Girls Reflect What They See In Women

As I walked into the locker room at the gym this week, there were two middle-school-aged girls in front of the mirror taking duck-face photos of themselves on their phones. (You know the ones, where you pucker your lips and you end up looking more like a duck than flirty.) They just laughed and giggled the entire time I was down there.

When I came back through, the pictures had escalated from faces to other body parts. My heart broke as they were bent over taking pictures of places that didn't have any purpose being on camera. They obviously didn't have a problem with it, and I hate to think about where those pictures might end up.

By the time I got back upstairs after my workout, there was a group of teenagers hanging out in the lobby. I had to sit down for a few minutes while Danny finished up his routine, so I found a seat a little ways away from them. Within a few seconds I heard language coming from their mouths that I don't remember hearing from anyone this young before. It was vulgar topics combined with words no one should use, especially not kids. I couldn't get out of there fast enough, as it literally made me sick to my stomach.

There's always a fine line in my mind about whether I should say something in situations like these. As one woman, I probably wouldn't say anything to a large group that included young men, but now I wish I had said something to those two girls. You always come up with great words of wisdom after the fact, right? Once you've walked away and run through it in your mind several times, you come up with something profound that might have changed their lives.

This especially hit home for me when I was planning our teen girls Bible study for today. The parents of these special young ladies trust me with their daughters, and that isn't something I take lightly. God has given me time with these girls so that I can show them one thing ... Him.

Sure, we do crafts and activities and spend time in the kitchen, but the most important part of our gathering is when we open the word of God and learn something new about Him. I want them to walk away with a nugget of truth that they can apply in their everyday life, not just a new skill or recipe. The few hours we spend together each month are incredibly powerful in my own life, and I want these girls to understand the Bible in ways I wish I had when I was their age. I want to be the Titus older woman for them that I needed while I was in school.

If I could go back and talk to those girls at the gym, I would tell them that God thinks they're beautiful without showing off. That they're loved by the God who created them to be special in His eyes, not the eyes of the world. That He sent His Son to die on the cross for them, and that He resurrected so they could have eternal life in Him. That's what I wish I could say. I can't go back, but I can go forward. My teens this afternoon will hear the gospel and how much God loves them. And by God's grace, I will do my best to reflect the Christ living in me so that they don't see me - they see Him.

When girls see you, do they see Jesus?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holland Creme - That Amazing White Stuff In Donuts

Image
I remember going to the grocery store every Saturday morning when I was growing up, and my favorite place in the entire store was the donut case. All the glazed, powdered and filled baked goods drew me like a magnet. My favorites, far and away, were the ones filled with that beautiful white, fluffy creme. At the time I didn't know it was called Holland Creme - I just knew it was the most amazing concoction ever. Ever. Here is my version of this sweet treat. You can make your own fried donuts and fill them, or like I did here, you can cut a crevice into store-bought donuts with a knife and fill them with creme in a piping bag. Either way, you're going to love it. Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup shortening 1 cup butter 1 Tbsp vanilla 7 cups powdered sugar 1. Make a simple syrup by combining sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat until boiling, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool complet...
Read more

Recovering An Old Card Table And Making It Usable Again

Image
This card table recover project has been on my to-do list for months. I've been using it as my workspace in the craft room for quite some time, and it sees a lot of abuse. Here it is now, with a neutral cover on it so I can take better pictures for my tutorials. There were dents and dings in the old blue covering from metal tools. And yes, I've used my embossing heat tool on it several times, leaving pretty good scars. The padding underneath the blue cover also made it difficult to keep paper crafts flat when adhering them together, so it was time for something new. That's where a simple vinyl tablecloth comes in handy. The process to recover the table is pretty simple, but I learned a couple of lessons the hard way. I share them with you now. First, don't do this on any surface but a carpet. I tried it on the deck int he sunshine to get better pictures, but all it did was tear up the cover. Second, get a second pair of hands to help you kee...
Read more

Crafts For Teen Girls To Make

Image
In our teen girls Bible study, we're studying our way through the Proverbs 31 woman and it's been such a blessing to me, as I hope it's been to them. Every month we spend an afternoon or an evening together studying Scripture, making something amazing in the kitchen and creating something that corresponds to the verse we're in. Choosing the crafts each time can be a challenge for several reasons. It needs to be something they can completely finish (or do most of) because once they leave they're probably not going to work on it themselves - that's just the nature of teenagers. Remember? It also needs to be a project that keeps they're attention, is age-appropriate and is cool enough that they'll want to keep it or give it to someone special. But hey, no pressure on the Bible study leader, right? Here are just a few of the projects we've done together in the year we've been meeting. * This month's craft will be the adorable cross stit...
Read more