November 22, 2024

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 4 / Day 5 – Know Why You Work So Hard

October 26, 2012 by

 

How many of you have felt overwhelmed with all of your activities? I know I have. When I stop to think of all that I have to do it can be a daunting task. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” What does that look like for you?

Growing up, we lived behind the store my dad initially set up for my mom to run while he went to work in Memphis, TN. This meant my brother and I had to pitch in and help mom with chores around the house and the store. Seemed to me  that I got all of the hard stuff to do and, I have to admit, I rebelled. I did not see that I was helping my mom with some of her load when I was told I needed to help stock the shelves in the store, or when she asked me to clean the ‘house’ on Saturday morning. I was a selfish teenager that refused to do it well. Then, God convicted me, and showed me where I was a spoiled brat and not doing what I needed to do to honor my parents and help them. Have you ever felt that way? I started doing what I needed to do. Mom never said thank you, but I know she appreciated my help. I felt that I was doing what God knew I should be doing.

Ava asked us to indicate where we are doing our best. How many of these items did you select? How many do you want to achieve? Try to do them one by one. If you are doing them already, you will only have to add those you are not doing. If you need help, say with being organized, look for ways to organize your accessories. Start with something small and you will get a great deal of satisfaction when you step back and see your completed work! God only wants what is best for us.

Nothing is too hard for Him to take on if we just trust him with it. However, it does take action from us!

 

Colossians 3:17 says “and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Give thanks for what you have, for what you will receive, and for what is going on in your life at this moment. I know that is hard when you are facing adversity. The last thing you think about is praising God for the situation, but when we do thank Him, it changes our perspective and we can know that God has us in His capable hands.

Our memory verse for this week is Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” I want to know that what I do is going to glorify my Father in heaven. I want to know that when people see what I do that they know something is different in me from what someone else will do. Our love for God should shine through no matter what the task is whether cleaning the bathroom or writing that term paper for that boring teacher or that boring class. Seek doing things that will ignite your passion to do your best!

 

Let’s Pray:

Father, I want to serve you with all that I have. Show me where I can grow, where I need to change my heart, and where I can be a help to others. Help me not be rebellious or stubborn, to not roll my eyes when asked to do something by my parents. Help me to do all things with Joy, knowing that I am practicing to serve you in the future.

~Tina

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For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 4 / Day 4 – Know Where to Direct Your Steps

October 25, 2012 by

Direct my steps by Your Word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me

Psalms 119: 133

Everywhere that you go, you are to give God honor and glory. My prayer has always been that when people look at me, I hope that they would see Jesus. It isn’t always about me. It is easy to get caught up in what we want in life, verses what God requires from us. The only way that we can direct our steps is to go to the One who has ordered them in the first place J It reminds me of one of my favorite songs when I was in Middle School. It is “Order My Steps” It goes a little something like this: Order my steps in your word dear Lord, lead me guide me every day.  I have attached the link to the song if you would like to listen to it.

http://youtu.be/A3FXgRHOXfE

Girls, we can’t go where God wants us to go if we don’t have a clue where it is that he desires for us to go. As I have said before, we don’t want to make an unnecessary trip, when we can go to God first and let Him direct and lead us!

There are so many things that God has for us to do. There are so many people’s lives that God wants us to touch. There are going to be times when God will ask us to go places to reach people, friends, family members in order for them to see who He really is. We can’t stay in our comfort zones and not step out into the deep. If we stay in our comfort zones, we will be allowing the enemy to win and we can’t afford that, now can we?

I can remember my very first job, working at a church in the downtown area of Memphis. My boss, the pastor of that particular church, believed in stepping out of your comfort zone! He had me follow him to one of the busiest corners in the neighborhood and he began to pass out pamphlets and began talking with some of the youth that were hanging out on that corner about Jesus and it was the beginning of an awesome relationship with them. They started coming to the center/church and they eventually found Christ, or shall I say Christ found them, and they are living their lives for Christ! I dare not think about what would have come of their lives if he had not stepped out of his comfort zone or let God direct his steps. God is awesome like that!

He taught me how to go where the people were that God wanted to reach as well, especially those places that had people who some were  afraid to minister to. For you girls, this may look like a skating rink, park, school cafeteria, neighborhood, library, etc… just to name a few places. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zones!!! Jesus will be right there with you! Stay in communication with God! He will direct your steps on where to go and who to reach out to! He won’t have you putting your lives in danger, but you MUST stay in complete communication with Him.

