Take Your Laundry Basket Mistakes & Make Them Beautiful

When I was younger than 3 years old, I decided to try to fly. Yes, I was that type of child. Standing on the piano bench, I "flew" off into the laundry basket with clothes in it. Sounds like a good idea, but it wasn't. The laundry basket was like most of my baskets now, cracked, or at least a little broken on one side.

As you can expect, once I made my landing, my lips came in contact with the broken side of the basket. OUCH. I split my top and bottom lip open enough for stitches. To this day, I still have a scar on both of my lips.

Now, here's my question...want if my little girl wanted to jump off our piano bench into a broken laundry basket? I would stop her! I know what might happen and it's painful. She might cut her lip open and have a scar for the rest of her life. Plus, if I can avoid an emergency room bill, I will!

Why then do we have a problem teaching our kids about healthy sexual discipline when maybe we didn't practice it ourselves? This is like saying, I busted my lip so I can't tell her not to jump off the piano bench and bust her lip either.

You have a past, everyone does. There are great things about it, there are lousy things about it. The wonderful thing is that you are able to learn from those experiences and guide your kids, grandkids, students, and friends toward a BETTER outcome. Just because you suffered consequences of bad choices, doesn't mean you have to allow them to do the same. That's the beauty of learning! Take all those experiences and turn them into something beautiful for those you care about.

According to the CDC, there are 19 million NEW STD infections EVERY YEAR, making

STDs the most commonly reported infections diseases in the U.S. STDs are estimated to cost the U.S. health care system about $16 BILLION ANNUALLY, and can cause serious long-term health consequences. Left untreated, some STDs (such as chlamydia & gonorrhea) can lead to infertility, and many STDs increase the risk of HIV infection.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/Newsroom/stdconferencepressrelease.html

Wow, we aren't talking about a scar on their lip or a emergency room hospital bill. These consequences are life-long! Their consequences could be emotional damage and/or physical damage (infertility).

Let's STAND UP!!! Take courage and know that you have the RIGHT to tell your kids, students, friends, and loved ones to WAIT.