Purity Ring Q&A

1. What is a purity ring?
A purity ring is a ring worn by a guy or girl as a sign of commitment to sexual purity until marriage.

2. Which finger do you wear your purity ring on?
I wear my purity ring on my left ring finger, which is the finger that is typically designated for a wedding ring.

3. What does your purity ring have engraved on it?
It has the words “true love waits” engraved on it.

4. Why did you choose a ring that says “true love waits”?
Because I believe it. If someone truly loves you, they will be willing to wait until they’re married to you to have sexual relations with you.

5. Did you sign a contract when you got your purity ring? What does it say?
Yes, I did. It says “Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day forward until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship.”

6. Where did you get your purity ring?
I got it from the Family Christian bookstore.

7. Why do you wear a purity ring?
See this post.

7. Does your boyfriend wear a purity ring? What does his say?
Yes, his purity ring has “1 Thes 4:3″ engraved on the outside and “purity” engraved on the inside. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 is a scripture from the Bible that says “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” His ring is also from the Family Christian bookstore.

8. What are you allowed to do sexually while wearing a purity ring?
I believe this is between the ring wearer and God. Personally, my boyfriend and I have decided to only kiss on the lips (a quick peck only)  until we are married. So that means no making out, nothing in between making out and sex, and obviously no sex.

9. Do you and your boyfriend ever feel tempted?
We’re both young adults in our 20s. We’re not superhumans who have no emotions or hormones. It was actually harder to stay committed to purity when we first began dating than it is now, over four years later. We make sure to avoid temptation by not spending time alone in places that could cause us to “stumble.”

10. Did your parents force you to wear a purity ring?
No. I actually asked them to buy me one as a gift. They talked and prayed with me before I signed the contract because they wanted me to be 100% sure about my commitment and what it really means.

11. What are the benefits of purity rings?
Knowing that I’m obeying God, saving my purity for my future husband, not contracting STDs, not being called derogatory names like slut or whore,and not experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.

12. What does the Bible say about purity?
Check out these scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, Psalm 51:10, Leviticus 11:44-45, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Romans 12:1-2, Numbers 32:23, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Titus 2:11-12, Matthew 15:19-20, Ephesians 5:3-4, Proverbs 4:14-15, Jeremiah 17:10.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any other questions!

Pictures

Hey there! I am working on my purity ring Q&A post, but in the mean time, I want to share some pictures I’ve taken recently. They’re all pretty random. Just the way I like ‘em!

Surprise! A cat picture! Just kidding, that’s not surprising. I just love Lily and Felix. Right after I took this picture, they started play-fighting and I got nervous they would break my window’s screen and fall to their untimely deaths.

Hannah is a beast at mowing the lawn.

Swimming is one of my most favorite activities in the whole wide world. It’s so relaxing to me. I also have the best swimming buddy!

On Saturday, Jimmy and I did something we’ve never done together before. We got our hair cut! I asked the hair stylist to cut off my dead ends, and now my hair is like three inches shorter. I’ll have to post a picture soon. I liked that the person who cut Jimmy’s hair spiked it! In the photo above, he was reading while I worked on some internship work. Can you guess where we were?

I really enjoy working in my church’s nursery. It makes me want kids and not want kids at the same time.

I washed my truck on Saturday morning because the weather was amazing and my truck was dirty. Yay for being productive.

What’s the last thing you photographed?!

Book and Purity Ring Q&A

Hey hey!

I wanted to share a good book that I recently read.

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy – Stephanie Nielson

Heaven is Here is Stephanie Nielson’s memoir. She became a blogger in 2005, as she raised her three young children with her husband, Christian. Her life radically changed in 2008 when she and her husband were in a plane crash that left them both severely burned and injured.

In her book, Stephanie tells the story of her emotional and physical recovery from her life-changing accident. Her faith and family served as anchors that helped keep her strong through everything she experienced in the aftermath of the crash.

I could not put this book down, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a book that will make you appreciate all that you have in life.

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Now, onto the topic of purity rings. Random!

I blogged about why I wear a purity ring in 2011, and today it’s still one of my most visited posts.

Because that post is visited so often, I thought I would do a Q&A on my experience with wearing a purity ring. People “in real life” ask me questions about it all the time, and I’m always happy to answer them.

So… feel free to ask any (and I mean any) questions about purity rings or the topic of purity in the comments section. Alternatively, you can send me an email with your questions at aks5313@psu.edu.

Don’t be shy! If I get enough questions and interest in the topic, I will provide my answers in my next post.

Hope you’re having a great day!

Pretzel Chicken + Updates

Hey there! I promised to share the pretzel chicken recipe I mentioned in my last post.

Pretzel Chicken with Honey Mustard

Ingredients:
2 cups coarsely chopped pretzels
12 chicken tenders (about 1 lb.), halved crosswise
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees . Place the crushed pretzels on a large plate. Set a rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Thread a piece of chicken onto a 6-inch skewer. Repeat with 23 more skewers. Brush the chicken all over with 1/4 cup mustard. Roll each chicken skewer in the crushed pretzels to coat. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
2. Bake the chicken skewers until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir the honey into the remaining 1/4 cup mustard and serve on the side, for dipping.

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I also created a doggie meal for Lola on Saturday! It’s really simple and only requires three ingredients that most people have in their kitchen.

Potatoes, Carrots, and Eggs

Ingredients:
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 carrots
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Cut carrots into small pieces. Place potatoes and carrots into a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 8 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain and cool the mixture until room temperature.
2. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir to mix. Microwave for another 30 seconds, or until eggs are set. Cool until room temperature.
3. Combine potatoes, carrots in eggs, and serve!