Let’s Pray:

Heavenly Father, I thank You for each girl who is represented in GCH: Decaf. Each one is precious in your sight and you have so much in store for them, and so much for them to do. I thank you for directing their paths to GCH: Decaf and I pray that they will get from this ministry what they will need to go forth and do what you have called for them to do. I pray now in your Darling Son Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

<3 Tonya 🙂

___________________________________________

For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GCH: POTs (Parents of Teens) Starting the Conversation

October 24, 2012 by

The most important side of your kids….

The inside!

I don’t know about your kids, but mine are experts at talking about nothing… a lot!!! And for years, I was pretty good at keeping things surface with them…. partly because I was afraid to dig deeper, if you know what I mean. God really convicted me in this area and I’m so glad he did!

I have always been really good about knowing exactly what my kids want as gifts and what their favorite foods are…. But what about the really important stuff? Do you know….

  • How their small group is going at church?
  • If they have any Christian friends at school or in your neighborhood?
  • What their hopes and dreams are?
  • What they like most about themselves?
  • What breaks their heart?
  • What their Love Language is?
  • Their biggest fears?
  • If they see you and your spouse as Spiritual Leaders in your home?
  • Who their favorite teachers are?
  • The latest miracle God performed in their life?
  • Who is their best friend?
  • Their biggest challenges at school (not only academically)?
  • How you can pray for them?
  • Fill in the blank_____________________________?

 

My kids had/ have the extra challenge of being non-biological to me and had a whole other set of insecurities and hurts that many kids aren’t challenged with… but that was also a subject that I had to tread light with talking to them about and getting them to open up about because I wanted to protect my heart too, right? Well, once I let that go and let them see they were safe to open up with me, healing was able to begin. Did some of what they told me hurt? YES!!!!! But it really wasn’t about me. It is always so much more important that your kids feel safe talking to you about what is on their mind and heart than how YOU might feel about what they say!

I would like to challenge you for the next few days to engage in meaningful conversation with your kids about God’s unique plan for their lives, based on how God has uniquely created them to be. If you talk about nothing else “deep”,  it’s okay… this is a safe way to start and will get the dialog flowing! Remember…. It’s a DIAlog you’re after… not a MONOlog! 🙂  Think about it…. other than the topic of salvation, I cannot think of any other more important conversation we can have with our teens than the one about personal surrender to God’s will for their life! There is no hat we wear as “parent” that is more important than this… and THAT is why we are starting here with this blog!

In the days and weeks to come, we are going on an awesome, life-journey together with our teens as we grow closer and deeper in our relationship with them. Please don’t wait to do this! Begin to make a difference NOW and join us as we make this intentional stand to give our teens all we’ve got!

Dear Lord, thank you for stirring a hunger in each parent or youth leader reading this blog post to want to be more intentional about how they are relating to their teen! May You be glorified through each and every single conversation. As iron sharpens iron, give us each a boldness to share with each other our successes and opportunities we come across this week. Protect each household and give them Your mighty boldness with their kids! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen <3

Please leave me a comment on today’s blog about how you plan on starting this conversation with your kids! We are all in this together… so let’s work together to help each other along!

Blessings to you and yours,

Megan :)

megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

https://www.facebook.com/megan.smidt

Sign up for one of our Online Bible Study or Fellowship Groups for Women and Teen Girls here:

http://girlfriendscoffeehour.com/sign-up-for-girlfriends-coffee-hour-online-bible-studies/

Filed Under: Parents Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth Week 4/ Day 3: Know What (And What Not) to Wear

October 24, 2012 by

When we first received our blog schedule before the study started, I went through it and wrote down the topics I was to write about. I immediately sent Megan a text telling her how excited I was to have this topic!

I don’t know when it happened, but I have developed a hobby of putting together modest outfits. I believe that as daughters of the King, we have a responsibility to dress in a way that is glorifying to God. This doesn’t mean we cannot wear clothes that make us feel or look good; it simply means we must be cautious with our wardrobe. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” Part of honoring God with our bodies is dressing modestly.

