:10)
God plans to give me a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)
When I am weak, I am made strong by God's perfect power (2Corinthians 12:9-10)

In Christ's Love,
~Tina Foster~

Loving fall and my hubby

My husband  knows how much I love fall and anything sweet. Since I went gluten free about 3years ago, it's been hard to find good gluten free sweets. Oh, but my hubby is wonderful. He goes out of his way to make me happy. He made the most amazing cinnamon pancakes that are gluten free and have cream cheese icing to top it off.  I thought I might have just died and gone to heaven. So, because my husband is the best, I made him write down the recipe. He altered one from the Internet, all for me. So, here it is. I pray you'll enjoy it and that you have someone special to make it for you. Hey, if not God loves you and wants you to make them for yourself. So, spoil yourself and enjoy these mouth watering pancakes from heaven. By the way he used gluten free bisquick for me, but you can use regular bisquick if you are not gluten free.

Spending time with God!

"Spend time with God" So many people say this is the way to have a relationship with Jesus. What do you hear when someone says spend time with God?

"I don't have an hour to spend in a room, at a table reading my bible with a highlighter and commentary, so I guess I won't be able to have a relationship with God."

I hear this all the time. It dawns on me that kids today don't know how to spend time with God. They hear that if they don't spend hours sitting in one spot reading half the bible and memorizing 100 verses that they are not spending time with God. Wrong!! I believe that we think that if we spend 10 or 15 minutes that we aren't good Christians because we can't sit still with God. What we don't know is that when we take those 10 or 15 minutes with God that he can stretch them into 30minutes or an hour.

This happened to me. When I hear someone say that they spent hours in prayer time with God, I think, " Wow! I must be a terrible Christian for not being able to spend this much time with God." Then I decided to do what I could, so I made a plan to spend at least 15 minutes a day in solitude, with my bible, alone with God. Before I knew it I was spending a half hour with God, then an hour with God. Just the other day I was doing a bible study and reading Gods word and praying, that when I looked up at the time I had been spending over 2 hours with God. How amazing is that!

I recently told one of the middle school girls I mentor that spending time with God will reap such wonderful blessings on her life. I told her to start out making a habit of spending 15 minutes a day with God in solitude. That means put the cellphone away, turn off the tv, go away to a quiet place you can be alone, and be with God. Start out with a verse. Read the verse, then read the chapter that the verse is in. Take time to summarize this verse in your own words. What does this verse mean to you? How can you apply it to you life? Pray that God will teach you something through this verse this week. Meditate on this verse.

She came back to me later and said that she not only spent 15 minutes with God, but actually spent 45 minutes with God. God met her there in her quiet time with him.

My heart soared for her. How great our God is that he meets us in our quiet time with him. He does want to have a relationship with us.

I couldn't think of a better lesson for her. She learned first hand why we need to spend time with God and how we start.

Prayer is the number one way to have a deeper relationship with God. When we spend time with God in his word and talking to him, he uses his word to speak to us. More times than I can count, God has used a verse to teach me about how to live or act at a certain moment in my life. It's through my quiet time and bible study, that I'm able to recognize God's voice.

I was recently given a visual reminder that we are only on this earth a short time. On average we will live on this earth about 80 years. We have about 80 years to make a difference for God. Our purpose in this life is to bring God glory in everything we do. In order to be in God's will, we have to know what God's will is for us. In order to know what God's will for us is, we need to be in relationship with God. He will show us his will for today. I know so many of us, me included, want to know God's plan for our future. I'm learning that God is only going to reveal enough of his plan for us to get through today. And you know that is really all we can handle. His ways are so much higher than our ways. We can't handle the entire picture. So, we must stay in relationship with him so we can see his plan for us and to be able to give God glory.

So, there you go. The secret to what your purpose is on this earth. The mysterious question that has been asked for centuries has now been answered. Now, are you going to seek a relationship with God and fulfill your purpose?  

Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of your works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

In Christ's love,
~Tina Foster~