I find that what weighs me down the most is this idea that I can’t ever be good enough in God’s eyes.  There are standards in today’s world that are lowered, and then there are some that are just too high. I do not know where this sudden spark of inspiration to resurrect this site came from.  (Well, DUH, from the Lord, I suppose, haha…) The timing is odd.  I’m thinking…”WHY NOW? You are crazy, Lord…”  But if it’s all God, which I know it is, the questions I ask about now will be answered soon enough.  So, no more questions now.  I’m just gonna’ DO IT.

This overwhelming feeling and burst of energy of just wanting to write will not cease, and, I don’t really want it to, quite honestly.  I have so many relational ties (If this makes SENSE)  connected with this website, which was launched…well, almost 5 years ago this year.  I can’t quite explain the (practically) 2 year break from doing anything on it.  But perhaps I needed some time to grow up and think things over.  All I can say is, I’m ready now for things to start happening, and this time I truly believe that this is the Lord’s will.

Truth be told, I’m starting to realize how much I miss this and how much I have forgotten!  (I, the one who remembers everything? Haha!) I am eager to learn more about what it truly means to be a Christian woman.  That always sounded like a dull occupation to me, being just a cliche, lackluster “Christian woman”.  I don’t know why, exactly.  But, at the same time, it was music to my ears if I ever heard those words describe any woman.   I suppose I am just broadening my narrow scope of vision, which desperately needs it to be broadened.

To get to the point, there is a balance that we as Christians need in order to find happiness and spiritual well-being.  Get on one extreme and you’re full-blown into legalism.  The other, and well, some might question if you’re a Christian at all.  What we need is an identity.  An identity in Christ. Not in clothes, not in makeup, not in friends, not in anything material – and – shockingly – not even entirely in ourselves.  But in something long lasting -of eternal value. Take a look in your spiritual mirror, and I hope that you can see Christ in your life.  Once you lose that vision of your Savior, you lose so much.  We are humans and we make excuses.  We make excuses that we are human.  But that is a pretty weak excuse. Because we have something more than “human” to rely on and to garner our strength from.  We have Jesus.  Yet…time and time again…we for some reason abandon our Redeemer.  I’ll be honest, I go through days when I don’t want to even think about God – think about Him knowing everything about me, watching me slip and fall.  I am almost praying, “Please, ignore me Lord.  I want to sit in this pit I dug for myself because I just want to feel horrible for a little while.  I want to punish myself – justify my life by myself. I don’t deserve pity, mercy, love from You…but at the same time, I don’t deserve hate from anybody either.  I just want to be ALONE.” – but this direction of wallowing in self pity got me nowhere, of course.  I hate those days of misery that just come from nowhere.  It irritates me to no end.  But, things don’t have to be that way.  I forget how responsible I am for letting it happen.  Being a Christian doesn’t mean we avoid pain, no, quite the contrary.  But we don’t have to always be miserable.  There is such thing as having peace and happiness in our daily lives, if we attain it from God.  He’s our Source.  We should never be embarrassed to just ASK for things.  (Weird confession: I get EMBARRASSED asking things from God sometimes…yep, true story!) Of course, I don’t know what your hangup might be, but, I know mine so well, and I can’t be the only one in the world with…. I was going to say problems, but I don’t know if that’s the right WORD.  *Onward to next segment, please*

Well, I do believe it is time for this bar to be raised.  One thing is for certain though – Jillian and I cannot do everything by ourselves.  I’m calling ALL girls of vision that are interested in this website, to pitch in and help.  This isn’t just about my journey or Jillian’s journey.  Though, I will say, that, personally and spiritually for me, that might be the centerpiece benefit of keeping it up.  But – I want this vision to help, inspire, challenge and draw other girls closer to their Redeemer.  It’s so important!  If it is something that I can help do, then I am all for it.  If there is some way that words through the articles on this website can speak to others, it is worth it.  Even if just 1 person in the world reads it…Okay…well, that would be uninspiring to me, ONLY 1 person.  Hopefully more than 1 person will read this site………*Looks over to the sad, sullen, lonely words on the right corner of the sidebar of our site that reads “1 online visitor(s)”* Well, that can change!  I do believe in miracles…. Maybe God will make one happen through youuuuu!  Alright, enough with the cheeziness.  Let’s get this party started!

So, where to start, where to start.

So, to start slow, I’m praying that atleast 3-5 girls read this and are inspired to be apart of PricelessPurity.org  We need writers and creative thinkers, young and old.

