Jennifer, yes, if our kids love themselves and love God, they'll have a great foundation for making good decisions. Although I think this is implied in your comment, I also wanted to add the importance of somehow knowing how much God loves them/us. That's been the hardest one for me to grasp. I love how you put this, too: "I want them to understand it’s not just 'because the Bible says so,' but because God sets up standards to protect us." How refreshing!

Lorna, Charlie Peacock is a great man. You (through his story) have touched on something so important for Christians and all parents: not just saying something is wrong or bad, but explaining the effect and the consequences. 

Trina, I'm impressed by how communicative and candid you are with your kids! I really hope I can continue to be that way with mine, as they get older and the conversations get perhaps more awkward and applicable. That's my goal (and examples like yours are inspiring)!

Katie, this really struck me: "I want them to know that there are many facets and layers of a relationship and that physical intimacy is but one of them." It's something I fully understand now, in my own life, but I almost take that knowledge for granted. It's not necessarily something I would think to teach my kids, yet it's SO important. (I think/hope Jason and I are modeling it through our relationship, too.) And as far as this goes—"...encourag[ing] them to spend their time with people who they feel like they can honestly be themselves with"—YES! I spent much of my teens and early 20s trying to spend time with people I thought I wanted to be more like. For me, this all goes back to knowing and accepting exactly who God created each of us to be.

Nicola, isn't it great when they're young and curious, and they have no idea that society says they should be embarrassed by certain things? I'd love to hang onto that stage forever. S pretty much knew *everything* about sexuality at 7, because she's a little curious scientist. I think you really nailed the whole issue here (and continuing on in that paragraph): "As parents, I think we need to be realistic about teenage experimentation yet set some clear boundaries for our kids about our expectations and values regarding sex (and drinking and drugs). But, first, we need to articulate what our values actually are to ourselves." So smart, and you ask such good questions that we should all be asking ourselves.