I’m not sure if you’ve heard the term, it is fairly new, but incredibly scary and life changing.  The term is sexting, the reality is it is happening and most likely your daughter knows someone who has participated in this activity, involving sending nude pictures from cell phone.

I was  shocked myself, when several months ago my mom informed me about a girl in my home town who had been caught doing this very thing, of course this was before the term “sexting” was created.  For the young girl, the consequences were minor, but for many teens as the news is showcasing the repercussions have been much worse including for some, jail time, which is about as serious as it comes.

So, how do you keep your daughter from sexting?  Open communication is key, besides this there are now also programs that you can utilize that will help you to monitor your teen’s cell phone activity and hopefully ensure that they will not participate in such activities.  Of course,  be prepared as your daughter could easily participate or be exposed to the activity via the acts of others and using phones of friends.

Also, you will need to check the Internet activity of your daughter as websites such as Facebook allow for photo posting as well.  Then, there are webcams that come with some computers or can be purchased fairly inexpensively that can allow teens to do more than just take a picture of themselves naked.

This is why active communication is necessary.  Begin now talking to your daughter about the reality of sexting, the consequences and why she should be sure to stay away from the activity.  Not only is it degrading but it is un-Biblical and harmful to her.

For an additional resource to help you to communicate with your daughter on this and other similar activities check out our guide: Seven Easy Tips: Encouraging Your Daughter to Say No.

I am in agreement with what my friend and parenting expert Aurelia Williams has to say on her blog today, Dating does not equal Sex. Read more of her article on teens, dating and sex here.

This is the final post in a series on Stewardship. You can begin at the first post by clicking here. From there you can follow the links to each of the 5 posts in this series.

What else is it important to be a good steward of… what about your belongings, your possessions. Again we want to find out if you are a faithful steward. Do you remember what that is. Let’s review, Are you a STEWARD? Let’s find out what this word means.

A steward is a man who manages or takes care of another’s property. The word actually means “the manager of a house.” It does not mean the OWNER of the house, but it means the MANAGER of the house.

Most of us do not need to have a steward. We are not too rich, and the few possessions that we do have we can look after and take care of ourselves. But if a man has 10 houses, 8 boats, 150 acres of land, 500 head of cattle, 3 swimming pools, 25 cars, 8 trucks and one oil field, then certainly he would not be able to take care of all these possessions by himself. He would need men to help him manage all of these things. A steward is a manager–one who is responsible to take care of those things that belong to someone else.

Are you a STEWARD? Are you responsible to take care of those things that belong to someone else? You might say, “I’m not a STEWARD, I’m an OWNER. I do not own very much, but I do own some things. I own some clothes, some books and some other important possessions that are in my room. These things are mine and I own them. I own them and I take care of them.”

Suppose you were to save up some money and finally you buy an electronic or video game which you have always wanted. Would this game be yours? Would you be the owner of it? It is yours because YOU BOUGHT IT!

Usually when we own something, we also own everything that goes with it. For example, if your parents own a car, then usually they also own the radio that is in the car and the things that are in the trunk of the car and the spare tire and anything else that goes along with the car. Suppose you were to own a pet hamster. Probably you would also own the hamster’s cage and water bottle and food and exercise wheel and whatever else comes with the hamster.

The same is true with God and the believer. Not only does God own the believer, but He also owns everything that goes with the believer. Not only does God own ME, but He also owns everything that I have–my clothes, my money, my possessions, my body and everything else that is mine! It’s all His! He’s the OWNER!

If God is the OWNER, then this means that I am the STEWARD. I am the one who should take good care of these things that belong to God. I am the one who is responsible to be a good manager of my clothes, my body, my money, my possessions and all that I have, because all of these things really belong to the Lord!

One things for sure our teens need to learn about giving back to the Lord.  A good way to do this is to have them to complete a course in finances such as Financial Peace for the Next Generation by Dave Ramsey.

This is the fourth in a series of posts on Stewardship. You can find the first post here.

Now, we have spoken about honoring God with our body, our gifts, and our natural talents now what about life’s most precious commodity, our T-I-M-E. Do you know that the word Love is often spelled out best T-I-M-E. No other time in history have people struggled with this issue than in our century. In a day in age where we have literally everything to make our lives easier, fast food, fast cars, the latest and greatest technology, we’re all still frequently caught saying, “I just don’t have time.”

When I was a youth minister, the answer most youth gave me for not spending time with God or on the things of God is this, TIME. I always reminded them that they make time for the things in their lives that are important to them. The guys spend literally hours and hours each week practicing football, lifting weights, training for the big game. The girls spent literally hours a week fixing their hair, applying makeup, picking out that perfect outfit, trying to impress that guy they’d like to go out with or impressing their latest hookup. You may say, oh I don’t do either of those things. But, I’m willing to bet if you kept a log of the things that you spent your TIME on. You would find that you spend your time on what is important to you. The Bible does remind us that, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21.