Send us an e-mail at pricelesspurity@yahoo.com and let us know if you wanna’ join in!

Or, better yet, leave a nice comment to this YOUKNOWISAWESOME post.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

LOTSO LOVE,

(yes, the way I am feeling RIGHT now has qualified me to say “LOTSO LOVE”)
~Rachel

]]> http://pricelesspurity.org/?feed=rss2&p=1400 0 http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=1346 http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=1346#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:25:40 +0000 PricelessPurity http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=1346 It seems like it’s been awhile since this website has received any of the attention from us that it well-deserves. And why does it seem like one of us is always apologizing for not being here and doing this and that?  It’s been hard to hold things together for a long period of time, due to so much going on.  Right now, Jill is working out scholarship stuff with college, and other such tedious stuff.  (Rachel isn’t too far behind, sadly. ;-/ hehe)  It’s hard to stay focused and inspired on the message we’re trying to convey with Priceless Purity, so forgive us for not pouring out our all into this project in recent months.

In fact, we’re learning a lot of things that are really quite honestly exciting us, that we know we can one day use on here – God is putting us in certain situations that are just showing us so much.  At this moment, we’re trying to absorb.  We’re trying different things, and growing/struggling spiritually like everybody else.  We don’t know all the answers to questions we ourselves find asking, so we’re in search of finding them.  We’re looking in all the nooks and crannies in our life that we can fill.

So, to the point – our site isn’t going anywhere.  We’re not shutting it down or anything, but we’re taking it slow (forgiveness, please?) and reloading, and then one day you’re really gonna be surprised.

^ That’s supposed to be a promise, now!

Hoping and praying things work out the way they’re supposed to.  Right now we have the blind fold on and God is just leading us around the room, so to speak.  Hopefully we’ll figure out what the surprise he has waiting in store for us is, but for now, yeah, we’re letting things pan out in His will.

God bless,

Rachel & Jillian

Matthew 5:8

This is the gist of what all victims of abortion are told by Planned Parenthood facilities across America…

a

Orrr – do you have a written review on something that you would like to share on our site?

We invite you to post your requests and/or your own available reviews publicly through comments, or feel free to send us a private e-mail.

Either way – we’re looking forward to hearing from you all!

~Rachel & Jillian~

Certificate of Purity

The moment we’ve all been waiting for – the unveiling of the all-new Priceless Purity database!

So, what took us so long?  Between going from more than 3 “permanent” site designs, experiencing some very uninspired moments, having to edit and revise over a dozen pages and articles, having to brush up on technical knowledge, and overcome heartache after losing 3 of our best articles accidentally, we were also pretty busy.  But through it all, God has kept our heads above water, and we’re finally opening this site.  (All we ask is that you please like it so that all our hard work on here pays off!) ;-P

In the entire 3 1/2 year history of  our site, we’ve never had anything this big happen before.  God has taken us a long way with Priceless Purity, it’s incredible, really.  From the simple MSN group site it used to be, God managed to expand it to what it is now.  It’s just…WOW.  We started out as just a small Christian website, and then began reeling in hundreds of subscribers to our newsletter (now appropriately titled “e-zine” – haha) and message boards.

The site you see here has been totally designed by Rachel and Jillian.  We first had a site designer help us, but after not seeing eye to eye (hehe) we decided to take over the helm and just do things ourselves.  It turned out nicely…right?  We hope you’ll check out some of the new articles and revised pages!  Those are the things that took the most, and thanks to some of the contributions, (which we probably could not have done without to step forward) we finally made it.

And now for some random ramblings and words of encouragement…

We hope this website will bring you some very encouraging and blessed moments, as the sole purpose of our site is to show you how truly loved you are in God’s eyes – how the precious gifts He’s given to you, should be treasured.  Treasure the meaning of purity in your life.  Other things can come and go in you life, but the purity in your life is a symbol of an enduring promise of God!

If you’ve spent all your days worrying, feeling hopeless and needing love and enrichment in your life – it’s been there all the time!   During your darkest moments, He’s been there.  He’s waiting for you to come to Him and totally dedicate yourself to Him.

Even those that lose heart now and then – Having renewed confidence in God is something we all have to experience – as long as we live in this material world, it will always be hard to keep ourselves from doubt, and fear – this is what the devil wants to see, us to be constantly afraid, messed up, lonely, and seeking for something but never finding, and unstable.

Never give into those feelings of “not being good enough” to come before God.  He wants you to be apart of His Kingdom – whether you think you’re good enough or not!  He has great plans for everyone that gives their heart to Him.

