Meghan’s turning point came in junior high.  “My mother was going through her third divorce, and my world crashed.  I’ll never forget how alone I felt.”  Meghan was thinking about taking her own life.  A school counselor saw her through that time, and then a friend invited her to Young Life, a non-profit organization rooted in Christianity that reaches out to middle school and high school students worldwide.

“I started going to the weekly meetings,” she explained, “and at the end of each one, I longed to hear the message about Jesus.  Every time I heard His name, my heart pounded.”

At the end of her sophomore year in high school, Meghan went to a weekend Young Life camp.  “I remember hearing a passage from the Bible and looking up at the stars, crying.  I couldn’t believe there was a Father somewhere who would never leave me.”

I asked her if that was the moment she had made her vow of chastity.  “Not specifically, not in those words,” she replied.  “But it was then that I desired only God’s will for my life.  And I’ve never regretted it.”

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Karri was all about being social as a teenager, where the boys were and the action was.  The temptation to have sex was a struggle for her.

“Growing up, my parents had me in church every time the doors opened,” she said.  “I was a well-behaved little girl and then I turned fourteen.  I knew waiting to have sex until marriage was the right thing to do, but I wanted to have fun.”

One afternoon Karri let a boy from her class give her a ride home from school, come into her house, check out her room . . . and they ended up on her bed.  “I stopped him before it got to sex, but after he left, I felt ashamed and embarrassed.  And what if he had refused to stop?  I was lucky.”

In college, one of Karri’s suitemates was waiting to kiss her boyfriend until they were engaged.  She became Karri’s mentor in her struggle to “hold out” for true love.  “I wanted to be as pure as my friend was,” Karri said, “but I had already given out many kisses.”

Karri could have gotten down on herself for her past and for not being as disciplined and focused as her suitemate.  She could’ve given up on chastity altogether.  But one thought kept her on track: God sent his son Jesus to forgive me my shortcomings so that I might forgive myself and try harder to be the person I truly want to be.

Karri met her husband in college and was married two years later.  They now have a family of three.  “I wish a life of no regrets for my children and am preparing them for the fight while they’re young, introducing them to Jesus, the best friend and mentor they could have.”

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