A Life of Purity: The Purity Ring

 When I turned 14, my Dad took me to the mall to buy me a purity ring. We looked and looked and finally ended up at the jewelry store, Littman's. I saw a beautiful ring that was a heart shaped amethyst. I had been wanting either an amethyst or a ruby, not too big because I have small hands. I decided that I wanted that exact ring so we measured my finger. What's cool is that that is where my Dad bought my Mom's wedding ring. The lady then said it would take about a week to be sized. Dad and I then went to get lunch. We ate at Sonny's. What a great place to go right after you went to go look for a ring, right? The next thing I did was.....wait. It was hard waiting. Finally, the day came when I could go get my ring, try it on just to make sure if it really fit, then just look at it. I was so excited to finally get my ring; I had been waiting for months.

You ask, "Why get a purity ring, what does it mean?" I decided to study it out for myself even though I had a pretty good idea from my parent's teaching.

      Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any VIRTUE, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

   I want us to look at these two words; pure, or purity, and virtue. The definition of pure is: free from what contaminates, weakens or pollutes; free from moral faults; innocent; chaste. Purity is the quality or state of being pure.     Virtue means conformity to a standard; morality.

  Before we go on, I want to give you the definition of chaste. Chaste means innocent of unlawful sexual intercourse.  Chaste is our word for this post.  The purity ring is focused on this six letter word; Chaste.

     The purity ring says that we are going to save our first kiss for our husband. Just like a wedding ring is a symbol that you are married and a covenant to your husband that you are going to stay true to him, the purity ring is a symbol that you are going to keep yourself pure for the day, hour and minute of your marriage and for your future husband. It is a covenant to God and also to your parents that you will not hug or kiss a guy before the day of your marriage or doing this with someone who is not your husband. 

  You ask, "Why do I need to keep myself pure?"

 First, we know that the purity ring says that we are saving our first kiss for our  husband on our wedding day. If you go around kissing every guy you like or think is a little cute or kiss a guy just for the fun of experiencing it, how does your husband know that you are going to stay true to him? 

  Second, God's Word commands us to be pure. I Timothy 4:12 says, "Let no man despise thy youth: but be thou the example of the believers...in spirit...in purity."

   Not only does being pure deal with the outside but it also deals with your thoughts. Let me take you back to our verse which says, ''Finally, Brethren, ...  whatsoever things are pure... if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things." So, we see here that being pure also means thinking on things that are just, right, and holy.
   

This is what my ring means to me: the purple means that I am a child of the King. The heart means that I am going to save my heart for my husband, the diamonds stand for purity. And the band of course is a symbol of the covenant with God and my parents.

One of the things that is a great help to us girls in my family with this subject is the book written by Sarah Mally- "Before You Meet Prince Charming".  It is a great book that talks about purity. I highly recommend it.

   If you want to make this commitment you need to realize that you are promising God. Woe to the person who breaks his promises with God, the One who never breaks his promises to us!  If you decide to  make this commitment I am so excited for you! Making this commitment to God and your parents is one of the greatest decisions you will ever make.

Don't Worry Robin! : Part Two

      Remember when I started to tell you the poem "Don't Worry Robin!" Well, here is the rest of it.
 I hope you enjoy it!
                                                           
                                                                Don't Worry Robin!
                                                                            ........
                                                     So she laid her head upon her wing
                                                              And then began to cry
                                                      For she could not bear the burden
                                                          Which upon her now did lie.
                                                     Convinced that God must be unfair,
                                                              The little robin asked,
                                                         "Lord, why give a little robin
                                                            Such a monumental task?"

                                                 "A task too great?" the Lord inquired,
                                                           "Why all you have to do
                                                 Is get the worms your brood needs now
                                                               And that is just a few.
                                                           I did not say to do the work
                                                                Of all the year ahead
                                                           Your job is just to do today
                                                           What I, the Lord, have said."

                                                        The robin paused and pondered,
                                                              And then she did recall
                                                   That the Father said he feeds the birds
                                                            Although they may be small.
                                                           So no matter how she fretted
                                                            All her worry was in vain,
                                                     For He promised that He'd feed them,
                                                         And His promise there is plain.

                                                             Herself she reprimanded,
                                                          What wasted tears were mine,
                                                       While I struggled to supply myself
                                                         What was promised all the time!
                                                            Why fret and fume and fluster
                                                                 Over every daily need?
                                                     For God told us just to seek Him first,
                                                          And the robins He would feed."

                                                        "I can't bear the future's burdens
                                                            And its tasks I cannot face,
                                                       For tomorrow is too great a strain
                                                            On today's sufficient grace.
                                                      But when tomorrow becomes Today
                                                       And the future becomes the present,
                                                        I'll find His grace is again enough
                                                        To make my task seem pleasant."

                                                             "Today is all I need to see
                                                           I won't worry for Tomorrows
                                                         Today has enough of heartaches
                                                       Without borrowing future sorrows."
                                                       Then the robin sighed in great relief
                                                            And found that she could rest
                                                    While leaving tomorrow in God's hand
                                                            And just doing today her best.

                                                               So then finally she rested
                                                                 After worrying so long,
                                                             And as her peace returned
                                                        She found her long-forgotten song.
                                                                  She again could sing
                                                        And bring to hearts a note of cheer
                                                           When she let her Father handle
                                                                  The rest of all the year.