Ephesians 2:10 says

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

We can’t control everything that happens in our life, but we should be happy to know that when we set our focus on a goal – on standards – for how we should live, how we want to live – we can attain it!  God gives us choices to make, freely.  Salvation is a choice, and we can either take it or leave it.  But why give up everlasting life?

We hope this website can speak to your hearts, and encourage you to cast off the works of darkness and sin that is holding you back, and embrace the true meaning of living our lives – a life of purpose completely dedicated to the Lord!  Because, in the end, it’s really all that matters!

“Priceless Purity” is just something that has really been on our hearts since the Lord first planted the idea in our minds – and we really hope that our same vision and idea is taking root in your hearts as well!

We’re going to show you how purity and impurity is relevant to everything in the world.  This seems like a new spark, a new idea.  As if it’s never been taken seriously or thought of before.   When creating this site, that was what got us.  We wanted to reveal to you – and other girls and women – about this prized possession that so many throw away.

—

Anyway, this site is just something that has been really on our hearts since the Lord first planted the idea in our minds – and we really hope that our same vision and idea is taking root in your hearts as well!

Never heard of a purity database? Neither have we!  That’s why we designed this site…to be an internet purity resource for you.

In the meantime, you can get more acquainted with us, and find out about how we began the site, and check out some basic FAQ.  Also, find out more about our e-zine, and participate on the new forums!  And of course, you all should know how to just browse around and read most of our articles without us having to give you a link here, so – get started!  =)

Feel free to visit the “Contact Us” page for more information on leaving any questions, comments, suggestions, and even complaints.

Priceless Purity founders, managers, editors, and writers,

-Rachel and Jillian

]]> http://pricelesspurity.org/?feed=rss2&p=204 5 http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=214 http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=214#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:16:15 +0000 Rachel http://pricelesspurity.org/?p=214

- Part I: The statistics

This article is meant to be read before you read the purity pledge we put together in  January 2008.  We encourage you to read it afterwards.

In today’s world, you’re shamed if you do, and shamed if you don’t.  If you do remain sexually pure before marriage, “you’re probably one of those judgmental goody-goods, and a freak of nature with no hormones”.  And if you don’t, let’s just say you’re going to have more than the “B word” label on your back.  But most of the time, it’s harder on those that do.  Sad isn’t it?

Consider this though – You’re not only pledging this merely for your sake, or your future husband’s sake only – but for God.   He watches your every move 24/7 non-stop.  Don’t think He’s going to just not pay any attention to your actions.  This is painful to Him because He paid the price for your sins, yet,  you’re not putting forth an effort to stop sinning and purify your lifestyle.

After researching this topic, we found some interesting statistics from different sources -

Some information found on Guttmacher.org gave some insight on statistics:

The statistics found that nearly 46% (half of all 15-19 year olds in the U.S.) have engaged in sexual activity at least once.

“Each year, almost 750,000 women aged 15-19 become pregnant. Overall, 75 pregnancies occur every year per 1,000 women aged 15-19; this rate has declined 36% since its peak in 1990.”

…And nearly a 3rd of all teen pregnancies end in abortion.

It went on to say that “Teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in many other developed countries-twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.”

In 1994, more than half of teenagers in the United States were virgins until at least 17 years old.

“-Nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year.  That means close to 2800 teens get pregnant each day. (Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996).

-Approximately 4 in 10 young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old.( Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996).

-Teen childbearing alone costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually for social services and lost tax revenues. (Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy, Prebecca Maynard (ed.), The Urban Institute, Washington, DC, 1997).”

A more recent Guttmacher report said, “Teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the past. Some 13% of females and 15% of males aged 15-19 in 2002 had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995.”

Could this decline be because of the purity pledge movement?  We did more research to find out the effectiveness of purity pledges…

In one article we read, the Washington Post reported a study found that “premarital abstinence pledges were ineffective“.  In 2001, Janet E. Rosenbaum concluded that 82% of people that pledged abstinence before marriage, broke those promises.

Theresa Tamkins of CNN Health reported,

“As many as one in eight teens in the United States may take a virginity pledge at some point, vowing to wait until they’re married before having sex. But do such pledges work? Are pledge takers more likely than other teens to delay sexual activity? A new study suggests that the answer is no. While teens who take virginity pledges do delay sexual activity until an average age of 21 (compared to about age 17 for the average American teen), the reason for the delay is more likely due to pledge takers’ religious background and conservative views — not the pledge itself.”

