Our girls need us.
Our girls need us now more than ever before.
Satan has found ways to reach our girls
in ways we could never imagine.
And our girls?
Their precious innocence and vulnerabilities
make them incredibly easy targets.
From the day's starting line,
Satan is waiting for them.
Preying on their naivete.
Whispering lies and stealing joy.
Weighing heavily upon their wholesome hearts.
And our girls need us.
Because, this is one battle they can’t fight alone.
They need us…
…to lace up our boots, standing
strong and mighty in the protection
of God's armor, at the break of each fresh dawn, e.v.e.r.y. single day.
Our girls don't need us to talk over them and down to them; rather, they need us to fully and completely listen to them.
Our girls don't need us to continuously point out their flaws; instead, they need us to highlight their beautiful characteristics.
Our girls don't need us to gossip and badmouth other girls or women; rather, they need us to teach them that not everyone may like them, yet they are created perfectly in their Father's image, and even when someone is unkind to them, kindness and prayer go a long way.
Our girls don't need us to raise our voices and shame; instead, they need us to teach, demonstrate and give all the grace that our Heavenly Father Above so undeservingly gifts to us each and every day--especially as their little mistakes add up--the very same ones we used to make. Wow, do they need our grace. So, so much grace.
Our girls don't need us to tell them they are a handful; rather, they need us to hold their hands within ours and walk them through the hard and heavy--through the joy and laughter--through the heartbreak, frustration, anger, jealousy, anxiety, depression and sorrow.
Our girls don't need us to win an argument and cling boastfully to our pride; instead, they need us to drop our pride on the ground and know that when we both stumble, our Heavenly Father will be right there to pick us back up.
Our girls don't need us to put them down; instead, they need for us to stand up for them when the world knocks them to the ground.
Our girls don't need for us to parent distracted; rather, they need us to look them in the eyes and let them know we ARE listening, and we are here--any moment, of any given day.
Our girls don't need for us to leave them alone; instead, they need for us to keep asking. To keep the conversations and questions coming. To support and wipe their tears. To show our interest and hold them closer than ever after giving them their space.
Our girls need our forgiveness.
They need our understanding.
For us to hold them with love.
To wipe their tears and pick them up and carry them along, when they feel their spirits completely vanish.
And when they do fall to their knees?
Our girls need us to fall to the ground
right next to them, and crawl through the dirt
right by their sides--prepared to dust them off
when they are ready to get back up—and tell them we'll be right back with them when they hit the dirt again.
They need us to use our knees.
Our hearts.
Our faithful, persistent battle cries.
As we fervently shout out to their Heavenly
Father Above, on their behalf.
They need our words of encouragement.
And for us to flood them with God's abundant truth.
They need us to untangle the lies and free them from the stickiness of Satan's syrupy comparison traps--the "not-good-enough" mentality--the social media dilemma.
Our girls simply need us.
To fight.
To battle.
To cheer.
To forgive.
To give grace.
And to love.
Unconditionally.
To fill them up.
To overflow them.
To flood them.
And to seal them...
...their tiniest cracks and crevices.
Healing their fragile self-esteem before
it's too damaged to repair.
Above all, teaching them that God's truth always wins.
Because, if we stop fighting, and if we stop
filling them with our Heavenly Father's truth,
and we allow these lies to continue to slowly seep in... our girls will lose their entire grip on what beauty has been bestowed upon them, both inside and out--fearfully and wonderfully, in God's Almighty image.
Our girls need us.
Our girls need us now more than ever.
No matter how brutal and
emotional the battle becomes.
No matter how completely exhausting.
No matter how repetitive.
No matter how depleting.
They need to know that they are
absolutely worth the battle.
Every second.
Of every single moment of their lives.
Today and for every day to come.
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