Without going into details let's just say I have one of those testimonies that involves God knocking the sense into me after He had to drag me out of the mud for the hundredth time. However, when I came to my senses one of the first things I knew in my heart was that it wasn't all in vain. Yes, it took all that just to get through to me because I'm so stubborn but also surely I could use my experiences for good.

I have always tried to get the young to avoid my mistakes. I've talked and talked until I could hardly speak anymore. I've begged and pleaded. I've talked common sense. I'm not stupid. I'm not some naive old lady that has been pure all my life. I know the real world. I know what kids are doing. BUT DEAR GOD WHY CAN'T WE MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO THESE THINGS! THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, NOT AT THE COST OF DESTROYING THEIR LIVES! IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!

I remember when I found out my teenage niece was pregnant. I threw myself on the floor and bawled. I bawled like a baby. I had talked to her about not being a statistic since SHE was a baby, but it wasn't enough. I felt so defeated but my husband said no. He said I had to keep trying to reach young girls that this was even more of a sign that I had to keep trying.

I have tried and I've cried. After all this time one girl that I have mentored is living with a boyfriend even though she isn't married or even a high school grad. I've watch another one quit school and jump from bed to bed from home to home. Our little girls at our church start dressing like sex symbols before they even leave intermediate school. The mother of a 14 yr. old boy I've been trying to reach just told me he has already had sex. She laughed about it and said now all he thinks about is sex. I just found out today another young girl I know is pregnant from her first time of having sex while drunk at a party. When the news was broke to me today ....I wasn't shocked. As soon as I was told, "I've got something to tell you." I knew. The movies, TV, your friends, society, even the government say that this is what people do. They sleep around, experiment with drugs, and party it up. So set up sex ed, and free clinics and move on. If Johnny wants to do Suzy or BE Suzy well that is just the way it is. No one is even shocked anymore. I'm not shocked. I'm broken and frustrated but I'm not shocked.

I have friends that simply accept the fact that their kids will not be virgins when they get married. Trying to keep it that way doesn't even seem to be a goal. They just accept that in today's world they don't wait. I have to admit I feel defeated. I don't seem to be able to make a difference no matter how hard I try. I hate this world. It corrupts our children to act like wicked adults at an age that they should still be playing with toys. I'm weary and tired. I feel like I just can't compete with the attractions of the world, but I'm not giving up. They come back after it is too late and say yeah you were right. I can't do anything about how the world is raising their children. All I can do is raise my own and cry out to the Lord for the children of the world. Help us, Lord.