Hey mom!
Let’s be real. I used to be a complete mess. But my mom had a weapon and she knew how to use it. And I couldn’t be more grateful. (Guess what? You have access to that weapon, too.)
I’m Staci Rudolph, a lead teacher here on the True Girl team. I truly enjoy what I do and love how God has provided such a clear calling for my life.
But, let me tell you, my teen years did not paint the picture of a girl on her way to this calling. And my mom would say the same. If you talked to her about my teen years, you might hear a bit of a sigh before she began to tell you how good God was to us during those years.
Around age fifteen, I began experimenting with some pretty destructive behaviors, including bulimia, and self-harm. Before I knew it, I was headed down a rabbit trail and new paths of destruction were being introduced and adopted rapidly. Sexual promiscuity was one of them.
As it turns out, I was not alone in my struggle. Statistics regarding teen involvement in self-destructive behaviors are alarming and sadly on the rise. Here are just a few:
- The National Eating Disorders Association helpline has had a 40 percent jump in overall call volume since March 2020. Among callers who shared their age over the last year, 35 percent were 13 to 17 years old, up from 30 percent in the year before the pandemic.
- Teens. Adolescents have the highest rate of self-injurious behaviors, with about 17% admitting to self-injury at least once in their life.
- Alarmingly, although teens account for only one-fourth of sexually active persons, they represent one-half of all STI diagnoses each year.
The fight for our teens is now and it starts at home.
My mom recognized the fight for my life. She saw the clear attack posed by an enemy that hated me and wanted to claim my future. She fought for me.
My mom’s strongest weapon in her battle for my life was prayer. She soon realized that while therapy and other resources were important, if prayer wasn’t her primary plan, we’d never make it through. She actually shared with me not long ago the prayer she prayed everyday. “Lord, as far as Staci is from You right now, let her one day be that close to you.” Makes me a bit misty eyed every time I think about it.
In addition to setting aside time for individual prayer, my mom also became a woman who opened up to those she trusted in our church community about my struggles instead of one who hid them each Sunday. And looking back on it, she and my dad both agree that the early stages of my recovery began shortly after they chose to vulnerably seek the prayers of the church.
If you have a daughter that seems to be veering off of a thriving path and onto a destructive one, fight for her. Fight hard. Pray like her life depends on it.
And be sure to take advantage of any godly resources available to help your daughter. (My mom did that, too.) In fact, I invite you and your daughter to join our upcoming online study. Whether she is testing the truth of God’s Word or walking in it, studying God’s Word on the topic of sex is a must for every teen girl given our world’s emphatic lies.
Starting February 14th, we’ll be examining Lies We Believe About Sex & The Truth That Sets Us Free. We’ll take a deep, vulnerable dive into the topic of sex and talk about it from a biblical perspective. Our hope is to create the space for you and your daughter to have healthy, godly conversations as you begin the fight for her future.
