on being a girl

This world is not kind to women.  My heart is so heavy this week after reading about the girls in Nigeria that were kidnapped from their school. You can read more here. In a region where few girls are able to continue their education they were seeking more and they were taken. Away from their families, their dreams, their life. I shared with my girls’ not to scare them but to make them aware of the dangers of being a girl in the world today.  They immediately asked why this story was not on the news.  My girls are smart I tell you.  Everyone has a voice but the world is not very good at listening to some.  We asked God to make us hearers of other’s voices.  We prayed together and we are teared up because others suffer so.  I never want to remove my kids from the world but I want to do what I can to protect my girls from the pressures of growing up too fast because this world will not cherish them they way their Father in heaven does.  God has been teaching me again and again that good intentions are not enough in this life.  I have many great intentions but I grow apathetic, lazy, or just plain tired and I allow life to get in the way.  I want to stand in the gap or my kids and allow them to know I am so for them.  I want them to know they are “wonderfully and fearfully made.”  But I know I cannot just hope this happens and I cannot do it alone, I am so grateful I can join with other women that want to be present for our girls as they grow and learn and face challenges.  And we are committed to being there for each other’s girls because as they grow they might not always be able to talk to us.  Girls need lots of women cheering them on.  I’m so blessed that I have sisters to join me in this journey of raising girls.

Some friends and I are embarking on a journey of being intentional about letting our girls know they are beautifully created and unique. We want to help them embrace how loved and lovely they are!!

We are starting this by journey by loosely adapting this book to take our girls on 8 dates and talk about their true beauty, modesty, character, gifts, and how to live in this world.  Some of the resources need tweaking FOR SURE as I think there is some old school shame stuff that I do not find life giving but as a starting point it can be helpful! We do journals together, reflect, share, and make a scrapbook to mark this journey!

Our desire is to create a space and place for us to be really intentional with our daughters with one on one time to help them learn about being a woman, daughter, sister, friend in this world.  Really, it is easy to do- you just need friends with a desire to love on girls.  We are doing some of the dates together (even across states- you do what you gotta do) and some dates I will do with just Anni. We had our first kick off date this past weekend. It was a fancy tea and Annikah could not wait after I told her about it a few days before. They loved the fancy decor and each Mama and daughter got to keep their matching tea cups.

 As we spent a few hours with just our oldest daughters, eating treats, giving them hand massages, and talking about being created as a special and unique girl I felt so blessed.  I looked around the table at women I respect and love and girls that are so full of giggles, thoughts, and life.  I thought about the gifts required to pull that day off, most of which I do not possess, but because we are doing this in community we can each use our gifts or hospitality, teaching, decorating, organizing, etc to blend together to make a beautiful day for us all.

Thanks ladies for doing this together. I seriously don’t know how I got blessed with such amazing friends I count as sisters! Praying this time forms special bonds that are nurtured over the next months and years.  It is hard to be a girl but Mamas and daughters are powerful life changing forces in this world. Yay for women!