Girl Power

No, I am not referencing the Spice Girls...let's just clear that up now. (I suppose that kinda reveals my age.)

This weekend my friend Erin and I are hosting a Lock-In for our Aspire Youth girls small group. We have the privilege of working with the 7th and 8th grade girls. This Friday we are welcoming the upcoming 7th graders and celebrating our girls who are moving up to the 9th grade. It is going to be great fun and thoroughly exhausting...I can't wait. Our theme for the night and really for the whole year is Girl Power. I am talking about the power God himself imbued women with from the very beginning. I am not a "little Suzy homemaker", but I am not out burning my bra either. I, like most women, fall somewhere in between.

What do I mean by "Girl Power" then? If it is not about protesting for my rights...what could I be talking about? Every woman is a born leader. We are designed to bring up children, to counter-balance men and to be strategic negotiators. (If you doubt your negotiation skills, try reasoning with a screaming in 3-year-old in Target.) Even before we are parents and wives, we negotiate curfews with Mom and skirt lengths with Dad.

“A strong woman builds her own world. She is one who is wise enough to know that it will attract the man she will gladly share it with.”
― Ellen J. Barrier, How to Trust God When All Other Resources Have Failed

I want to see these young women build their world on their terms and in God's will. I want to see each of them embrace who they are in Christ. Not just accepting this is "who I am" but loving the creation they are in Christ. If they desire to be homemakers or pilots...they CAN DO IT. It may not be easy, but the things of this world that are worth having are not come by easily. You have to work for them. It is important for young women to understand the only person preventing them from the future they want is themselves. Submitting our hearts, lives and desires to God can take us far beyond where our limited imaginations go.

Being the woman of God you are called to be is a life long journey. A journey we need to start at a much earlier age. You do not need a boy to define you or save you. As a woman, as a girl, you are enough until the right man enters your life. You do not need to date around and test the waters, trust me I did that and all it got me was a broken heart and warped sense of self. Your value does not lie in who you date or marry...it lies in God whom you put your faith in.

Your value does not lie in what you see reflected in the mirror physically. Sure. Today my hair is a mess, I have bags under my eyes and I am pretty sure I have not lost any weight this week. It's ok. God sees our hearts. Our true friends and family see our hearts and the love we reflect...not the size jeans I have to buy.

So this Girl Power evening is about young women seeing their strength as young women of God. It is about understanding we have something to contribute and we are enough. Whether you are 5, 15, 25, 50 or 75...you need to be reminded you are enough in God's eyes. Better still as women of God we are equally important. We do not have to compete for the Father's love, it is ours to embrace.

[caption id="attachment_2791" align="aligncenter" width="309"] Change that to God's Purpose...[/caption]