What a lot of women don’t realize is that the way you dress reflects your heart. If you are confident in who God has called you to be, you will protect and cover your body. If you do not know your worth in Jesus, you will most likely dress to draw attention to certain areas of your body. Living a life of worship and obedience is an attitude of the heart. So, next time you put on an outfit, look in the mirror and say, “what are my motives behind what I am wearing?”

Let’s Pray:
Jesus, my prayer is that these girls would know that everything You do is not to place restrictions on them, but to protect them! I pray that every girl reading this would know that following You isn’t about saying “no” to everything. It’s about saying “YES” to You and saying “yes” to everything You ask of us, living with an obedient heart that trusts that You know what’s best for us. Thank You for giving us role models who dress modestly! Give us conviction if our motives aren’t pure when putting on an outfit. Give us peace when our clothes glorify You. Give us hearts after You, God. Thank You for Your love! Amen

~Jordan

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For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 4 – Protecting the Name

October 21, 2012 by


Philippians 2:15-16a

“Be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe, as you hold out the word of life.

…a few words from Megan…..

My dear friends…

This weeks’ lessons are all about protecting the name of The Lord. This is a huge subject and vital to our walk as Christians. Living with integrity and taking pride in all we do as we do it for God is what each lesson is about this week. It is easy to talk up God and walk clean with our church friends and while we are at church… but what about at home, at school and in our community? How are you representing the Lord in all aspects of your life? Why is this so challenging to do in our fallen world? How can we lift each other up in this area? Each day this week we will be focused on different aspects of how we can protect the name of God in our everyday lives….

Monday, Diane will be sharing with us how to know when to defend your faith. On Tuesday, Teresa will be sharing with us how to choose your words. Our dear Jordan will help us on Wednesday with knowing what (and what not) to wear, while on Thursday, Tonya will guide us through knowing where to direct your steps. Then on Friday, Tina will discuss with us why you work so hard. We are in for one awesome week!

<3 Megan 🙂

 

Megan and Morgan… Cinco de Mustache

 

Now, for a few words from Morgan about our week to come ….

Hey girls! I hope everybody has been having fun doing the study, it’s really challenging and super amazing how much you can grow from each week! It’s super awesome, so this week we get to talk about the name of God. Did you know that so many times people disown or insult the Name of God EVERYDAY? Most people don’t even know it sometimes, but even just saying “Oh my God” insults His name! It’s crazy to see how many people use that in their everyday vocabulary, I liked the idea of how Ava said that her dad talked with her about keeping their family name in a good reputation… we as Christians should do the same thing! Take pride in being called a Christian and stand for what you believe in! It’s very powerful.

Then, this week we will be talking about how to live out our faith, which is so important, girls. I have caught myself at times being a different person when I’m not at church and that’s not ok! You have to be able to live out the Name of Jesus Christ everywhere you go! So don’t be ashamed about it, because I know at times it’s so hard. There is light at the end of the tunnel, ladies. God will give us a very big reward for obeying His Word and living it out.

My last thought is that Ava also talks about giving God our best, and this hits home to me. I have found myself way too often not giving God my full attention but making Him second. I have had to correct myself, and put God first. God deserves our best and nothing less. I love you ladies so much and can’t wait to see everybody grow over this study!!

Morgan!

Let’s pray…..

Dear Lord, I lift up to you each heart working through this study. We so desperately want to grow closer to you Lord, and we thank you for working through us already in the first few weeks we have been so intentionally seeking You. Show us this week what You have for us in living out everyday protecting Your mighty name. Show us how we can best talk to our friends about You and best represent you in this world. We want to glorify You in all we do, God… help us to see where we are falling short in this area and how we can do better. Thank you for the fellowship of GCH:decaf and please protect all of my sisters this week as we seek your guidance in this area. Thank you in advance for all you will do. In Your Son’s name we pray, amen <3

_______________________________________

For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information

Filed Under: Teens

GCH: POTs….. Parents of Teens (an introduction)

October 19, 2012 by

This blog is specifically for parents of teens…

but will be a great resource for any parent.

I am Megan Smidt and I am  a co-founder of this ministry, Girlfriends Coffee Hour, and I also lead our ministry for teen girls called GCH:decaf.

I am an unlikely parent. I have not given birth to any children, but I have 5 that legally and lovingly call me “mom.” I always thought God wanted to use me for His purposes in working with kids, but he has shown me very clearly over the past few years that He needs me with their leaders and parents, specifically, to further His Kingdom.

