Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    So You're About to Be a Teenager: Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends, Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues
    So You're About to Be a Teenager: Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends, Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues
    So You're About to Be a Teenager: Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends, Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues
    Ebook155 pages1 hour

    So You're About to Be a Teenager: Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends, Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues

    By Dennis Rainey, Barbara Rainey, Rebecca Rainey and Samuel Rainey

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Samuel and Rebecca Rainey, preteens themselves not many years ago, add their perspective as young adults who vividly recall their own successes and failures as teenagers. Covering such topics as friends, peer pressure, boundaries, dating, and sex, the Raineys address the most common traps of adolescence and teach young people how to avoid making poor choices. Short, concise chapters are filled with engaging illustrations and practical applications. This book is essential reading for preteens.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThomas Nelson
    Release dateAug 12, 2003
    ISBN9781418569167
    So You're About to Be a Teenager: Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends, Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues
    Author

    Dennis Rainey

    Dennis Rainey is the executive director and co-founder of FamilyLife and co-hosts the radio program, FamilyLife Today. He is senior editor of the HomeBuilders Couples Series, which has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, and author ofParenting Today's Adolescent and The Tribute.

    Read more from Dennis Rainey

    Related to So You're About to Be a Teenager

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Escaping a Cult

      Nov 4, 2021

      Escaping a Cult
      5 min read

    • Article

      Work-from-home Fathers Rethink Parenting

      Dec 2, 2020

      Couples who have school-age children and can work from home are resetting traditional parenting roles. After the pandemic, old notions of fatherhood may not hold anymore.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The First Hello

      Oct 28, 2020

      The First Hello
      4 min read

    • Article

      What Grandpa Taught Me

      May 27, 2022

      What Grandpa Taught Me
      4 min read

    • Article

      Samuel West

      Aug 30, 2021

      Samuel West
      5 min read

    • Article

      Kate Baer Poet Author Mother

      Jun 2, 2022

      Kate Baer Poet Author Mother
      6 min read

    • Article

      Family Ties

      May 2, 2021

      Family Ties
      4 min read

    • Article

      Michelle de Swarte

      Jul 12, 2022

      WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? To make it easier for people who come after you. I don’t know, as a whole, that we’re succeeding, but I think that’s the meaning: to try and pass on the lessons you’ve learned so younger generations don’t have to repeat t

      2 min read

    • Article

      My Story “I Wrote My Own Eulogy”

      Dec 29, 2021

      When I was pregnant with my first baby in 2009, I had a very specific idea of what the next stage of my life would look like. I would somehow balance parenting a newborn and managing my business, as well as self-care, a social life and maintaining a

      5 min read

    • Article

      Rainbow Family

      Jan 28, 2022

      Rainbow Family
      3 min read

    • Article

      Cool Dads: Tough Times Edition

      Jul 3, 2022

      Cool Dads: Tough Times Edition
      7 min read

    • Article

      An Epilogue to Homeschooling: A Mother Hangs Up Her Homeschooling Hat…Now What?

      Oct 3, 2022

      Estimated reading time: 11 minutes — My chest feels achy. It’s felt like this for weeks now. I keep catching myself holding my breath, losing focus, reaching for something to soothe me, staring into space. This isn’t me — who is this person, I wonde

      7 min read

    • Article

      Faith Empowered

      May 27, 2020

      Faith Empowered
      6 min read

    • Article

      Between

      Mar 4, 2021

      Between
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Chat With Ashley Simpo

      Mar 3, 2022

      A Chat With Ashley Simpo
      8 min read

    • Article

      BOOM SHANKAR Sitting Pretty.

      Mar 4, 2021

      BOOM SHANKAR Sitting Pretty.
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Divine Miss DOVE

      Mar 2, 2022

      The Divine Miss DOVE
      3 min read

    • Article

      At Home With Bliss

      Jun 6, 2022

      At Home With Bliss
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Unlikely Minimalist

      Jun 3, 2020

      The Unlikely Minimalist
      8 min read

    • Article

      Minimalist

      Jun 3, 2020

      Minimalist
      8 min read

    • Article

      Marian On Her New Book

      Jun 19, 2020

      Reading Grown Ups, I had to wonder about the inspiration behind it? Was it a bad family holiday? Yeah, there’s this group of people I’ve been friends with for a long time and we go away together now and again. In recent years one of the friends has b

      3 min read

    • Article

      Mermaids And Me.

