Jennifer grew up in a Christian home, but her parents divorced when she was young. She felt cheated and hurt as she watched other girls her age enjoy their relationship with their dad.
FROM AN EARLY AGE, Jennifer loved God. She attended church and completed Bible studies at home. She listened to Christian music, wore Christian T-shirts, and read Christian books. Jennifer even signed a True Love Waits pledge to stay sexually pure until marriage. And she refused to read and watch and say things that she felt displeased God.
THEN CAME MIDDLE SCHOOL. Her family moved, and Jennifer struggled to find her place among her peers. The price for fitting in with other girls was watching movies she thought she’d never watch, saying things she thought she’d never say, and going places she thought she’d never go.
AT LAST SHE FIT IN. Then she met a boy. He told her she was pretty and smart. Jennifer found the daily affirmation from him she’d missed from her dad. One day at age 14, she found herself in bed with her boyfriend. Then he was gone.
SHE MET SOMEONE ELSE, and she found herself in bed with him.
AND THEN ANOTHER.
AND ANOTHER.
JENNIFER NOW WRESTLES WITH HPV.
What’s HPV? you may be wondering. Let’s put it this way: It’s short for human papillomavirus—the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. It hits more than 2.5 million people each year. It has no cure. It can cause genital warts and cervical cancer.
JENNIFER WISHES LIFE CAME WITH AN "UNDO" BUTTON. But it doesn’t. She recently told her mother, “I’ve gone too far. I don’t know how to get back.”
By Rebecca St. James, Excerpted from: "She Teen", CBN
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