‘Cherish’

[from Middle English cherishen, from Old French cherir, cheriss, cher, from Latin carus]

• to protect and treat with great care and affection/to treasure/to nurture/to think well of

Contents

Foreword

Introduction: Cherished

1 The beginning of mysteries

2 Lovely label

3 Uggs in the rain

4 First-time club

5 Holy body

6 The invisible girl

7 Death to bad sex

8 What are you waiting for?

9 Nice guys

10 Girl of gold

Foreword

Reading Cherished is like having a good natter with a fun and very wise best friend, someone who tells it like it is, cheers you on, points you towards God and has a good giggle along the way. If you’re looking to understand yourself, God and the world around you better, Cherished is for you. If you want to know more about the God who loves you, this book is a must.

Cherished is full of real advice and practical wisdom, packed full of great stories, and constantly drawing from the Word of God and the experience of others to help steer us through the complicated path of changing bodies, raging hormones, crazy crushes and setting good sexual boundaries. It is an interesting and gripping read though it goes way beyond that, giving opportunities to pause and reflect, to take the truth and apply it to our own lives, and to stop and think about what we’ve read. Cherished becomes a companion for engaging with God and the big issues of life, cheering us on to becoming a girl of gold.

I can honestly say that Rachel herself is a particularly awesome girl of gold. In the time I’ve been privileged to know her and hang out with her I’ve loved seeing her love for God and others affect everything she says and does, making me laugh one minute and cry the next! She is full of wisdom, grace and fun – and all this overflows into her amazing book.

I really encourage you to pick up Cherished and have a read. As you do you will hear the voice of a woman who truly wants the best for you, who truly wants you to succeed in life, and who truly wants you to understand yourself better and point you towards God. You will also hear the voice of that same God telling you over and again how much he loves you, cares for you, and has great plans for you. The truth of Cherished has the potential to change the rest of your life. Read it, love it, live it and go for it!

Ali Martin, Soul Sista

Introduction: Cherished

I have written this book for you.

I realize that you probably don’t know me and I don’t know you, so it might feel a bit weird my saying that, but it’s true! I have written this book because I want to let you in on a bit of a secret.

You are precious, and your life is a gift to you.

It’s a secret because few of us know it and even fewer actually believe it.

The best thing about it is that your preciousness has nothing to do with you. Sound strange? Read on.

Imagine you were told by a reliable source that there was a box of diamonds buried under the local skate park. Imagine that, late one night, you manage to persuade your friends to sneak into the park and dig through the concrete! It’s back-breaking work. After a while one of your friends shouts, ‘I’ve found something!’ and you all crowd round. As the dust settles you see a box in your friend’s hands. She takes the lid off and you look inside. Can you imagine how you feel when you realize that inside the box is just a lump of black rock? Is that it? You were expecting glittering diamonds. You were picturing a life of wealth and luxury. How gutted would you feel?

A week later you get a text from your ‘reliable source’. It reads, ‘Any luck finding the diamonds?’ Feeling a bit miffed, you chuck the lump of rock into your bag and take the short bus ride to meet your ‘source’. ‘It’s nothing, just an old rock!’ you say when you arrive. ‘I can’t believe I spent the night digging up the skate park floor for this. You can keep it!’ Your source picks up the bag and takes out the rock. Then she puts on a pair of very odd-looking glasses. Holding the rock very close to her eyes, she is silent for a while and then says, ‘Um, just what I thought; priceless. This diamond is totally unique.’

Hidden in the lump of coal is a priceless diamond. You looked and saw a rock; the ‘source’ (who is in fact a top jeweller) looked and saw a priceless diamond. Even though everyone else overlooked it, she knew what they were missing because she knew what she was looking for.

That’s the thing about true value – it never changes. It just sometimes gets missed if people don’t know what they are looking for.

Do you feel valued, treasured, cherished?

I hope that you have people in your life who look at you and see how precious you are. It might be your mum or gran, your dad, your teacher or a close friend. Even though your relationship with them isn’t always perfect, you know deep down that they love you.

I have written this book for you, because when God looks at you he knows what he is looking for – and he sees how precious you are.

Or you might be struggling to think of people in your life who treat you well. They might say they love you or are there for you, but they are unkind to you and regularly let you down.

I have written this book for you, because when God looks at you he knows what he is looking for – and he sees how precious you are.

As you read this book I hope you will see how you can treasure yourself and your relationships with friends and family.

I hope you will feel inspired to discover ways of exploring your abilities and dreams.

I hope you will be encouraged to protect your heart and still keep it open to God and others.

I hope you will appreciate your life and the mysteries in the world around you.

But none of this happens overnight. It takes time to grow into the woman you dream of becoming. ...