      Sep 27, 2019

      Mermaids And Me.
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Baby-sitters Club

      Jan 16, 2022

      The Baby-sitters Club
      4 min read

    • Article

      Your Dilemmas…

      Jun 29, 2023

      International Executive Coach of the Year and Confidence & Human Behaviour Expert, Jo Emerson, answers your questions this week. Jo’s email course can help you build confidence – please visit: jo-emerson.com. Grab her book, Flying for Beginners, on A

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for So You're About to Be a Teenager

    4/5

    7 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      So You're About to Be a Teenager - Dennis Rainey

      So You’re About to Be a Teenager

      00-01_so_you_re_a_teenager_0002_001

      So

      You’re About to Be a

      teenager

      Godly Advice for Preteens on Friends,

      Love, Sex, Faith, and Other Life Issues

      Dennis & Barbara Rainey

      With Their Children Samuel and Rebecca

      00-01_so_you_re_a_teenager_0003_001

      Copyright © 2002 by Dennis Rainey, Barbara Rainey, Samuel Rainey, Rebecca Rainey

      All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

      Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

      This book was previously published as So You Want to Be a Teenager?

      Scripture quotations are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Rainey, Dennis, 1948–

         So you’re about to be a teenager : Godly advice for preteens on friends, love, sex, faith, and other life issues / Dennis and Barbara Rainey; with their children Samuel and Rebecca.

             p. cm.

          ISBN 0-7852-6279-2 (pbk.)

      1. Preteens—Juvenile literature. 2. Adolescence—Juvenile literature. 3. Interpersonal relations in adolescence—Juvenile literature. 4. Sexual ethics for teenagers. I. Rainey, Barbara. II. Title.

      Printed in the United States of America

      02 03 04 05 06 PHX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      To Mom and Dad.

      You’ve made our words in this book

      possible by being incredible parents and

      impacting both of us so much.

      We love you.

      Samuel and Rebecca

      To my beautiful wife, Stephanie.

      Thanks for your encouragement,

      support, and love. I love you.

      Samuel

      To my future husband.

      Know that I am patiently waiting for the day

      when I will join you in sharing the rest of

      our lives together. Until then I will continue

      to guard my heart and my purity

      ultimately for you.

      Rebecca

      Contents

      Introduction

      1. The Box Top

      2. Traps and Choices

      3. The Herd

      4. For Girls Only— Changing and Growing Up

      5. For Boys Only— Changing and Growing Up

      6. What Is Sex?

      7. Dangerous Cliffs Ahead

      8. Dating?

      9. Extreme Life

      What Do You Think?

      A Passport to Purity Weekend

      Acknowledgments

      About the Authors

      introduction

      by samuel rainey

      So you’re about to be a teenager?

      That’s exactly where I was not very many years ago. Now I’m no longer a teenager (as I write this I am twenty-three years old), and get this—I just got married! Wow, is marriage ever cool. My bride’s name is Stephanie, and let me tell you, she is phenomenal—and incredibly beautiful! We are very excited about our new life together.

      Hold on for one minute. Let me sidetrack and tell you a quick story about my wedding. You see, when I was your age, my parents started talking to me about the importance of staying pure until marriage. Well, over the next few years, I made the decision that I wasn’t going to kiss a girl until my wedding day. The decisions I made when I was your age really helped me withstand a lot of temptations along the way. And because of my commitment not to kiss a girl until I married, the kiss that I gave Stephanie on our wedding day was awesome! I mean to tell you, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me (besides becoming a Christian and marrying her!). It was the greatest gift that I could give her.

      I doubt that I would have ever come up with a commitment not to kiss until the wedding on my own. My parents and others challenged me to some really high standards. I wasn’t always excited about those standards, but looking back, it was some of those challenges and commitments that kept me out of trouble growing up. This book will probably challenge you in ways that you may not want to be challenged. So, when you come across a section that you think is off base or even weird, keep reading and keep an open mind! in

      This book will probably challenge you in ways that you may not want to be challenged.