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Three life updates:

#1. My brother moved back to Pittsburgh and is getting married in July!

My brother and his fiance, Racquel

My older brother was living and working in State College, PA and moved back to Pittsburgh about a week ago. He bought a duplex in a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, and is getting married in July. He’s also going to begin working with my parents for our family’s real estate business. So now, instead of living two hours away, he now lives about 15 minutes away from my family! I am so happy to have him back home again.

#2. I’m doing my internship. 
I’m not going to go too in depth about my internship until it’s over, but I’m writing, researching, and editing for 30 hours a week. It’s challenging, but I like it and the experience I’m gaining in the writing field. I’m learning a lot! I’m also learning that it stinks to work 30 hours a week for free ;-). I’m still teaching spinning, so life has been busy lately!

#3. My family is vacationing in the Outer Banks again this summer!

I’m so excited to spend a week in North Carolina again soon! Growing up, my family didn’t go on a vacation every summer, so it’s definitely a blessing to be able to go now! I really appreciate it.

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Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Where do you like to go on vacation?!

Happy Friday

Heeey there and happy Friday! Sorry it’s been a few days since I last posted. I began my internship on May 1st, and it’s been keeping me busy. I’ll probably blog more about that later.

Recent eats:

BBQ pulled chicken. It doesn’t look amazing, but the flavor is right on. I love all things BBQ.

Salmon + sweet potato fries with cinnamon.

Honey pretzel chicken skewers with honey mustard. This recipe only requires four ingredients! I’ll have to share it soon.

15 bean soup, salad, bread, and hot pepper chips. An odd but tasty combo.

Other pictures:

I posted this on Instagram about a week ago, but I thought I’d share this with the blog world. I was looking through my old journals and found an entry from the first time I hung out with Jimmy. I love him so much!

Speaking of Jimmy, I love spending time with him and his brother. They constantly make me laugh.

I’ve been cuddling with Felix a lot lately. He’s so sweet. My family never had a male cat until we adopted Felix. We have been so surprised at how friendly he is. People keep telling me that male cats are more affectionate than female cats. Interesting!

I’ve mentioned this before, but Lola loves riding in the car. I take her with me to run little errands like getting gas and going to the bank. She makes me so happy and I like to think that I make her happy as well.

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Mother’s Day is Sunday!

Here’s a recipe to cook for your momma:
Eggplant Chana Masala

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Stepping on toes…

I’ve meant to write this blog post for a long time, but I always put it off because I didn’t want to cause any controversy. I realized that I’m allowed to say whatever I want on my blog, so here we go…

On Friday, a few people at the gym asked me if I was going to be running the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday, and I told them what I tell everyone every year: no. I don’t usually elaborate any more than that, but one person pressed further and asked me why.

I told him that I wasn’t running the Pittsburgh Marathon because I refuse to miss church. I specifically refuse to miss partaking in the Lord’s Supper, or as some call it: Communion.

I’m a non-denominational Christian, so to me, the Lord’s Supper is something that Christians do every Sunday in remembrance of Jesus Christ. We eat bread and drink grape juice to symbolize Christ’s body and blood that He sacrificed for us in his death.

This scripture shows that Jesus asked his disciples to remember Him:
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-24

This scripture shows that Christians are to partake in the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week:
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

Partaking in the Lord’s Supper is a huge part of why Christians attend church each Sunday morning.

I truly try to keep Christ at the very center of my life. I want Him to be #1 in my life. Always. To me, if Christ comes first, that means that I remember Him every Sunday morning by partaking in the Lord’s Supper.

That means that I don’t run races on Sunday mornings. I don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings. I don’t go to baseball games on Sunday mornings. I don’t miss church and partaking in the Lord’s Supper unless I absolutely have to (like if I was sick).

I believe that Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins. He asked that I remember Him on the first day of the week through Communion. Why would I miss partaking in Communion to run a race?

I’m running in a much more important race throughout my life:
Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1

This belief may seem strict, but I’m holding to it firmly.

Is the Pittsburgh Marathon “wrong?” No! I’d love to run it, but I won’t run races on Sunday mornings. There are plenty of races on Saturdays that I can run without missing the Lord’s Supper.

I’m not perfect. I sin every day. I’m not trying to judge anyone who runs races on a Sunday or isn’t a Christian. I don’t believe I’m better than anyone and didn’t write this post to make anyone feel bad or condemn people who ran the Pittsburgh Marathon.

I just felt like I needed to get that off of my chest and explain why I personally don’t run Sunday morning races.

Feel free to leave a comment or contact me by email (aks5313@psu.edu) if you have any questions!

More Articles

Hey! I promised I would share more of the articles that I wrote for Penn State New Kensington’s newspaper, so here they are!

Local School Increases Security Measures –> This article discusses Trinity Christian School’s recent security increase in light of parental concerns and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Conservative Nonprofit Offers Information on Congress —> This article is about Heritage Action for America, a conservative nonprofit organization that focuses on important political issues plaguing America today.

Olympic Speed Skater Sets Sights on 2014 Games —> This article includes an interview with Alyson Dudek, a 22-year-old Olympic speed skater. She’s is amazing and was really fun to interview!

Pittsburgh Business Emphasizes Passion —> This article is about a family-owned business in Pittsburgh that specializes in steel structures.

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Well, the weather is going to be amazing in Pittsburgh today with the high temperature expected to be 71°, so I’m going to be doing some of this….

And maybe more of this…

Felix is quite the snuggle bug.

Hope you have a great weekend!