On the other hand, another article (from abpnews.com) reported that a study found that ” Christians who pledge abstinence outlast non-pledgers”.

The article also said -

Byron Weathersbee, interim chaplain at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, analyzed such sexual-purity pledges and sex education in a Christian context as the focus of his doctoral dissertation. He surveyed young married couples in Texas Baptist churches to examine how — and how much — churches made an impact on their sexual behavior. Of the young Christians surveyed, six out of 10 who made sexual purity pledges abstained from sexual intercourse until marriage. But only three of 10 who didn’t take a formal pledge remained chaste. All of the surveyed individuals — who had been married less than five years — professed faith in Christ. Of that figure, 99 percent attended church, 84 percent said they grew up in church and 87 percent grew up in a two-parent home. Even so, 62 percent of the males and 65 percent of the females engaged in sexual intercourse before marriage, Weathersbee discovered. Nine out of 10 who acknowledged sexual activity prior to marriage never took a True Love Waits purity pledge. “To a large degree, we’re missing it,” Weathersbee said. “The young people are receiving the data, but they’re not translating it into values that result in a lifestyle of purity and holiness.” The strength of the True Love Waits emphasis lies in the way it involves parents, a supportive network of peers, the church as a whole and the community at-large in emphasizing the importance of a pure lifestyle, Weathersbee said. The overall sexual abstinence movement — both faith-based and secular — clearly has reaped positive benefits, said Richard Ross, who pioneered the True Love Waits program in 1993. “The fact is rates of teenage sexual activity rose for 20 unbroken years. Then came True Love Waits and, from that, the broader abstinence movement. From that moment on, rates of teenage sex have dropped every year for 12 unbroken years,” he said.

While that is a more positive view of this issue, don’t forget about that 82%.  Wake up call, anyone?  I think so. Another article,  “A Right Perspective: Purity pledges useless without support” (written by Marilyn Loeffel), from commercialappeal.com states:

Columnist Ellen Goodman recently wrote about the futility of abstinence-only education: “It turns out,” she said, that counting “‘virginity pledges’ … as proof that teens will abstain … is like counting New Year’s resolutions as proof that you lost 10 pounds.”

In a way, I agree. Signing a piece of paper at a religious teen rally is positive peer pressure. Such a promise isn’t worth the paper it is written on unless it is reinforced with support. I’ve attended emotional, hyped-up functions where teens are pressured to do what their friends are doing, sign a purity pledge, without seriously contemplating what they are promising. Often that flimsy pledge goes out the fogged-up window of the back seat of a car.

She later writes (in the same article)

When my oldest daughter was 16, she asked for a purity charm for her necklace. It was a key with an engraved heart. We gave it with our commitment to be there for her in every area of her life, not just to preach about chastity. We warned her of the influences that would try to chip away at her innocence. At her wedding, she presented her husband with her necklace and told him it was the key to her heart. Her younger sisters looked forward to getting their purity rings on their 16th birthdays. The ring is a constant reminder that they can give away their purity only once. They can be like other girls any time they choose to, but those other girls can never be virgins again. The purity rings and loving parenting worked for us. Tween recording stars the Jonas Brothers have taken a ribbing for wearing purity rings. Hollywood is licking its lips, anticipating that these young people will break the pledge. I hope the Jonas Brothers don’t turn out like the Spears sisters, but keep their pledge and remember how to blush.

The Jonas Brothers, shown here wearing their purity rings. Trend or lasting value? Time will only tell.

I have to say I agree with Marilyn Loeffel, and her perspective of the purity pledge issue – you have to mean it, you have to care about whether you truly want to make a pledge about this. Like all vows, you have to solemnly stand by what you commit to.  Or, you’re a liar who doesn’t keep your word.  It’s true, and there’s no going around that one.  But what if you messed things up, and regret it?  You’ve always got forgiveness from God, but you can’t just break promises, and have the mindset “Oh, I’ll ask forgiveness later, God loves me anyway”. Your faith without good works, is dead. (James 2:17.) Denise Jonas, the mom of the Jonas Brothers, had some interesting things to say about character in a July 2009 Good Housekeeping article.

