Most of the time I’m blogging about decorating and DIY projects, but as a parent when I come across something I think you might like too, I love to share it! And, as a believer there is no higher calling than raising your children to love Jesus, be obedient to Him, and want to serve Him with their lives. As my children are growing, we’re beginning to experience some vital milestones in their development.
Fifth grade is a big year in our school system. It’s the last year of Elementary School, and the year when students participate in their first “Growth and Development” class. Our school system does a very good job in the presentation of the materials, but we definitely don’t want that to be the first time that our kids are exposed to those topics. So, ready or not, near the end of 5th grade has been the time for us to have “the talk” with our kids.
I’m not going to go into a lot of details, but I did want to share a resource that was very helpful to us. It’s a Christian-based cd/workbook program called Passport to Purity by Dennis and Barbara Rainey. It focuses on God’s plan for their lives as they strive to keep Him first and is designed to help parents in discussing love, sex, and relationships with their child as they enter adolescence. The sessions start gently with subjects such as not “running with the herd” and addressing friends and peer pressure. I also really like that there are separate CDs specifically for boys and girls for the sex session, so those focus specifically on things that need to be addressed for each gender.
One thing that the materials encourage is taking time for a special getaway with your child. We chose a destination about three hours away…just enough time in the car with your captive audience for some open and honest discussion time.
This program includes multiple sessions, but this time we only did a few of the sessions that covered just the basics. As our children get closer to moving into dating we will continue the rest of the sessions then. Also, you can sort-of customize this plan into how you want to use it. We strictly used the cds as a starting point for our discussion, listening while our child filled in blanks in their listening guide, and stopping the cd for further discussions when needed. There are also suggested projects and activities that correlate with each session, but we didn’t use those. As parents we listened to all of the material before hand and were prepared to pick and choose what we wanted to focus on.
My husband took our son two years ago, and recently, it was my turn (EEK!). Our girls’ getaway was tailored to doing some of my daughter’s favorite things…she’s not a shopper, although we did spend a little time choosing some new Spring outfits. We also chose a few of her favorite restaurants and treats, spent time playing mini-golf and arcade games, and enjoyed lounging at a hotel.
At the end of our getaway she received a special necklace as a memento of our weekend, and reminder of how much we love her and want her to know God’s best plan for her life.
Here’s a post that I came across as I was writing this one. It has more information about Passport to Purity and some great tips if you think this material might be for you. What a valuable time to spend together and wise investment in the lives of our children. My prayer is that by making the effort with these kinds of discussions, our children will always feel comfortable talking with us about whatever tough issues arise as they’re growing up, and that the Lord grants us wisdom in dealing with their each and every concern as their little hearts are molded to be more like His.
“How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.”
Psalm 119:1 (NASB)