December 3, 2011 Greetings My Friend, My heart is speaking to the young people in my life today. It is a conversation I started before they were born and have wanted to tell them from back then. Today in my heart is the time to attempt to put into words those things which have been on my heart. This conversation is a conversation I wanted to have with my own children and did not know how to have it. It is heavy on me. Young people, I want to tell you of my journey and I’m not looking for sympathy or whatever else. I want to tell you what I have learned. In the Bible God instructs us to teach our children. I think this is my attempt to teach. First off, my desire is for each of you to meet Jesus and to accept His offer of salvation. It took me 40 some years to get it. I have it now and I want to share what I know. Life is not a cake walk just because you ask Jesus to be Lord in your life. Jesus will give you the confidence though to face any situation if you will ask for it. You have to be honest with Jesus. He sees all and knows all so to tell Jesus a story won’t work. The biggest thing I want to talk about is sex. At your age….it is exhilarating to talk dirty, to even let a person touch those private areas on your body. My heart felt statement at this point is to ask that you wait. Wait for the right person. How do you know? Talk to God, He will guide you. When I married Papa L, I fainted and threw up at the altar. Is he a bad man? No not really. He was not the right man for me. Years later when I began my faith journey I realized that day that God was telling me, “Don’t marry him.” Papa L and I were married a real long time. I am sure you have heard stories about the unhappiness that was in our home from your parents. When I was 14 I helped my mother work on weddings at the church. There was a boy who was 4 years older than me. He convinced me to go into a dark room with him. He touched me in those private places. I remember being confused. No boy had ever touched me like that before. To be honest…it felt nice. We never went any further. He moved on with his life and I grew more and went on with my life. There was a boy prior to Papa L. He was two years younger. He liked me in the girl/boy kind of way. We held hands. That felt real nice to. Then I met Papa L and we started dating. Before long….we were doing things that married people do. I felt so grown up. I liked the thrill of doing something….that was wrong. It was kind of exciting. I also wasn’t sure. I was never sure if he liked me for me or for my body. After we married and I put on weight. I felt I wasn’t pretty anymore. I struggled emotionally. I even became anorexic for a while. I felt that way the whole time I was married to him. When I divorced Papa L, I met Papa J. We dated and enjoyed each other’s friendship. We kissed and yes I did the man wife thing with Papa J before marriage. I regret that now. I learned that God wants us to wait and to know each other before we enter into marriage, into sex. I have asked God to forgive me and he has. I have learned there is a reason to wait. The reason is that we need to be friends first. We need to know each other before sex. Sex changes the dynamics of a relationship. God created sex and yes it can be fun. I have learned though that we need to enter into life, sex, everything on earth the way God created us to be. In that we will find life fulfilling and enjoyable. There will always be struggles. That is when God wants us to seek Him. Well He wants us to seek Him in all things. When I do, I find even the struggles to be manageable. Many times after the struggle has passed, I find a sense of…..accomplishment. I am amazed at what I can endure and do. How do I know how God created life to be? I read the Bible pretty much daily, over and over, year after year. I pray daily. I associate with other Christians. I don’t only hang around with Christians, but I have good friends who will step beside me as I do life. These good Christian friends help me discern, to reach out and to live my life. So I do try to talk to non-Christians and to love them as well. Each generation must find God. What our parents have learned and found well, it is good. Hopefully our parents will live as if Jesus were their Savior. In that the younger generation has the chance to meet Jesus. If not, then….our culture falls apart. When I was young, everyone went to church. Everyone accepted that Jesus is the “way, the truth and the light.” Then our culture started to move away from Jesus. I see a lot of our problems today as a result of not making Jesus number 1. They took prayer out of school. They have taken God out of almost everything in our culture. Not good. Life will only get worse and worse. This country was founded on the principals found in the Bible. Now we are in a way telling God, “never mind, we can do this our way.” In my day….we had hard times for sure. The more we as a nation sought God, prayed in school etc….we bounced out of the struggles of life easier. If we keep going on this way, I’m afraid that our mighty nation will no longer be mighty. Kids, I hope you have heard my heart. I pray you each find Jesus, meet Him and ask Him to be the Savior in your life. I love each of you beyond words. I have prayed since you were in your mother’s womb and I continue to pray for you each and every day. I love you. Love GG. May God bless you and keep you, make His face to shine upon you.