Growing Up In God’s Image – Excerpt | Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author)

The following is an excerpt from Full Quiver’s upcoming publication on how to talk to your kids about sex, “Growing Up in God’s Image,” by Carolyn Smith. This is the author’s introduction at the beginning:

“To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”(1 Corinthians 12:7)

It’s been many years since that first talk with my oldest daughter about the facts of life, but I remember it very well. Like most moms, I was a bit nervous and consternated over what to say. Actually, I remember resenting that I had to talk with her so soon. I felt pressured because many of the children at school were already “knowledgeable.” Hearing something from a classmate was the last thing I wanted to happen. I didn’t want her to hear about “sex.” I wanted her to hear about the beauty of God’s gift of love. I was getting ready to tell her about a very special and holy love, the love that existed between her father and me. My husband, Jim, is truly God’s gift to me. So I went to the Source of the gift and asked Him, “Lord, what do you want me to say to her?”

I felt certain God wanted me to start at the beginning with Him. After all, He is Love itself. All love, especially this love, comes from Him. God created us to love Him and to love each other; therefore we should talk about His creation of Adam and Eve and His plan for marriage from the very beginning. What we have today is nothing new. It has existed since the beginning of time. And, in the One that we image, it has always existed! Thus, this theme became the beginning of the “facts of life” talk.

The second theme came to me many years later while away with my husband for a weekend. The gift came during Mass between the consecration and the communion. After Mass, I couldn’t wait to tell Jim! It left me absolutely in awe that God has given to married people a love that resembles His own in the Eucharist!

I was then able to share this with my fifth daughter, (and the sixth, seventh, and eighth) when I talked to her about the “facts of life.” Her reaction was everything a mom could hope for. She looked up at me and said in wonder, “Wow, THAT is really neat!”

The third theme talks about marriage as a sacrament. What God intended from the very beginning of creation was elevated to a new level of sanctity by His Son. God is intimately present to every couple through the sacrament. He is the very Center of their life and love.

Advanced Review Copies available upon request. Email me: info(at)fullquiverpublishing.com

4 thoughts on “Growing Up In God’s Image – Excerpt”

This looks like a super book. I will have to purchase it when I’m finished reading the book I’m on now. When I was teaching Theology of the Body to Middle Schoolers, parents would sometimes ask how they should talk to their children about sex – what they should say. This is a badly needed resource!