My Kids

So, I have 5 kids ages 14-21 and I volunteer every week with the high school students at my local church. I have been a parent of teenagers for 8 years already and I have another 6 years to go, God willing. I love them… and I love the amazing journey that each teenaged relationship I have brings my way. I am honored to be able to walk along side  you in this season and I pray that we learn a lot from each other.

As you can imagine, I also know the added stresses of raising teens in a blended family situation. I get that… even though I am the only one who blended into our family. My teens are living through and surviving abandonment, neglect, anger, disappointment, failure, psychological sickness and abuse, and other pain that comes from being a child of divorce and being raised primarily by someone other than their biological parent.

I am a Certified Christian Life Coach who specializes in relationships…. And I really love people…. especially encouraging people in their walk with the Lord.

God has shown me it is important that, as a ministry, we not just be there for teen girls, but that we help bring healing to families through also offering support to their parents. My prayer is that GCH will be an instrument to help families become more fully devoted followers for God and, in turn, thrive in this season. I thank you for being on this journey with me.

I do not believe that kids need to wait until they are older to do something big for God…. They can do it NOW. Understanding their own unique and divine mission is a key step in them accomplishing big things for God. Being a parent myself, I know how important it is as a parent to be there for your children to give them much-needed motivation and encouragement to help a teen take a step towards God, especially being in a fallen world that is trying to get your teen to step away from Him every day.

I will be starting out this blog by writing a few times a week here about how you can help your teen discover God’s mission for their unique life purpose. I pray this blog will change your relationship with your teenager and help you prepare them for a meaningful life that God has so divinely created them for. I plan on helping you have conversations with your teens about such things as….

  • Knowing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
  • Praying for courage, perseverance, and miracles
  • Understanding spiritual gifts, best qualities and finest values
  • Rethinking motives, relationships and use of time
  • Writing a Lifetime Dream Statement
  • Surrendering all to Jesus

 We are partners… in this together. We all know it takes a village to raise a child and I pray that you will find this to be a helpful place as you navigate these waters of teenagedom.

Lord, we come to you today praying for your leading. Help me come up with good questions to ask my kids and help me every day to truly hear my kids’ hearts. I am thankful that You have helped me find my life’s purpose in You as an adult and I pray you will use me as a willing vessel to speak into the lives of every family represented here. We thank you in advance for how relationships will be restored through this journey and for all of the incredible discoveries we will make together. Lord, we thank you for this provision! Amen.

Blessings to you and yours,

Megan 🙂

megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

https://www.facebook.com/megan.smidt

Sign up for one of our Online Bible Study or Fellowship Groups for Women and Teen Girls here:

http://girlfriendscoffeehour.com/sign-up-for-girlfriends-coffee-hour-online-bible-studies/

Filed Under: Parents Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 3/ Day 5: See Your Eternal Value

October 19, 2012 by

 

Girls, just like all of you, I want to look and feel good about myself. Like some of you I can spend hours upon hours in the mall. What can I say, I like clothes, shoes, bags, make-up, jewelry; did I leave anything out?

Over the past ten years I was able to travel to different countries and have seen some really amazing things and sites. But when I look back at the places I have been to and the stuff I have accumulated over the years, I have to ask myself if this is what life is all about?

 

Although I treasure the memories of standing under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, taking a water taxi in Venice and looking at awe at the Alps in Switzerland, I have to ask myself if this is what I value in life. Does this satisfy my deepest heart’s desire, is this something that will change my life for the better and more importantly, will I be able to impact someone else’s life?

Girls, I don’t know about you, but my deepest desire is to do something of eternal value. Something that will last forever and that I along with other people will hold dear. How can I do this you might ask, the answer is simple, it is in the little things we do for other people, it is in the attitude of our hearts. You know, when you do something good for someone, you automatically feel good about yourself, not that that should be your motivation.

Colossians 4:5 says: “…… make the most of every opportunity”. That can simply be paying someone a compliment, opening the door for someone, returning your grocery cart, giving someone a smile or helping out at a shelter. If we do these things, we are helping others find Jesus, and helping them find Jesus is the best gift we can give anyone.

Not all of us have the means or finances to support people in need, but all of us have the ability to go on our knees to pray for someone, to be kind, to do good, be faithful, gentle, have self-control, give love, spread joy, be patient and kind.

