Linda Dillow - Gift-Wrapped by God. Secret Answers to the Question Why Wait?

Praise for

Gift-Wrapped by God

In Gift-Wrapped by God Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus creatively weave together Scripture and the personal experiences of single women to offer a radical alternative to contemporary notions of sexual fulfillment.

P EGGY W EHMEYER , journalist

Gift-Wrapped by God offers pearls of wisdom for those beginning the journey to womanhood as well as those struggling between the balance of purity and dealing with their desires. It also provides rivers of restoration for those who live with regret over past mistakes.

M ICHELLE M C K INNEY H AMMOND , author of Get Over It and On With It

Gifted encouragers, Linda and Lorraine not only build a powerful case for the reasons God asks singles to wait for sex, they also provide lots of specific, practical advice for how. The accompanying Bible study will enable readers to integrate and apply the liberating message of this book.

D ENNIS R AINEY , executive director of FamilyLife

Whatever has been your sexual experience and wherever you are on your spiritual journey, this powerful book will give you Gods perspective and set you free from guilt and shame.

N EY B AILEY , speaker and author of Faith Is Not a Feeling

This real love story strikes a chord that will resound in the hearts of all women. It is more than an admonition to live pure lives. It reveals the beauty of being created feminine and the precious gift that has been entrusted to all women, single and married.

P ASTOR T ED and G AYLE H AGGARD , New Life Church, Colorado Springs

Linda and Lorraine give us hope as they describe and illustrate the wonderful and perfect plan of God in saving the gift of sexuality.

P HYLLIS and P AUL S TANLEY , international vice president of The Navigators

Gift-Wrapped by God does an excellent job of reminding us that there is always a fresh start for those who feel that they have given away the gift prematurely. That the mercies of Jesus Christ are new every morningthis may be the ultimate gift!

K ELLY M INTER , songwriter and recording artist

Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus write with conviction, warmth, and great pragmatism in Gift-Wrapped by God. Rarely does an author balance great admonition to live a godly life with great forgiveness for those who have gone astray, but these authors accomplish that.

F RANK M INIRTH , P H .D., author of Happiness Is a Choice and Worry-Free Living

Millions of young women and men have been defrauded of their sexual purity by a culture that has exalted rights over responsibility, pleasure over purity, sensuality over self-control, and today over tomorrow. Gift-Wrapped by God is a gift to this defrauded generation. It speaks healing, forgiveness, wholeness, encouragement, and wisdom. Linda and Lorraine impart a biblical outlook on sexuality that will change the way you think about yourself, your sexuality, your past, your future, and your partnerand most important your God.

D R . D AVID E. S CHROEDER , president of Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary

Gift-Wrapped by God is a must-read book for single women everywhere. This straightforward book gets to the heart of the issue of sexual purity.

P ASTOR M IKE M AC I NTOSH , Horizon Christian Fellowship, San Diego, California

G IFT -W RAPPED BY G OD
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New American Standard Bible ( NASB ). Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked ( MSG ) are taken from The Message.

Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NKJV ) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NLT ) are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NRSV ) are taken from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( KJV ) are taken from the King James Version.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Copyright 2002 by Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Dillow, Linda.

Gift-wrapped by God: secret answers to the question why wait? / Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus. 1st ed.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-307-55169-6

1. Chastity. 2. YouthReligious life. 3. MarriageReligious aspectsChristianity. 4. Sexual abstinence Religious aspectsChristianity. I. Pintus, Lorraine. II. Title.

BV4647.C5 D55 2002

241.66dc21

2002006904

v3.1

To my precious granddaughters,
Annika and Sofia,
and the ones yet to come

L INDA

To my darling daughters,
Amanda and Megan

L ORRAINE

We wrote this for you because it is the book
we wish wed had as young women.

This book sings because of the many voices who have joined its chorus.

First, a heartfelt thank-you to Liz Heaney, our super editor whose prayers and giftedness helped form this book. We love you, Liz! We are grateful to you and to the wonderful staff at WaterBrook for their vision and commitment to the message of sexual purity.

Wed also like to thank the women who graciously gave us permission to tell their storiesKendall, Natalie, Darcy, Nancy, Patti Ann, Jill, Patti, and many others who openly and honestly shared their hurts and joys with us.

Thanks to the young women across America who field-tested the book and Bible study: Mauri Brindle and her New Life interns, Becca Wesselink and her Campus Crusaders, Beth Lubbe and her Navigators, Linda Kitchen at Great Commission Ministry and her high school group, and Bethany Harling and her friends at Houghton College. Your collective wisdom provided rich insight and practical help.

Our deep appreciation also goes to Don and Cathy Couchman and Don and Peggy Hanley, who provided writing retreats for us.