      I want you to know that the information shared in this book is very important and relevant to you. I can say that, because it’s not that long ago that I went through all the changes and tests of being an adolescent. Without the wisdom and guidance of my parents and other mentors, I’m not sure I would be in such good shape to enjoy life, follow God, and marry my new bride, Stephanie! (Can you tell? I’m excited, proud, and happy.)

      So, our hope is that this book will prepare you to enjoy your teenage years. Read carefully, because the topics in here will be of great value to your life. But we want to defer to the best guidance book of all, the Bible. That is the single most important book you could read to help you through your teenage life and beyond.

      Several Rainey family members besides me worked on this book. My dad, Dennis, and my mom, Barbara, tackled the heavy-duty topics, such as how your body changes during adolescence, and sex. My sister Rebecca (she’s in college) and I talk about some of our own experiences with friends, peer pressure, and dating. Rebecca’s ideas will be scattered throughout the book in special boxes called Rebecca’s Turn. (Why is it the girls in our family always get special treatment? . . . oops, I kind of lost my focus for a moment!)

      At the end of each chapter is what we call Extra Stuff— Scripture and questions and a prayer to help you put into practice what you’ve been reading about. Do this. It’s cool!

      I think you’ll enjoy learning what a fun and growing experience being a teenager will be. So without any more introductions, let’s start with one of Rebecca’s memories of life as a preteen.

      00-01_so_you_re_a_teenager_0012_001

      1 the box top

      rebecca’s turn

      Life in Elementary School

      Was your tenth birthday kind of special?

      I remember turning ten and it was the biggest deal ever to me. I was finally a big double digits (10)! I remember how cool it was to actually hang out with my older sister, Ashley, and my big brothers, Benjamin and Samuel. (And by the way, Samuel, the girls don’t always get special treatment in the Rainey family!)

      That birthday was a big step and a change for me, but there wasn’t anything too exciting going on at school.

      Elementary school was a great place to have fun and grow up.

      Fifth and sixth grades were okay, but life was pretty simple and I don’t recall much peer pressure. Sure, some kids decided to cheat on tests, and they sometimes would try to get others to do it. I never did. But there sure wasn’t anybody going around saying I should go kiss so-and-so or date so-and-so.

      That would happen big time in junior high during seventh grade.

      Figuring out your life may seem like putting together a big puzzle without a box top.

      The elementary and middle school years were the calm before the storm. Looking back at being a preteen, it was easy compared to the choices I had to face in junior high and high school. A whole bunch of things can change in just a few months during adolescence: your body, your relationships with the opposite sex, your relationship with your parents, and so much more. That’s why I’m excited that you are reading this book. We want to help you get ready for all those changes, so keep reading.

      the box top

      by samuel

      rainey

      Does your life sometimes seem as confusing as a gigantic jigsaw puzzle? And I don’t mean a puzzle that’s just twenty pieces cut out of thick wood—the kind you could do with your eyes closed. No, I mean life can feel like a puzzle that has thousands of pieces. I sure felt that way when I was about to become a teenager.

      My family has worked on a few of those big puzzles because my mom loves them. I suppose that’s where my dad got a pretty crazy idea for his Sunday school class. What Dad did illustrates a very important truth I want to share with you.

      One Sunday my dad brought his sixth-grade class a thousand-piece puzzle of a Rocky Mountain landscape with leaves in fall colors, a vivid blue sky, majestic mountains, sparkling water, and a deer or two. Dad divided the class into three groups and said, "You must put this puzzle together without talking to anyone." He gave each group all the pieces for what they thought was the identical puzzle.

      The first group was given the pieces and the puzzle box top. Those kids set the box top up for reference, sorted some pieces, and began putting the thing together. They thought this was fun.

      My dad dumped the same puzzle out for the second group, but unknown to them, he gave them the box top from a different puzzle. So as they tried to sort the pieces, they were looking at the wrong puzzle picture! Of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1