Girls, I don’t want to leave a bunch of photos and a closet full of clothes behind, but what I want to leave behind is a godly legacy.

 

Let us strive to see our eternal value. This is our lives; these are the moments that make up our lives. Let’s use them wisely.

Be blessed my dear girlfriends!

Let us pray:

Father, I thank you for each and every girl in GCH: decaf. Thank you Father, that each one of them are fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank you that each one of us will do something of eternal value every day to give You all the glory. Amen.

Be blessed!

Love you,

Edwina

______________________________________________________

For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 3 / Day 4 – Concentrate on Inner Beauty

October 18, 2012 by

    
                

1 Peter 3:3-4

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment

such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle quiet spirit,

which is of great worth in God’s sight.

I have been more of a plain Jane when it came to dressing up my outer appearance. My mother used to always ask me why I didn’t dress up more like my two sisters always did. I was always comfortable wearing my jeans and t-shirts, and I still am. Now there are times when I love to get all dolled up and wear very nice evening gowns and heels and make up and getting my hair done in an updo (as some call it). I think that there are occasions where all of us like to dress up really nice and celebrate.

Peter tells us that our beauty should come from on the inside. Have you met someone and everything about them just lit up? Their smile, personality, who they were on the inside, just leaped out of their skin? Well I have, and that person drew me closer to them. It is all the more exciting when they are a Christian and the Jesus that is on the inside of them jumps out at you and draws you closer to them. I have always been told to look at who a person was on the inside and not pay as much attention to who they were on the outside. My mother always told me to never judge a book by its cover; that is so true! I have picked up a lot of books and put them right back down after looking at the pictures on the cover/outside and my sister or a friend would come along later and tell me that the same book that I put back and didn’t give a chance by reading it, was a phenomenal book…a GREAT read! Of course, I immediately went back and purchased the book or checked it out at the library, but you see, if I had given the book a chance, read the summary, or opened the book and read the first page or two, I would have been hooked!

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.

Oh Lord my strength and my Redeemer

It is the same with people. We have to give people a chance. We need to stop looking at where they live, what color they are, where they go to school, who their parents are, or whether they have parents or not, what clothes they are wearing, hairstyles, etc… It is so important to give people a chance by looking at their inner beauty. Try and get to know someone this week that is not like you or may not live in your neighborhood and tell me what you find out about that person in the following weeks. I am sure that you will be surprised in a GREAT way! Give it a try!!

When you allow people to see who you are on the inside that is who they need to see. It is not fun to try and pretend to be someone that you are not. It takes up too much of your time to try and be someone else. Be yourself. Be who God intended for you to be!!!

 

Start with your heart and look within. Is God pleased with who you are? If you are not, ask Him to help you change into the young lady that He desires for you to be. God wants all of His daughters to shine from within! He loves you and so do we! GCH: Decaf thinks…no, we know, that you girls are something pretty awesome and we are going to continue to do our best to pour into you what God would have for us to give you.

Dear Lord,

Please help each girl in GCH: decaf to know that it is their inner beauty that is so attractive to people. It is what You use to bring people closer to You and it is Your way of allowing them to see You for who You are and who You desire for them to be. It is what is on the inside that matters most. Yes, they can look beautiful on the outside, and yes it is important to look your best, but it is who they are on the inside that You will use for Your Glory. Lord, I thank you for each girl and I pray that You speak to their hearts and give them the makeover of all times! Your makeover! It’s in Jesus’ name that I pray. Amen.

Love you bunches,

Tonya <3

___________

For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

___________________________________

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 3 / Day 3 – Watch What You See

October 17, 2012 by

 

Sometimes I find myself wishing I had been born 200 years ago, or even 100 years ago. Why? Because we are bombarded day after day by images portraying what the “perfect” woman should look like. I am sure ALL women, regardless of when they were born, have dealt with insecurity, but women 100 years ago didn’t have Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, magazines, E! news, or music videos. It is SO easy for us to compare ourselves with other women because we are constantly seeing images of them.

