HIS GIRL

When my 8th grade girls group started back up over the holidays - I wanted to have a really, really great bible study ready to jump into. I had been praying for several weeks about this and doing a ton of research. I really wanted the study to be RELEVANT to their lives, right now. I have so many girls in my group who are unbelievably passionate about their walk with Christ. I find myself feeling very humbled that God has honored me with this task of helping them to grow and shepherding them along - sometimes I feel so inadequate. I went to visit our local Lifeway Christian Bookstore, just hoping to find the right study after I couldn't really find anything after searching on-line. I walked into the store, and the very first book that caught my eye was this one....

I had never even heard of this book, but quickly realized (having three of my own girls), that this was a must read. I quickly tucked it under my arm, and proceeded to the teen bible study section of the store. I looked at several studies, which all seemed pretty good, but this one just kept jumping out at me. It was called "His Girl". I looked at it several times, and it seemed that God was telling me this was the one. Don't you wish you can explain that feeling? I wish He would speak audibly with his booming voice (why do we all think he has a deep booming voice?) "HEATHER, THIS IS THE ONE". But instead, I got that quiet little peace that is becoming familiar when I know I am walking in His perfect will. So, after discovering that they only had half of the girls study guides in stock that I would need, I was a little frustrated to find that it would take 10 days to order them. 10 DAYS??? Snail-mail. I went ahead and ordered the rest anyway, and picked up the (way expensive) DVD to go along with the study. I got home and showed the study to Kirsten (MY girl! :)), and she couldn't put the book down!! She said "I'm gonna read this whole thing before we have our first small group!!". Well, that was certainly a good sign. A few days later, I picked up my book that I had bought for myself, the one about the five conversations you must have with your daughter?? Well, guess what? As I began reading it, I was thinking, this is all sounding very familiar........ it reminds of the leader's guide I have been reading through for my girl's study........ GUESS WHAT??? That book was the book my girls study was based on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Same author, Vicki Courtney (also the auther of "Raising a Godly Daughter in an Ungodly World") I felt like God had just spoken in His big booming voice. Now THAT was a good sign that I had chosen the right study for my girls. And they absolutely LOVE it.

The girls love how their study guide resembles a teen magazine! If girls really understand and believe that they are indeed God's girl, they can face this crazy world and live with newfound freedom and faith. They can take a stand in what they do, what they believe about themselves, how they respond to pressures regarding purity, how they dress, who and how they date, and how they interact with other girls. They can learn that they aren't called to fade into the background or conform to the world's standards. They can be HIS girls, confident young women who base their self-worth in who they are in Christ and follow Him with abandon.

MY GIRLS ( and oh yeah, HIS GIRLS!!)

On a side note, Kirsten was making her sandwich yesterday before school, and she squirted her mustard on her bread, and suddenly she was shoving it in my face saying "Oh my goodness Mom, LOOK!!! My mustard squirt looks exactly like the word JESUS!!!". Wow. Now that's my Jesus-lovin girl!!