                                                                                    -Cathy Corle-

My Second and Third Early B-day Gifts

The first early birthday present is doing very good, but since I have been doing a lot of school I haven't been able to really play with her. Joshua and sometimes Brenna have been teaching her tricks like touching the ball at the end of a stick and getting a treat.

   My second early b-day gift is that know I have my own emailing address! It is ekristine15@gmail.com  I have already gotten 4 emails.

My third early b-day gift ( another one of those special ones ) is God sent us 11 baby chicks.

 They are so cute!

                                                  We like the brown one the best.

 The only thing is that they are not really ours, you see, when we first started getting chickens in our yard we would catch them and put them in the coop. We got 8 chickens but there are still three more chickens running loose, a rooster named Tiglathpaleaser ( Josh named it ) and two hens: one named Roosty and another named Pox ( a real ugly one that looks like it has chicken pox or something, thus named Pox.) Well, we didn't see Pox and Roosty for a while. And then all of the sudden today she showed up and a little later her baby chicks. I was looking out the window wondering if she had chicks and then I saw them. I yelled out, " She's got chicks!" Then Joshua rushed in for he was outside and he said the same thing so we all rushed out of the house to see them. What another great gift!

I wanted to hold one so bad. Finally, Dad picked one up and I asked, " Can I hold it?" It was so soft. I wished I could hold her longer but we let it go to follow its mother out to the other side of the fence. I remember sometimes Mom telling me about when we had chickens, when we lived in Missouri, and one time she couldn't find me and she finally found me squatting near the chickens watching the baby chicks.

This picture reminds me what the Lord said in Luke 13:34, it says,"...how often would I have gathered  my children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings,..." That's a wonderful verse.

My Early B-day Gift: A Goat

As you have probably read from my mom's blog, we had started catching chickens that came around our house and put them in a chicken coop that Leo made for us. We now have 8 chickens; Big Mama, Snow Flake, Dipper, Pink, Jingle, Caramel and John, ( I know John is a hen, but that's what Silas named it) and we also have a rooster named Bronco.

Well, earlier this morning Mom had gone to pick up the ladies and the rest of us were doing the last finishing touches on our house to get it ready for our Bible study, then Leo showed up. Dad went outside to see what he wanted and Leo came out of his truck and said "come here" to an animal or something that was inside his truck;  Dad thought he was calling his dog Lulu but then a girl kid goat hopped out. Dad was surprised and Leo started telling Dad about how he found it; Leo had found it on the side of the road. Dad didn't realize it, but Leo was giving it to us. So, now we have a goat.

Since my birthday is Thursday it is almost like my early birthday gift. I'm so excited! Mom kept saying," What in the world are we going to do with a goat."and I would answer," Keep it."

  Isn't it so cute? It was like a dream realizing that she was ours, well, at least for a little bit. We will see if  Dad and Mom really want it. We noticed that it was so tame because it just followed Leo and then it started following us. She even tried to follow us inside. It followed me and Joshua around earlier and it reminded me of the nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb,except  it is not a lamb it is a goat and we don't have a Mary in our house.

Since it is still a baby we gave it a bottle and some milk and she just jumped right at it. She drank it up so fast.

Here is Silas, Callie and Momma feeding it a little later on. Silas is a little scared of it but Callie just goes right up to it. We think we will name it Kiddie, since it is a girl kid goat. Kiddie tried to jump on Callie and Callie told Momma that Kiddie hurt her tummy.

Since Kiddie is so tame she might belong to someone else so when the news paper comes out we will see if somebody is looking for a goat. So, for now we shall enjoy our goat.

Another Poem to Contemplate

              This one is very simple and I won't bore you out.This one is about prayer. I don't know the author, though.

                                           Prayer is the simplest form of prayer
                                                   That infant's lips can try,
                                                 Prayer's the sublimest strain
                                             That reaches the Majesty on high

                                                 O Thou, by whom we come
                                                 the Life, the Truth, the Way,
                                                  The path thyself hast trod
                                                   Oh, teach us how to pray

    What's cool about liking poetry lately is that in my last English Pace I learned about poetry; so that was cool. I learned that poetry has rhyme and rhythm; prose does not, and the different types of meters: iambic, anapestic, trochaic and dactylic. I also learned the differences between stanzas and verses.

To get an early start at earning money for Christmas we are supposed to read a spiritual book. Each one that we read is a euro and the really big books are worth two euros. So far I've read half of
 A Heart of  a Handmaiden: by Cathy Corle, half of A Heart for God: by Paul Chappel, and God's Ideal Woman. Those were great books.
    Before I go I want to start writing part of one more poem down for you. If you find you worry a lot about tomorrow I encourage you to keep reading, for even if you don't like poems you won't be wasting your time.

                                            Don't Worry Robin!

                                      The harried , hurried robin
                                    Sat and stewed upon her nest
                                  And she wearied as she worried
                                   But there was no time for rest
                                  She had flustered as she flurried
                                    From the East unto the West
                                   Just to to find a few fat worms
                                    To feed the babies in her nest.

                                     "We've just enough for now,
                                  But what an endless task is mine;
                                    For in a just a few short hours
                                   Will come another feeding time
                                       If I'm able then to muster
                                  Just enough for them to swallow
                                         Before I get my breath
                                 Again there bellies will be hollow!"

                                 She added up the worms they'd eat
                                           In just a day or two,
                                     And the longer that she added
                                       The greater her burden grew.
                                  She despaired before she'd finished
                                       And the year she calculated,
                                       For all the earth with worms
                                         Could not be so populated.

On my next post I will tell you how this little bird found out how to get through the day.I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.