#26 Exciting Announcement!

Tomorrow (August 29th,) I will be posting something exciting that a few of you have expressed interest in. Be on the look out!!

#18: Secrets

Child sex predators are known for using cliche lines to cover up their evil. They say things like:

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Make sure you don’t tell anyone about this. It’s our secret.”

“I’ll make you or someone you love  hurt if you tell.”

“I’ll kill you or someone you love if you tell anyone.”

Sometimes the word “secret” is directly used, and sometimes it’s implied.

Naturally, my husband and I took the word “secret” out of our family vocabulary. We’ve substituted it with the word “surprise.” So when we go shopping for presents, we’ll tell our girls, “Don’t tell Daddy/Mommy/ Sissy. It’s a surprise.”

“Surprise” means the person we’re keeping the knowledge from will know in the near future, and surprises are (hopefully) something that person will like. Surprises are fun and light.

Secrets, in contrast, are dark and heavy. Especially “secrets” that are forced upon a child by a perverted sex predator.

Child sex abuse happens far too often. (One incident is one too many.) It can happen to anyone, from pro-ball player R.A. Dickey to rap star Lecrae to the girl writing this post.

We are raising our kids to come to us whenever someone wants to share a “secret” with them. The day will come when they report a classmate who wants to share something cute and innocent, and then we’ll have another conversation about it. But at this age, I want them to know secrets are bad, and that secrets that might get someone hurt are the most important ones to share.

I got this idea from God Made All of Me.