Book signings are always fun for me, and humbling. This year The Princess and the Kiss: The Three Gifts of Christmas will be appearing in August. My publishing house is excited, and since I've worked with most of them as an editor in the past, I enjoy my time with the staff so much. Even better, the bookstore owners who were at the event this weekend (Denver International Christian Book Something-or-Other —ICRS to industry folks—see how much I know?) have such great stories. They're still excited about the impact The Princess and the Kiss is making, and they say so. 

I can't tell you how this encourages me. Being at the forefront of a new approach to purity definitely takes its toll. I get a lot of looks like I have two heads. After all, who thinks a kiss is really precious anymore? It's no big thing. And being a virgin at the altar? Unheard of. Impossible. 

Baloney.

But I digress. I was talking about the signing.

I learned long ago that signing books is not an opportunity to be a star. It's an opportunity to talk one-on-one with people I would never otherwise meet, whose children will be deeply affected by these books. It's a chance to pass on the encouragement that they are not alone, and that the virtues still apply in this integrity-hostile culture, and all over the world. And it's a chance to be reminded that I am not alone, either, and that I am making a difference. I am part of a global community that longs for a return to REAL traditional values.

Please don't let anyone tell you you're old-fashioned because you believe in goodness, in nobility, in integrity and sexual purity. Don't be discouraged if all your friends around you are divorcing, and you're hanging in there. It's worth it. Don't take it personally when your child rolls his/her eyes at you. You're the parent and they're bound to be unhappy with your decisions sometimes. Set limits on technology and entertainment. The diet of the heart feeds the character, and junk food will yield sickness, just as good food yields health and strength.

You're not alone. There are plenty of others out there fighting for the values that hold lives together and make our world great and our citizens noble. Find them and build a community of encouragement and action.

If my books help us find each other, then I'm grateful and humbled. Let's not just huddle, but get out there and change things, starting with our generation of young people. Thanks for being a part of an answer we all desperately need.