Hello friends! Welcome to the Proverbs 2 Project! This website is the product of several years of running. I felt God’s calling, and while I was saying, “No, God. I’m too scared. I’m too weak. I’m not equipped to do this. Find someone else,” that still small voice was saying, “Let me use you. Let me use this. You are weak, but I am strong. You are not equipped, but I am giving you all you need.” So I decided to stop running and start listening. This post is a more lengthy introduction to the project than what is written in the “About the Project” section of the website, but stay tuned for the next installment. That will be when the project really gets going!

Background

First, let’s make one thing clear: I am doing this because I love the church. I want to see Christ’s bride flourish. This project is not about bashing God’s people, but rather, it is because of my love for the church that I am looking for solutions. This is not a place for me or anyone else to simply voice complaints.

During my college career, I have become more aware of the need in the church for more healthy conversations with our teenagers concerning sexuality. I have seen it in my own story and in countless stories from others who have been hurt by Christianity’s faulty portrayal of biblical sexuality. Much of this is due to the damaging rhetoric of the purity movement, which is still at work today.

I’ve had many conversations with wise people over the past few years – friends, professors, and pastors. Everyone seems to see the need, and there are countless Christ-followers who are working to bring healing and change to the church. My desire is to join their efforts and be a voice for positive change.

The Blog

This blog is not only a personal calling that God has given me, but it is also serving as my project for my Bachelor Thesis. I will be posting on this blog once a week or so, and each post will introduce a different topic having to do with sexuality. I won’t be focusing on voicing my own opinions, and I don’t plan on using this blog as an outlet for me to share my own story for the sake of gaining personal attention. When applicable, I may share parts of my own experience, but that is not the purpose of this project. Instead, I will be opening up topics for discussion, and researching throughout the process, so the posts will take a more academic perspective than a personal one.

The goal is for people to respond to the ideas that I introduce. I want to hear your stories! This project won’t work without YOU. My hope is that this will turn into a long-term project. I will be using the insight that I receive from my readers for a few purposes. The first is to shape my topic ideas from post to post. I’m hoping that the discussion that takes place here will give me clarity about where there is need for more discussion. The second way I will use your responses is in my final paper for my Bachelor Thesis. I will draw on blog comments in my analysis of the project to show evidence of common themes. Finally, the third and most important way that I will use the responses to the blog is to formulate some long-term solutions that will hopefully be useful to the church. This part of the process will go beyond my thesis, and my prayer is that it will turn into something bigger than my paper. This is a place for discussion. If you had a negative experience, tell us what happened, and if you have ideas of how things could have been done more effectively, tell us that too! On the other hand, if you had a good experience, that’s so great! Tell us about it!

The Audience

Anyone is welcome here, but I am particularly looking for feedback from people (men and women) who have been involved in Christian organizations – church, youth group, Christian schools, and so on. I value your feedback, because I need insight born out of real, personal experiences. If you don’t fit in this category, but you want to talk to me or have questions, I would be thrilled to talk to you! You are welcome to utilize the “Contact” page for that purpose.

An Appeal for Wisdom

The inspiration for the name of this project came recently when I read Proverbs 2. The whole chapter is beautiful and applicable to my vision for this project, and I would encourage you to go, find your Bible, and read it. For the sake of space, I will share just the first 5 verses, which particularly stood out to me.

1 My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God. [NIV]

I’m calling out for insight and wisdom while clinging to the promise that God will provide understanding.

The First Appeal

I have several ideas of topics to write about, but I would love to hear your ideas! What would you like to talk about? What resources should I look into in my research as I write on this blog? My own ideas and knowledge are not sufficient – I can’t make this project succeed by myself.

I will hopefully be getting the first post (with a topic) up soon. Stay tuned, subscribe, comment, pray me through this, and share, share, share! This is going to be a crazy journey, but I’m excited to see what God has in store, and I’m hoping you will join me!

~Megan~

**Note: I reserve the right to use comments left on this blog as part of my research for this project and any further related projects**