True Love Waits

The words “Love is Patient” from 1 Corinthians 14:4-8 are inscribed on one of Hannah Lemanski’s ‘18 purity rings.

Lemanski wears two purity rings on the ring finger of her left hand as a symbol and reminder to God, her parents and future husband to stay sexually pure until she gets married.

“I wear my purity ring because it’s a good reminder to me that I value my body and I believe that my body is God’s holy temple,” Lemanski said.

Lemanski received her first purity ring when she was 13 during a dinner date with her father at the restaurant on top of the Renaissance building, according to Hannah’s mother, Stacy Lemanski.

“My husband told Hannah that God intends for her body to be given only to her husband, and he challenged her to keep her mind and body pure until  her wedding day,” Stacy said. “We gave Hannah a purity ring to wear to remind her of the gift that she is saving for her future husband.”

Hannah has worn the gold-banded ring ever since, plus a silver one she got when she was 17.

“It’s always a constant reminder of having something to wear, like a physical thing that I can touch everyday,” Hannah said.

Hannah has always believed in saving sex for marriage, she said.

“I used to just say it because it was something that I would read about and I’ve heard about it,” Hannah said. “Once I started growing up, it became harder to stay pure with not just my body, but also with my heart and where my mind was at with things.”

Being raised in a spiritually-built Christian home and having supportive parents has encouraged her to stay on path with her beliefs, Hannah said.

“They know that high school is hard and it’s easy to slip up,” Lemanski said. “They don’t control me or what I believe, but they’ve definitely influenced me.”

Stacy said that she and her husband have taught Hannah that sex is a wonderful gift from God and are grateful that Hannah has remained pure in heart and body during her teenage years. She realizes that temptations are normal during high school, but the struggles go away over time with commitment to beliefs, she said.

“So far, Hannah has decided that the reward of waiting outweighs the immediate gratification of giving into temptation, and her dad and I are delighted,” Stacy said.

Although Hannah feels comfortable talking about her beliefs right now, she didn’t always feel so open, she said.

“When I first started wearing them, I almost didn’t want to call it a purity ring, because in this day and age, it’s almost frowned upon to save sex for marriage,” Hannah said.

She admits that her friends sometimes make fun of her.

“My friends call me a prude and everything, which is fine,” Hannah said.  “But sometimes, it gets kind of hard with my close friends who really don’t believe in this at all.”

Micki Jones ’18 became close friends with Hannah at the beginning of the this school year and is supportive of Hannah’s beliefs, Jones said.

“I have always been aware of Hannah’s viewpoints and proud that she isn’t afraid to let people know her stance,” Jones said.

Jones is also aware that not everybody agrees with Hannah’s views on purity, she said.

“I know people who don’t agree, and Hannah never judges them or makes any bad comments to or about them,” Jones said.

Hannah said that this year has been particularly tough for her because of how prevalent sex before marriage is.

“It’s been hard with all my girlfriends and guy friends just being like this is okay and having the world screaming at you though music, through movies, through TV shows that this is what’s normal and this is what’s accepted,” Hannah said. “I’ve kind of come to believe is that this was not meant to be normal, it’s common, but it’s not normal and i think I’ve been discouraged sometimes.”

As an OB-GYN physician, Stacy’s work involves matters of sexuality, especially young women with unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and broken hearts. God never intended it to be this way, Stacey said.

“Of the thousands of female patients that I have cared for over the last 20 plus years working as an OB-GYN, I have never met one who regretted her decision to save her body for her husband, but I have met many who have regretted their decision to give away their bodies to young men prior to marriage,” Stacy said.

Hannah’s purity rings make her bold and confident about her decision to not have sex before marriage, she said. Hannah doesn’t like the idea of her future husband sleeping around and having sex with a bunch of people, she said.

“I want to be able to give my future husband something that I really had to fight to keep,” Hannah said. “Sex isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually a really, really good thing; it was made to be a really good thing, in the context of marriage.”

According to Hannah, it is worth wearing a purity ring because it reminds oneself of self-control and discipline, physically and mentally.

“It reminds me that I need to wait for love and not to just throw myself at some cute guy that I want to feel some temporary fireworks with,” Hannah said.