A Kissing Challenge:
From One of Our 150,000 Bride Readers
I had been a Christian for three months when I attended a tiny little weekend retreat led by a young woman named Dannah Gresh. I was dating the guy who led me to Christ. It never occurred to me that his desire to have sex was out of sync with God's plan. But on that retreat I learned that God had a different path for me and I had the choice to walk it or ignore it. Thankfully, I'd never given into the pressure to have sex, and I broke up with my boyfriend immediately. It wasn't easy. My heart broke."
So begins Lauren Beckner as she shares her Celebration Story printed with many others in the Celebration Edition of And the Bride Wore White.
Lauren went on to meet a guy named Kevin in college. He told her that he wasn’t going to even kiss his bride until they were at the marriage altar. Lauren’s response? “Good luck finding that girl!” But over the years their friendship grew.
“We became known for our ‘highfives’,” said Kevin who admits he made the decision to wait for his first kiss as a covenant with God to reclaim his purity. “I just got to the point where I knew to be serious with God I had to take girls off the table!” By the time he met Lauren he was resolved to wait on God’s timing and so their relationship never progressed much beyond “high fives” and friendshipÉ until one day when Lauren went to Colorado with some girlfriends.
“Unknown to me, it was a set up,” writes Lauren. “I was walking along the base of this majestic mountain near a crisp cool lake when who do I walk into but Kevin. Right there in the most beautiful place you can imagine he proposed. It was more romantic than I could have imagined.” The couple married on July 5, 2003 where Bob and Dannah Gresh were among those to witness their first kiss!
At a recent Pure Freedom event in St. Louis, Missouri, the couple came out to share their story. They were given a standing ovation.
Lauren and Kevin’s story is just one of the many stories of purity, restoration, forgiveness and healing added to the original And the Bride Wore White. The book remains a CBA Bestseller and has garnished the praise of Christian and secular media. “. . . every teen girl should read this excellent book!” writes CBA Marketplace. Publisher’s Weekly states that “. . . the evangelical chastity movement finds a champion in Dannah Gresh!”