If you can make time for those other “less important” things in your life then you can make time for God. Can that extra practice or few minutes spent in front of the mirror really make the difference in your eternity that God can?

So, where do you spend your time? As an act of love we should spend time with God, and we should spend time serving God and others. God wants us to “make the most of our time.” Ephesians 5:16 , one version of the Bible says, Making the best use of your time, another says, making the most of every opportunity. Every day is FILLED with opportunities. There are opportunities to learn, opportunities to help others, opportunities to tell others about the Lord (see Chapter 13), opportunities to obey parents, opportunities to trust the Lord, etc. Every day is LOADED with opportunities. Am I missing out on these opportunities or am I making the most of them?

Every day God gives each one of us 1440 minute. A short poem I found online says this:

I have only just a minute, only sixty seconds in it,Forced upon me, can’t refuse it; didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it;But it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it,Give account if I abuse it. It is only just a minute,BUT ETERNITY IS IN IT!

At the beginning of each day we can pray: “Lord, thank You for another day and for all the opportunities that will come my way. Help me to use the hours and minutes in the best possible way so that I can be a good steward of time.”

Don’t you feel loved when others spend time with and time on you? Think about it. For those of you who have a boyfriend, don’t you feel loved by him when he spends time with you? What about your best friend? You show people you care about them by spending time with them. Therefore, you can show the Lord that you love him by spending time with him. Spending time serving him in your local church and in your community, volunteering, singing in the church choir, taking care of children in the nursery, whatever ever needs done step in and do it as a spiritual act of service, and a way to be a good “steward”.

Last week my Mom Daughter Connection podcast was about “Taking Care of God’s Money”. I thought I would continue along these lines this week and share with you my view of stewardship, a related money topic.

This will begin a series of several posts on stewardship. I had a ton of information to share so check back for more.

How many of you remember getting your drivers license? Maybe you girls are longing to get your driver’s license. If so you can relate to the following story.

I remember getting my first car. A 1989 Ford Bronco II Eddie Bauer Edition I thought I was the “stuff”. I was the first girl in my class to get their own car. Boy, did I have a lot of friends that is until someone else got their own car. Anyway, that vehicle my daddy bought for me from a guy in our neighborhood for $5000. I remember my daddy setting his “rules” for my car. The number of people I could have ride with me, when I could drive it, where I could drive it. My daddy was a stickler for rules. I remember the first time one of my friends wanted me to drive them somewhere I knew my daddy had told me I couldn’t go in my car. I kept telling her no, and she kept saying, but it’s your car you can go where you want in it. But, was it really my car? No, it was my daddy’s car, after my daddy bought it, he paid for the gas and he paid for the insurance for me to drive it. I remember telling her that and she hung up the phone mad of course.

Now, as an adult, I have a vehicle it is mine, I paid the payments, I pay for the gas and the insurance, and I can go where I want to in it, let whomever I want to drive it, or ride in it, listen to whatever music I want to in it, it’s mine and I make the choices about that car. Now, if I let you borrow my car, would you be given the same privileges I have while you were in my car. Well, maybe, but most likely I’d put some stipulations on it, I might ask you not to drive over a certain speed or I might ask you not to eat in my car or listen to the music too loud, or even move the seat into a more comfortable position. I could do that right, because I own the car.

Now, let’s compare this to your life. Your life is yours right. You own it, and you control it. Well, let’s think about this for a minute. I’m assuming some of you have already taken the opportunity to accept God’s gift of salvation and therefore you consider yourself to be saved, and a follower of Christ, what we call a “Christian”. The Bible says that if this is the case that “you are not your own, you were bought at a price”, it goes on to say “therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) So, to me, this means that our life is not really OUR OWN, we belong to God and therefore we should honor God with our life, including our body, our time, our possessions, and our finances.

After all, isn’t God the owner of everything? David the Psalmist says so, in Psalm 24:1, “The Earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all that live in it.” If you believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is all true, then it is true that God owns EVERYTHING! He owns you, and me. He owns our cars, our houses, our land, the McDonald’s on every street corner in America, and the mansions in Beverly Hills. And, he lends to us and entrusts us with those things that he calls “his”. Isn’t that a privilege?

Just take a moment and think about your most treasured possession. Maybe it’s your favorite shirt, or a ring or piece of jewelry, or maybe its your cell phone or your IPOD maybe even a computer or even a car. Now, would you just want to give it to someone to take care of, or would you have a hard time trusting them with it, after all its yours.

However, God gives us all of his prized possessions and he trusts us with them. We know this because he loves us and blesses us daily. He gave us his son, Jesus, who died on the cross to save us from our sins. God completely gives to us all that is his.

