The Talk

The girls start their new school on Tuesday so we’ve spent a lot of time this week preparing. School uniforms, supplies, meeting their new teacher, buying lunch boxes, grocery shopping, and the list goes on.

One of the ways I wanted to prepare the girls was having “the talk”. You know, the one about the birds and the bees.

Although we’ve talked extensively with them already about purity and God’s design for a man and a woman, it was imperative to me that they know about sex and what God has to say about it. Especially before they started school.

(I didn’t want some misinformed 5th grader giving them the wrong information. You know?)

We knew it was just a matter of time before we had this talk but as a homeschooler, you have the luxury of feeling like you can shelter your kids for just a little while longer, so you do.

It seemed like the perfect time now and they were ready.

I’m so happy to have stumbled across this little study/devotion called, “The Talk: 7 Lessons to Introduce Your Child to Biblical Sexuality” by Luke Gilkerson.  It was very straight forward and all the lessons were anchored in scripture. Each lesson took about 15-20 minutes. We appreciated the simple but detailed diagrams and it led to some GREAT discussions. We covered everything from marriage, adultery, divorce, abortion, and rape. It even brought up discussions about the girls’ birthparents (and Zach’s, too).

The funny thing about the talk is I think most parents think they’ll feel awkward. They’re not sure when their child is ready or how much information to share. Gilkerson says too many parents are silent while the world is screaming. Unfortunately, the fear of “too much too soon” or saying the “wrong thing” is a rare circumstance in today’s world. In fact, our children, not knowing our values as they pertain to sex is far more common and more dangerous.

“When it comes to parents teaching children about God’s purposes for sex, being first is critical. Parents should want to be their child’s first and primary source of information about sex. And in a sexually broken world, filled with ungodly messages, waiting as long as possible to talk about sex is a risk no parent should be willing to take. “

I thought the book was an excellent resource and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t had “the talk” yet with their children. It’s geared for 6-10 year olds but I think 6 would have been too young for me. Eight would have been fine. You know your child best so you can make that call.

The girls really enjoyed the study and they didn’t feel awkward in the least. In fact, I think it filled in a couple of gaps in their thinking about the topic as a whole.

The bottom line: We, as parents, want to take the lead and be the primary source of truth and information about sex and the beautiful thing God created it to be.