Not so long ago, or so it seems, LightHusband and I had the privilege of being introduced to a man who was the new youth pastor at our now CLB. He had just arrived in town with his wife and (then) baby daughter. His daughter is now 16. We’ve had the privilege of knowing him for all of our children’s lives. We also had the unmitigated privilege of serving under him for many years while he was youth pastor at our old church. He continues to be a spiritual mentor in my life and he works with LightHusband in the job that keeps his body and soul together. He does a lot of other things too for fun and profit.

He started blogging not terribly long ago. His blog is well worth adding to your feed reader and taking a regular gander at. I call him Peregrine Man, it has nothing to do with the falcon and everything to do with the journey. His blog is called Peregrinatio in honor of the travels that the Celts undertook in search of God’s heart.

I found his post yesterday fascinating and endearing. I came in the house to read it after a long heart-to-heart with LightGirl about sex. It had come up innocently enough in the ways of a 13 year old. She asked a question about STD’s and AIDS, “What are they, Mom?” I learned a long time ago to answer those sorts of questions straight up and just the questions, without adding in anything that they have not asked. Let the child control the conversation and see where it goes. So she asked a few more questions and we did end up in the realm of what to do about sex outside of marriage. I left her with some open ended things to think about and told her some truths about my own life that really surprised her. We ended the conversation with a deeper relationship than when we began.

Now, here’s why I loved his post. I’ve had these kinds of conversations with so many other girls in other situations that I felt more prepared than I anticipated when the moment occurred with my own daughter. She asked the question, I centered myself and began. At one and the same moment, it was easy and more important than ever. And, it was ever so much more beautiful.