I am delighted to share my blog today with an incredible and super fantastic young lady, Kayla Woodhouse. Kayla is the daughter of author Kim Woodhouse.
Kayla is 16 years old and has lived her life with a chronic medical condition (you can read more about that in her bio below) that often limits her activities. This is Samson - her devoted service dog.
Despite of all the complications to her life, Kayla has a compelling testimony and desire to promote purity and has created a wonderful blog to share Biblical encouragements from God's Word.
Website address:
http://kimandkaylawoodhouse.com/kaylas-blog/#!/blog/
I asked Kayla some very important questions about her purity focus, so rather than go on about how wonderful she is - read her responses and see for yourself.
Kayla - your blog focuses on purity – why did you choose this
topic and exactly what do you hope to achieve?
Purity is something that I’ve felt very,
very strongly about. When I first started writing, a friend gave me the book
Pure by Rebecca St. James. That same
week, I learned that my name means pure. I decided that purity was something
that I would study, stand up for and protect. On my thirteenth birthday (about
a year and a half after I “started the journey”) my parents got my brother and
me purity rings and we had a covenant “ceremony.” It was a huge step for me,
and helped me understand purity and that covenant/commitment more than just my
passion for it. As I got older, I got more books on purity, and listened to a
lot of music with purity as a theme. I made “contracts” with my parents to keep
myself pure, with commitments, boundaries and lots of Scriptures laid out.
Unfortunately, the enemy has been attacking me on the subject since the very
first day God laid all of this on my heart. Purity is not only my biggest
passion, it’s my biggest battle. I’ve come to realize that we really are in a
spiritual war, and my goal is to fight with the best of my ability using the Armor
God’s given us. It’s been the biggest and longest battle of my life, but one
that I’m more than zealous about fighting. For the most part, my generation has
seemed to lose its will to fight on this subject. I pray that I can encourage
others through what God’s taking me through to protect their purity as well so
that we can be pure, shining lights reflecting the heart of Jesus and directing
lost souls toward Him.
How do you think parents and older friends can best
help younger people to desire purity in their lives?
It’s hard to find good, godly
examples. Especially in our day and age. A lot of the time, I think I can find
the “perfect” person to go to. But no such person exists except for Jesus. I’ve
been encouraged beyond measure by my mentors and parents, but I also have come
to realize that they are not perfect—just like me! And that’s how I best relate
to them.
J
I think the best way for parents/older friends to help the younger ones is to
just be honest and true. The four people I consider my mentors are my mentors
because through the years they’ve encouraged me by their honest experiences,
and brought me back to the truth of Scripture. God’s Word is our guidebook, and
I know that no matter what I’m going through or how bogged down I get, they will
bring my attention back to God’s solid truth.
How do you think purity is most compromised in the
lives of people your age?
In our minds.
Books, movies and music are all focused on
romantic ideas that—sadly—are underlined with “The Disposable Ideal.”
Everything in our society is disposable: jobs, houses, careers, children, dating
relationships, marriage. And even life in and of itself. With divorce papers,
an abortion, or a gun people can dispose of just about anything. And I believe part
of that is because of what we put into our minds. It’s precisely like the old
saying: “sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a
habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”
We sow R rated movies, books with
inappropriate covers or language, magazine stories of gossip and deception,
movies with ideas of “the perfect one and an easy life” only to find out that
life is harder than we pictured; and thus we reap virtues tainted in impurity.
Even from childhood we are surrounded by movies—whether it’s The Little Mermaid
or Harry Potter—that enforce character traits like disobeying our parents,
chasing after a man/woman, and ignoring the advice of those older than us.
Garbage in, garbage out. Everything starts
in our minds. What we put into our minds is what will determine our
character—and future. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it
flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Kayla, how can encouragement be offered to the young person
who has already made poor choices regarding their purity?
Christ cleansed us by shedding His blood
for us on the cross. Therefore, purity is within reach of everyone. If we
believe that we can never be clean, then we are believing that Jesus’ sacrifice
on the cross was not enough. We’re believing a lie of the enemy who doesn’t
want us to be pure. Whether you are a virgin or not, married or not, young or…
not so young, purity is yours if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Our job is to protect purity. To give
ourselves fully to the Lord, and trust Him to unlock this precious gift in His
timing. Yes, we are cleansed—we are pure. But, like many other things in our
Christian walk, purity requires a constant surrendering. (Trust me; I know!) C.
S. Lewis said, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if
nothing had yet been done.” And keeping ourselves pure requires relying on God
with every ounce of our beings! Many times deciding to surrender our purity
wholly to the Lord means waiting for years and years to find a future spouse;
many times it means putting up with an aggravating co-worker and holding your
tongue; many times it means saying “no” to imagining futuristic things when you
know that is not “the now.” It’s our
choice.
We can believe the truth, or we can believe the lie. In other words: we can
trust God, or we can trust the devil.
What are some Bible verses that encourage purity?
There are many, many stories and verses in
the Bible that talk about purity.
J Some of my all-time
favorites are:
Philippians 4:6-8: Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all
comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any
excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Romans 12:1-2: Therefore I urge you,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.
1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has
overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will
provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
James 4:17: Therefore, to one who knows the
right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20: Flee immorality.
Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man
sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your
own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your
body.
(
ALL
SCRIPTURE IS FROM THE NASB)
Some other great passages are: Psalm
119:9-10; Romans 6:1-11; Jonah 2:8; Galatians 5:1, 13; 1 Corinthians 7:1; Job 31:1;
1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Luke 11:34; Romans 8:6-7; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18;
Galatians 5:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; 1 Peter 1:13-16; 1 Peter 2:9-11,
15-16, 21-25; 1 John 1:9-2:1; and 2 Corinthians 11:2-3.
Blessings!
Kayla R. Woodhouse
Sixteen-year-old Kayla R. Woodhouse’s zest for writing comes
not only from her natural ability, but also from her love of the written word
as witnessed by her voracious reading appetite. One of only a few dozen cases
in the world, Kayla was born with HSAN, Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy,
an extremely rare nerve disorder. Unable to sweat, or feel pain, she’s also
been through brain surgery. But even through a life of extreme hardships, her
ever-present smile encourages others to pursue their dreams, no matter the
obstacles. In addition to being homeschooled and writing with her mom, she’s an
amazing swimmer, and spends up to thirty hours a week in training. She has
appeared on ABC’s
Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition,
The Montel Williams Show,
Mystery ER, Focus on the Family’s
Broadcast, Chris Fabry Live!, The Hour of Power, the Harvest Show, and numerous
other national programs as well as hundreds of other interviews. She is the
co-author of
No Safe Haven—her first
release from B&H Publishers—and
Race
Against Time—released in November of 2011—written with mother, Kimberley,
making her the youngest author to have a full-length novel published by a
royalty paying publisher. She was asked to be one of the contributors for
God (“Hearts”) Me, a girls devotional,
releasing in November, 2013. Kayla is a gifted speaker and loves to share her
love for God and writing with groups all over the country. She has a passion
for purity, faith and purpose in life and wishes to share God’s truth to
others. She has a special passion for youths and young adults. You can find
Kayla at
http://kaylawoodhouse.com
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