"We women must realize how visual men are, and because of that we should wear modest clothes. Not because we don’t have the right to wear what we want, but for the benefit of the spiritual life of
our brothers in Christ."
~ Heather Arnel Paulsen ~
Emotional Purity:
An Affair of the Heart
~(Information on the new book drawing is at the end of this post)~With having teen children, I notice the heads turning – my teen kids noticing someone, someone noticing my teen children. I see my boys notice the girls that sit ahead of them in church, or walk by them in the store. It is also noticed when these girls may not be modestly dressed – low revealing shirts – high skirts, etc. My boys won’t be the only ones noticing these girls. All those guys around notice too! And not only could one of these girls be my son’s future wife, she may be my future daughter-in-law. The men who look at my daughters – who could be my future son-in-law, what are they seeing with the girls around them, including my daughters. What thoughts are going through the mind? We talk often of keeping ourselves pure for marriage. It’s not just "before marriage", it’s after marriage as well. It’s for those married or single. It’s for where you are at right NOW. It is also the "emotional" part of keeping ourselves pure and the way we present ourselves.`As Christian women, we have the responsibility to do all we can to keep ourselves pure including the way we look outwardly and the way we present ourselves in our actions, talk and emotions. Now it’s easy for me to say, "well, I am overweight, I am forty-four, this body has had 12 babies, so no man is going to look at me." But, as I see friends who have been married as long as my husband and I, going through divorces as the result of an affair, I know it happens even to the "best" of the Christians. It may not just be the way I dress, but the way I interact with another man. After going through several losses in our family, it can be easy for my husband and I to relate to others when they are going through a rough time, including a loss or a difficult time in their marriage. For either one of us to start sharing deeply, showing care to the opposite sex, even unintentionally starting out could lead to a road of devestation. One side might not even realize it, as the other is getting emotionally attached. My husband and I have made commitments as far as being with each other when a conversation becomes more lengthy, and no "chatroom", "IM’s" and e-mailing with the opposite sex unless our spouse is part of it. Can we have too many cautions in the way satan seems to sneek in and destroy? Is there ways we can also protect our husbands from what they may see? I hate the grocery check-out lanes. If my husband and/or children are with me, you will find me turning magazines over so they do not have to see the near-pornography staring at them.`I wanted to share today’s quote as a gentle reminder to us women in guarding our hearts and minds, keeping both physical and emotional purity. I would also like to use this opportunity to introduce this book, Emotional Purity: An Affair of the Heart. This book is written especially towards singles, though much can be gleaned for all of us. We are bringing our children up towards the goal guarding their hearts and minds, and with each child it may be a different process and different situation in response to this goal. Here is an interesting thought from the author:
"Men need to realize how emotionally charged women are and should avoid causing them to imagine more than what is really there. Men can also be emotionally charged by the actions of a well-meaning friend. We all have to be pure in our actions toward our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Recently I explained this concept to a Christian brother. He understood when I said women are as emotionally charged as men are visually charged. He said, ‘Oh, so a woman can be emotionally married like a man can be visually married in his mind.’ "
When I wrote last week that I will be writing a quote from this book, Emotional Purity: An Affair of the Heart, I received several e-mails regarding concerns of this book. As with any book, any conference speaker, any sermon, we are to examine everything carefully. There have been times my husband and I will discuss a sermon, and how God spoke to us, convicting our hearts. The other of us may not even have heard it that way or at all! Though I cannot say anything stood out in this book that I found Scripturally incorrect, I gleaned a lot from it to help encourage my children towards emotional purity (not only physical purity). God may show you something new, confirm something else in your heart, and lead you in a different direction. Yet, God’s Word is the final authority. This book is just a side handbook, along with others. ~
I have been given an additional one of these books from Crossway Books to give away to one of you! All those who participate in IOW listed below, mentioning about the book give away will be entered for this book. If you do not wish to write on the quote, just leave a little blurb below on your blog and let me know in this post’s comment section.
"Finding JOY in the Morning is giving away the book Emotional Purity: An affair of the Heart. Just for writing about it on your blog and leaving a comment HERE you can be entered in the drawing. Drawing ends October 30th."
`P.S. In going along with the purity theme, the Homeschool E=Store has a free lapbook download on modesty for this week only. ~
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afforded it, I would have loved to have bought a billboard (instead of a stone as in the verse) to put as a proclaimation at this accident scene my two boys were in, just 5 weeks after the death of our other son. God protected them. The man that hit our boys knew he was going to no matter what, and purposely swerved to avoid hitting the door. We go by this road to and from church several times a week. No, there’s no billboard there, and thankfully, there are no memorial crosses there either. But, there is that reminder, written on my heart, from this verse that reminds me of God’s faithfulness.
daughter with serious heart defects and is a reminder so many times when I dream up all the "what ifs" of her condition. I have verses I have marked as a struggling wife and mom and as a daughter without parents.
made this recipe below yesterday, and most of the kids did not see me make it, so they did not know what was in it. 
This weekend is two of our boys’ birthdays – one turns 14 and the other 18. We are having a bowling party for them with their friends. And in the middle of all this, we are having a friend over for dinner tonight, as I am painting our youngest girls’ room because carpeting is being installed in about a week. So, as I am making bread, cooking up chicken, and frying bacon for my 
