The Abstinence Clearinghouse Blog

For all new dads out there, you have a big job ahead of you! Here is a great resource from Focus on the Family that will help in this often overwhelming yet beautiful time in your lives! Take it from John Fuller, author of First Time Dad: The Stuff You Really Need to Know, who offers advice and tips in this radio program.

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Recent research indicates that generosity is a strong predictor in having a happy and fulfilling marriage. The ability to be positive and do nice things for a spouse seems to be a large factor in happiness for both spouses. According to the following article, researchers studied the cycle of generosity in relationships and are now questioning the effects of modeling generosity to children. After reading this article, we must suggest that couples try being more generous and see what positive effects come of it.

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And here is a great challenge for men by Jim Daly. He encourages husbands to value their wives and reminds us there is no time like the present.

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Columnist Susan Brown takes a trip through the American family’s past, present and future in the following article. From one generation to another, we’ve grown up with different ideas and influences that have shaped how we view the world. The number of children born to unwed mothers has skyrocketed in recent years, and America has been affected. Ms. Brown suggests that we cherish our family time, with one generation sharing with another.

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The Center for Disease Control, CDC, has reported that 2010 has seen historic lows in teen birth rates in the United States. Among the contributing factors for this trend, we need to give credit to:
* Abstinence education in schools and churches
* Parents raising the bar
* Purity Balls
* God, Mom & Me Teas
* Father/Son Time Outs
Of course the mainstream media won’t recognize the importance of purity education, but we know it changes lives, and we’ve seen the proof in the testimonies of youth and young adults. Keep up the good work!

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Do you want your teen getting advice from Planned Parenthood, an organization known for pushing a sexually explicit, anything-goes agenda and responsible for aborting 300,000 babies every year? Well, Planned Parenthood has just launched a webpage for teens to text their “sexual health” questions and expect a reply within 24 hours. We continue to encourage PARENTS to educate their children and share expectations and goals with their children. Now is an important time in our culture to raise the bar high!

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The following two links show young adults speaking out against the lies of the culture. The first is a YouTube clip of a young lady who shares her heart about waiting for the one God has for her. With lessons learned, she beautifully shares her lyrics to a crowd who understands where she’s coming from. She raises the bar with her poetry and lyrical style of telling the truth.

The second link talks about “Sex Week” at Yale University. A student group, Undergraduates for a Better Yale College, formed in an effort to clean up the campus. They see the cultural problem of both extremes – trivializing sex and obsessing over sex – and they are providing healthy alternatives on campus. We applaud them for raising the bar!

1st Link - I Will Wait Video

2nd Link - Sex Week Article with Audio

In the following article, columnist Michael Brown reflects on radical sex education in American schools. Radical sex-ed is nothing new. Here is a quote from a mom’s perspective as she described a conversation with her child’s teacher back in 1992: “When I asked her about modesty, she told me that is something she tries to get the kids over as quick as possible. My daughter brought home the curriculum from the class and I was appalled. There were several pages of vocabulary they would have to know, including every perversion I had ever heard of and some that I never heard of. The definition they had for virgin was someone who had never had the opportunity to have sex. The list included polygamy but not monogamy. It even said that sometimes it is beneficial for a marriage if there is an affair.” What kind of psychological scars are we giving our children when we allow this to be taught in schools? Modesty and virginity should be honored and preserved. Mr. Brown calls for a revolution – we agree.

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The following Focus on the Family radio program is about the differences between men and women. This faith-based program will make you laugh and encourage you in your marriage as they share comedian and Pastor Mark Gungor’s take on those differences between the sexes. He reminds listeners that anything worth having is difficult.

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The following article by CitizenLink concludes that the best way to improve education and alleviate poverty is to strengthen marriages. Study after study have shown that intact biological parents in the home make a huge difference on many aspects of children’s lives including education, poverty rates, mental wellbeing, and abstinence until marriage, partly because intact families tend to be better off economically. The National Abstinence Clearinghouse is here to stand in the gap for parents, educators, and young people as a source for information, educational materials, and encouragement. We hope to strengthen marriages, help those preparing for marriage, and to assist young people making decisions that will affect future relationships.

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The following article from Boundless website reflects on the meaning of chastity. A great line from the article puts it into perspective, “Sometimes it is easy to forget that chastity is not just an arbitrary ‘no’; it is a ‘no’ for the sake of a ‘yes.’” A yes to something much more valuable. This faith-based article goes on to talk about the meaning of sex and reminds us that we all long for true love. True love starts with putting the proper perspective and value on things. We hope you find this uplifting and share it with others.

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