He gives you our very life; a place to call home, food, water, possessions, every thing we call our own is given to us by God.

Now, this is where our responsibility to him comes in to play. We are asked by God to be good “stewards” of all that he has given to us. As Christians, we are asked to be stewards of God’s possessions and to receive what God gives to us gratefully.

Stewardship is the responsibility to take care of something that one does not own. As I said earlier, it is like entrusting your most prized possession to someone else. God has entrusted everything that is his to us.

If you believe that God is the rightful owner of everything then it is easier to be a good “steward” of all that is his. Stewardship has to become part of our “lifestyle”.

The lifestyle of teenagers today is almost “luxury”. It is even better than what I had, and I think I had it pretty good. My husband and I were just observing the other day at a family fish fry that every teenager there was carrying a cell phone around, plus they were all talking about one of their other luxuries that they had at home a personal MP3 player or IPOD. They knew how to upload and download stuff from the Internet, yet another one of our luxuries of today.

So how does a teenager who has everything give thanks to God for all that he or she has? The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:33 that we should “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Now, here God isn’t talking about cell phones and Ipods…. Go back a few verses. (read a couple of verses prior) He is basically telling us to seek him for our “needs”. Now, there is a lot of difference between needs and wants.

You’ve probably heard people say, “I have to have that pair of jeans” or “I need to see that movie.” Maybe you’ve even said those things yourself. But what does it mean? Will something horrible happen if you don’t have those jeans or need to see that movie? Probably not!
Needs are things that we truly can’t be without, such as:
· Nutritious food
· A place to live
· A warm winter coat
· A good pair of shoes
· Transportation
Wants are things you’d like to have, but if you don’t, you’ll still survive (in fact, you’ll be just fine). Like:
· Designer jeans
· Toys
· Candy
· Video games
We can be good stewards of God’s blessings by putting first things first. This means we must seek God first and those things that he has for us. God will take care of our needs and often times he even allows us to obtain things that we want as well.
What is important to know about seeking God first? This has to be done daily. Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

This involves a daily commitment to follow God and his will and purpose for your life. You do this through seeking his will for you daily. By approaching him daily in prayer and Bible study, then listening to and follow him.

We will continue talking about stewardship in the next post….stay tuned.

My dad was one of those dad’s that ruled with an iron fist. It was “his way or no way”. He often used the saying “because I said so and that’s all that matters”. My momma always had to consult him before any decision. In our house when we asked something of one parent they would always say, “Go ask your Father”, or “Go ask your Mother”. My parents always worked together and my daddy always had the last word.

Fathers are to be the “head of the household” according to the Bible and as daughters we must learn to respect our daddies. The father daughter relationship can be very important. Our relationship with our earthly daddy can teach us a great deal about our relationship with our Heavenly Father and it can have a great impact upon it as well.

A father’s relationship with his daughter can truly make an impact upon her for eternity. I am blessed that my father took such an active role in parenting me, even if he did do so with a strong will.

I know girls that sometimes it is difficult to deal with a strong fisted father. He only wants what is best for you. Moms, if you want to help your daughter with her relationship with her Father always encourage the strength of that relationship. Never try to outshine her father, always respect his wishes, and encourage her to respect him as well.

The Journey of Daughterhood Set which includes a book and a CD. It uses imagery found in a butterfly’s life cycle as lessons to draw from for father’s to direct their daughters on their own journey, The Life Cycles of Butterflies Book and The journey of Daughterhood CD message yields highly illustrative instruction for the father daughter relationship.

This resource will help a father and daughter in their relationship with each other. Encourage your daughter’s relationship with her father by using this valuable resource.

A few months ago as a way to celebrate my Mom-Daughter Connection Ezine hitting 100 subscribers I gave away a FREE special report, “Seven Easy Tips: Encouraging your Daughter to Say “No”. If you missed out on it now is your chance to purchase this report for the low price of $7.95.

This report comes at the perfect time too, school is starting and teens and tweens will be experiencing the normal peer pressure associated with being a teenager. Don’t you want your daughter to possess the skills it takes to boldly and confidently say “no”? This special report will help you to give your daughter the confidence and the tools to say “no”. So check out this special report today here.

I was excited to do the podcast on Spiritual gifts because they are something that have always fascinated me. I ordered Discover Your God Given Gifts when I was in college. I remember sitting in my dad’s hospital room while he was having eye surgery on Christmas break and studying the book. My grandmother asked me “You’re out of school and still studying?” I remember replying, “Yeah, but this is something I want to learn about.” Spiritual gifts are quite interesting and there are literally 100s of resources out there about them. You must be very careful when finding good resources. You want to make sure that your sources is theologically sound. I was lucky with my first source, because I was young and naive and literally just picked something off of a Christian book distributors website. The others however, were recommended in a Spiritual Gifts for Women class that I took in seminary. So, I feel certain these are sound in their doctrine.