“We wanted everyone to feel joy in the presence of our children,” Denise says.  “To me, there’s nothing more frustrating than being around a child who’s annoying.  We taught our kids proper manners.”  Denise’s methods:  consistency, boundaries, and constantly “reinforcing good conduct until it was behavior.  Because they’re going to be adults a lot longer than they’re children.” “…Nor is Denise naïve about the temptations young rock stars face—even if the young rock stars in her family wear purity rings, symbols of a commitment to remain virgins until marriage.  Denise says the boys never meant to be standard-bearers for the premarital-chastity cause; this was a private decision each made that has become very public.  ‘They’ve been criticized for proclaiming things they never proclaimed,’ she says. ‘And what’s the criticism?  They don’t want to go out there giving everyone an STD?  What’s so terrible about that?’…..She’s realistic about the challenges…..’They are men.  They have desires…But it’s just about growing up and learning what it means to be in a relationship.’” “The boys acknowledge that their mother can be painfully straightforward about the young women they bring home.  ‘People always ask, ‘What’s a girls have to do to get your attention?’ says Joe.  ‘She has to be good to Mom.’ And for her part, Denise tries to stick to just one non-negotiable quality for any future Jonas daughter-in-law:  ‘She must sincerely and totally love my son!’” Denise and Kevin Jr. and the family go to church, they live a life of service, and spending time together.  “Denise and Kevin Sr. also try to prepare their boys for deeper success—a loving marriage—by modeling good behavior…..What she does is constantly show her boys that ‘marriage isn’t 50/50.’  The rule she lives be:  ‘Marriage is really giving 100 percent of yourself, and not expecting anything back.’  It is also about loving someone for the attributes that he has.  ‘(My husband) is not the best about bringing home presents, but he’s selfless.’” Good Housekeeping, July 2009

Bristol Palin with Levi Johnston, during the Republican National Convention in 2008.

Bristol Palin, 18, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s daughter, launched an abstinence campaign a few months after her baby Tripp was born in Decemeber 2008.  People have reportedly bashed her for these efforts, including her ex-fiance’ Levi Johnston, as he is quoted as saying in an interview,

“I don’t just think telling young kids, you can’t have sex, it’s not going to work.  It’s not realistic…”

Ben Horowitz from the New Jersey Star-Ledger wrote a title column, “Bristol Palin Should Stop Promoting Abstinence“.  Some people think that her supporting abstinence means she resents having a little baby to take care of.  To me, it’s obvious that she does not want other unprepared and irresponsible teens to get pregnant and want an abortion, or face the trouble taking care of a baby with all the ridicule and hurt you can get from other people, even loved ones.  (In her case she was blessed, as her parents supported her decision in keeping her baby.)  She is being told by writers around the country to “stop trying to be a role model because you messed up” basically.  Abstinence and saving yourself for marriage, the obviously “safer” way to go, is viewed as some sort of fairy tale to people, and somehow it’s “unrealistic”.  Saving yourself from possible STDs, heartache, pain and shame is just “too impossible” for real teens to avoid… My question is, why is it that today, people think teens are incapable of keeping a promise?  Will power goes a long way, but so many teens today throw it out the window.  But why?

Part II: The root of the problem

I truly believe the answer can be found in spiritual weakness…accompanied by the feeling of a malnourishment of love and purpose, perhaps.  If your spiritual side is strong, it will cater to your physical side.  People forget how our spirituality is like life-support.  When you cut yourself off from it, you lose an extra sense of morality and the ultimate power and love of God.  When you lack the assurance of the love of God, you are more inclined to seek out other things in life to make you feel better.  Sort of like a drug.  You go to this drug, because your spiritual “life-support” isn’t taking the pain away because you’re not allowing it to be a real part of your life, the way it is intended to be.  Let’s be honest.  Teens today are depicted as unstable, insecure and “awkward” most of the time.  Parents and even mentors of teens treat the entire adolescent stage as this sort of “disease” that will heal itself up if left alone.  Either that or it’s like they have this alien living in their house and among them that will one day wake up as “one of them”. (An adult, that is.) Seriously, you might come across a few very mature teenagers,…

WORKS CITED

1. Teenage sex and pregnancy statistics http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html, http://www.soundvision.com/Info/teens/stat.asp

2.  Rob Stein, The Washington Post Staff Writer (December 29th, 2008; Page A02 ) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122801588.html

3. Marilyn Loeffel , Memphis Commercial Appeal – (Wednesday, January 14, 2009) http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jan/14/right-perspective-purity-pledges-useless-without-s/

4. Ben Horrowitz, The New Jersey Star-Ledger (Thursday, May 7th, 2009) http://www.nj.com/parenting/ben_horowitz/index.ssf/2009/05/bristol_palin_should_drop_role.html

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