Our walk with purity...Week 1

Hey!
I am so excited to share with you...This story!
I GET to introduce to you...Whitney Shannon! She is sharing her walk with purity with all of YOU!  
Thanks for sharing Whitney!

Enjoy...

What is Purity?

My lovely sister asked me to write my story about purity.  Then I got to thinking, what defines purity? According to the Webster dictionary it is: Freedom from guilt; the defilement of sin; innocence.   In James 1 it states”… To remain unstained by the world.” Easier said than done? I couldn’t agree more!  If we look for PURITY in this world, you’ll be looking for a long while, and may still come up blank.  But, when we search through God’s word, that’s where we begin to see the truth.  Are you a believer? AKA have you given your life to Christ and allowed him to cleanse you from your sin?  If so, you are called to PURITY. God says, “If you love me, you will obey me” Not may, not might, the true test is WILL.  This was definitely not my perspective when I began dating. . . I kissed boys, told them I loved them even though I didn’t, and I let the lines get crossed before saying “no”.   Then I was challenged by some people that are amazing and loved me enough to ask the tough questions.  Now this couple had not kissed till marriage. I thought “Ya’ll are crazy… that’s nice for you but that is so not for me” Well that’s where my thinking was anyway until this couple asked me a simple question:

What is ok for your husband to be doing with another girl right now? Having sex? Oral sex? Making out? Saying “I love you”? How about kissing?  I had never applied this to me but my heart screamed NO!!!! None of the above!!!  He’s mine and I didn’t want to share him!  See, this made me realize all of these things were “impure” on my list of does and don’ts at lease for my future husband so what about me? What was wrong with kissing? It’s fun! It doesn’t mean anything and it’s not like you’re having sex right?   Then I heard God say “Do you love me?  Then obey.”   But God… I thought.  Then again, “obey!” Ouch! I realized if it wasn’t ok for my future husband, where did I get off thinking I could do it?  I was such a hypocrite! 

Purity in our lives is our obedience to Him.  This not only applies to sexual purity but to every aspect of our lives; to live our life as we ought before our Creator.  We cannot do it alone except through our God.  He is our strength, our joy, and yes even our second chance because of his grace! In Romans, it says “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?”  So yes we all make mistakes and we all have a chance to have fully renewed purity in Christ but we should not take advantage of it.  We are called to Purity, so abide in His love. 

All this was fresh in my mind when I met a man with two kids.  I thought No way! There was a nice young man who wrote me a letter that stated he was interested in me, but I had already agreed to go out with the man with kids.  Thankfully the craziness that goes along with an “insta—family” was not what God had in mind for me but I was called to abide.  He decided to lie to me about almost everything that he had ever told me so when all was said and done; my feelings weren’t hurt because I didn’t know him. I was just obeying what God had called me to do.  I don’t know all that turned out good but I do know that he learned the importance of honesty especially to his beautiful daughters.  I simply obeyed and I have no regrets.  No kisses given that were meant for my husband, no “I-love-yous” that I can’t take back.  I told myself that I was going to stay single for a long time but God had other plans for my life.  I have found that he is great at messing up my plans… all for the better J  The man that had written the letter to me and I started talking.  I figured that I would never have the opportunity with him again, but then we started talking.  We became friends again, and then best friends.   He was such a kind man with a gentle spirit, every girls dream.  As for me, I was independent (AKA not wanting to get hurt) A nurse with a career, and I didn’t need a guy to complete me. It was me and God and I was happy with that.  .  So we stayed friends, never feeling pushed into anything and never pretending that I was anyone else. I always felt at home with him… and those eyes. 

            Something about those eyes, he saw straight through me, He saw me at my worst but he again told me he wanted to pursue me for marriage anyway.    He was there when I needed a tire changed; he was there, when I got broken into; no matter what he was there.  He had never dated before, he was so desirable in every way but I was terrified that I would be a mistake on his list if I said yes to him.   I didn’t know what to do, so I let the big guns decide; I gave him my daddy’s number.  My life has never been the same J So we talked about boundaries and agreed that anything but holding hands and cuddling before marriage was wrong.  We also wanted to save “I love you” for engagement I it came to that.  I know, I know, extreme right? But that is what God called us to in order to remain unstained by the world.  It was not an easy task I assure you. There were nights that he would get up and leave or I would have to kick him out in order to stay pure. 

Brian Proposed on April 1st 2010. We first went on a hike, got coffee to warm up like we usually do every Thursday :) When I got home, I turned off my alarm and washed my hands (completely missing everything lol OCD?) I turned around and there was a picnic set up in my living room because it was cold outside. Along with that was chocolates and my favorite flowers all through my house;) Brian and I have a boundary list and part of that list was not saying "I Love you" unless we got engaged... Brian is a man of his word so when I heard those words and he got down on one knee, my heart was going so fast! I was like this has to be a dream! He got down on one knee and held out the ring (which I didn’t even see because I was too excited!) I threw my arms around him and said yes! I wouldn't let go because I was tearing up and didn't want him to see lol. Brian then literally took my shoulders and pushed me away and said "Do you not like it?" ha ha I hadn't even seen the ring and when I looked down, it was gorgeous!!!! I am so thankful for this amazing man that God has blessed me with! Brian asked my father for permission and my parents actually set up the picnic and flowers while we were out on our hike! They also found the frame in my room that my daddy had given me years ago on Valentine’s Day. This frame was a special one...to remain empty until the day that I found the one that I would love forever! When I got home, the frame had a picture of my Brian and me in it! How amazing! My whole life I thought, no men are virgin’s anymore and I accept that. I was terrified that he would compare me to another woman…  Boy did God blow my mind when this amazing man was not only a virgin but had never kissed before! I got to be his first kiss and we shred our first kiss in front of everyone on our wedding day! It… was… AMAZING!!!!!!

There is a reason that our engagement was only two months.  It is hard to stay pure!!! It what you choose to do that matters.  It is possible! We are living proof! Two sinners that relied on God and man, my husband is amazing! I LOVE being married!  So what will we do to stay pure? Staying away from suggestive shows?  Curse? Look at anyone for a second longer than I should that’s not my husband?  I have to avoid these things to stay pure. Sure we all fall but God and his grace is bigger than our failures.  He is there, He is waiting! All you have to do is rely on him!!!  God has proved Himself in my life; will you allow Him to prove Himself in yours?

Thanks for allowing me to share my story,

             With love,

                      Whitney M. M. Shannon

I wanted to share with YOU their first kiss...



I am pretty sure it lasted at least a minute...on stage...on their wedding day.

It. Was. Magical.

If you have any comments or questions please let me know :) If you have any questions for Whitney... PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. I will make sure they get to her!

xoxo,

Kels