Now, The most important source that you can ever use for studying spiritual gifts is of course scripture, so I will be giving you plenty of that to look at as well. Here is a list of Scripture you should be sure and go to:

1 Corinthians 12
Romans 12
Ephesians 4
1 Peter 4

There are also many more specific verses that apply to specific gifts themselves. But, that is a start. Below you can also find the books I recommend for studying spiritual gifts.

If you downloaded last week’s study guide, “How to Have a Quiet Time” you will be wanting the answer key. Download it here. Answer Key

I highly recommend The Prayer of Jabez, a extraordinary, but small and easy read by Dr. Bruce H. Wilkinson. I had read it before several years ago, it isn’t a new book. But this time around has been different. I started reading it again as a part of my Sunday School class. We’re watching a video series where you watch Dr. Wilkinson himself talks about the book and you have a listening guide. It is really interesting. I am learning so much.

God truly wants to “bless” his people and God doesn’t mind us asking for his blessings. But we also have our responsibility ourselves to give of our time and ourselves. We need to give God our very best!

I also highly recommend the teen version of this book which I have used with the teens in my prior youth group as a study. So check both of these out! You won’t be disappointed.

I believe that prayer is the most powerful tool we have in our lives. Daily prayer, communication with God, can open up so much for us as Christians. After all, prayer is our hot line to talk to God, our Heavenly Father and Creator of All. What do you spend your prayer time praying for? Is it just a long laundry list of your wants and wishes or do you approach the throne of God with deep concerns and intercession for others. Who better to pray for daily than our children. Stormie Omaratian shares a powerful message with us in her book, The Power of a Praying Parent. I highly recommend this book and her others in this series, The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Husband to you for your reading pleasure. These books however are the type that I choose to study. Carefully reading over all the Scriptures, tips and advice, and taking them to heart, jotting notes in my prayer journal as I go so that I can remember them. I hope you will take the time to check this book out!

A couple of weeks ago , I visited New Orleans, LA to take a course at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where I have been a Master�s student since 03. I am finally, cross your fingers, say a little prayer, going to graduate in Dec. 07. While there my hubby and I had some free time one night and visited the Barnes & Noble. We browsed the isles for over an hour. We both LOVE to read and there was literally 1000s of selections to choose from. The store was the biggest one I�ve ever been in with 2 stories. Finally locating the Christian Living Section I was amazed at how many books were there, and that just behind it was the Islam section. It was odd to walk up the isle and see those two topics facing each other.

I began to peruse my options thinking that I sure needed a good new devotional/inspirational type book to keep me focused in the days ahead,� with a newborn on her way. While browsing the titles I realized that I could easily make a poor selection as the number of authors, viewpoints, and opinions was prevalent in this section. I know that not all doctrine is sound in books that appear in a �secular� bookstore, so I knew I had to be careful when making a choice of an inspirational type book.

You would know then, that I was very pleased when I ran across one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth George, the title of the book �Small Changes for a Better Life� also jumped out at me. I read the back and glanced over the Table of Contents, realizing this would be a good choice. I said a silent prayer for God�s confirmation as I picked up another few books from that section and had a look at them. He kept drawing me back to Mrs. George�s book so I told my husband, I�m getting this and we went to check out.

Arriving back at our room that night I began to read. Each day you are given a small change to make in your life that wiill help you to find fulfillment and excel in your relationships , friendships, spiritual life and more, helping to achieve God�s best for your life. The first chapter spoke of seeking God�s Wisdom. This made me perk up because it was by no mistake I had purchased this book, you see, I was taking a Spiritual Gifts class at the seminary and we had just spoken in class that day of seeking God�s wisdom and we had just read over the same verse that Mrs. George highlighted in her first chapter, James 1:5 which says, �If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God�. and it will be given to him.� WOW!! God was arranging all of this and I knew this was a book I was meant to read.

Maybe God has put this article in your path for the same purpose, so that you could be given wisdom from him. I do highly recommend any of Elizabeth George�s works, especially this one, �Small Changes for a Better Life�. Pick yours up today.

I am excited to announce that I am now offering a monthly ezine to anyone who would like to subscribe. The following is a description of what the ezine will offer.

This ezine will offer Biblically based devotions for moms as well as other tips and suggestions to help grow and strengthen their relationship with their daughters.

It will include inspiring articles, recommended products and readings, Alyssa’s View of the News and what is affecting girls today. It will also include product specials and announcements for Beauty By Design Ministries.

I hope that you will subscribe and recommend it to your friends. You may do so by visiting the following link.

Just join the group to begin receiving the monthly ezine. The first edition will be sent to you on Monday, February 5.

Please post a comment here to let me know you joined! Thanks!

Watch for my recommended reading list coming soon. I will be reviewing and recommending resources for both parents and teens.