I struggled with my weight throughout most of high school, so I had this idea that women who were thin or fit had no insecurities. I have found that this is different for every girl. “You’re so pretty, there is nothing for you to be insecure about!” or “You’re so popular, why are you insecure?” or “Your boyfriend loves you. How could you possibly feel bad about yourself?” Whatever you’re the most insecure about, you will envy most about other people. I also found that by watching certain shows or reading certain magazines, I was in an awful funk after watching or reading. Most of the women on tv, who I envied, most likely eat around 500 calories a day and exercise for 3 hours twice a day… and the images in the magazines? They’re not real. They’re doctored. They’re photoshopped. They’re made to make those women look like they weigh 95 pounds, when in reality, they weigh around 130 or more. It is just part of the industry in Hollywood.

Am I telling you to delete all of your social media accounts? Absolutely not! Am I telling you to watch TV altogether? Nope. Here’s what I am telling you- if you find yourself wallowing in self-pity, it’s time to step away from these things. And also, you need to learn to recognize the enemy’s lies. I believed the lie that, because I wasn’t skinny, I wasn’t worthy of love. About a year ago, I recognized that those thoughts were NOT from the Lord, and I began the journey toward freedom. I started eating healthy, NOT to lose weight, but to take care of myself. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and I cannot do the work of the Kingdom if I am feeding myself garbage! I also added exercise to my daily routine. Yes, I felt better physically, but I also felt better mentally. And now I can watch those shows and read magazines without experiencing thoughts of self-hatred. I have made the choice to keep my heart and my eyes fixed on Jesus. I have made the decision to take care of what He has given me. And I have made the choice to kick the enemy in his teeth whenever he lies, because I have the Spirit of God in me!

Girls~ your worth is NOT defined by your outer appearance.

Your worth is found in JESUS, and Jesus ALONE. And He says you’re BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

Lord~ I ask that EVERY girl and EVERY woman reading this today would KNOW that You have created them, and because YOU are perfect, the work of Your hands is perfect. I pray that they would get a new revelation of Your love today, that they would be comforted and encouraged. When the enemy tries to come and lie to them, I ask that Your Spirit would protect them and that they would see the chains and bondage and they would RUN into Your arms. There’s power in Your name, Jesus. At the very mention of it, satan HAS to flee. JESUS, we call upon You in our moments of insecurity and self-doubt. We BELIEVE what You say about us! We believe that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! I pray that every girl would walk in confidence, knowing the truth! Amen.

~Jordan

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For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information.

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Daughter’s Worth: Week 3 – Embracing True Beauty

October 14, 2012 by

 

My dear sisters….

We’ve made it to week 3 and this week we get to dive into embracing our true beauty! This is something I struggled with so much as a teen and into my adult years as well. It wasn’t until very recently that I finally feel good in my own skin and have embraced me for who I am. I pray that the Lord shows you through our lessons this week how to embrace your divine true beauty and be confident in how God do wonderfully and perfectly created YOU!!!

Monday, Diane will be posting all about appreciating God’s handiwork. Teresa will be bringing a message about refuting Satan’s lies to you on Tuesday. On Wednesday, you will hear from Jordan about watching what you see. Tonya will be blogging on Thursday about concentrating on your inner beauty and on Friday, you will hear from Edwina about being able to see your eternal value. I also hope that you have been enjoying Coleen’s Saturday blogging series about prayer. What a blessing! She will be back with another installment this Saturday as well!

Let’s pray:

Lord, we come to you this week asking you to help us to appreciate how you divinely made us. We ask You to show us so clearly how You want us to combat the lies that satan fills our heads with and replace those lies with Your promises and truths. Help us to find our acceptance only through You, Father, and help us to concentrate on our inner beauty… the way you so divinely created each of us. Lord, we seek to find our eternal value in You and we thank you so much for all You will show us through this week’s lessons. It is in Your Son’s mighty name we pray, amen <3

Be a blessing,

<3 Megan

Jonny Diaz…. “A More Beautiful You”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ks3R2BwyO0

_________________________________________

For the A Daughter’s Worth Bible Study, you will need the book, your Bible, pen or pencil, a highlighter and a quiet place. You can order the book right through our website from clicking the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage.

If you are interested in joining us in our GCH:decaf Teen Girls Ministry, please click the sign-up form button at the top of our webpage. Just follow the instructions on the form and hit submit. We’ll be happy to add you to one of our Online Bible Study Groups! Our new study is A Daughter’s Worth! Please email megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com for more information

Filed Under: Teens Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
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