I was. I remember taking every opportunity I could to drive through the neighborhood on my daddy’s lap. I wanted to learn how to cut the grass over inside chores. I loved playing catch in the front yard or helping my dad with any of his projects around the house. Anything daddy was doing, I wanted to do.
Oh how many days I take what my dad taught me and the time I’ve shared with him for granted.
You see not everyone has an earthly daddy that helps them grow up to know the ins and outs of life. In fact, most girls here in Africa don’t have good relationships with their fathers. Many of them feel abandoned and most are raised by their grandmother and/or mother.
One of the opportunities we had this month was to host an event through a program called Daddy’s Girls.
Daddy’s Girls was created by the wife of our host as a means of bringing young girls and women together to learn about their Heavenly Father. (Disclaimer: in Africa girls acknowledge any man of honor who is older then them as Daddy)
This program teaches that no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they are able to do- each and every one can sit on our Heavenly Father’s lap. He invites us, he wants to hear from us, and he wants to help us.
Our event’s theme was ‘Stand Up For A Sister’ stemming from an activity we did with them during the conference.
As young women we so often feel as though we are alone in our struggles. The struggles of the past or even the present. We don’t want to invite anyone else into them because we fear the response or what we’ll be perceived as. Weak. Broken. Not good enough. A disappointment. A failure.
Here’s what I’ve realized. This idea is a lie. It’s exactly what the enemy wants us to believe so we remain silent, drowning in our shame. Believing we’re all alone. That we’re too bent for anyone to help straighten us out.
Our Heavenly Father says there is immense power in speaking into the light what is hidden in the dark. Shame leads to more shame and never sets us free. Shame says I am a bad person; but guilt, guilt says I did a bad thing.
We passed out a survey at the beginning of the day with 45 questions asking the group of 80 young women about a variety of possible struggles.
Later that afternoon we came back to them. Every girl who filled out a survey stood in a circle. The sheets were passed out in a random order and each person had a survey of another sister. We explained when one of us reads a statement out loud, if a ‘yes’ was circled on the sheet they were holding they needed to step forward.
In this moment they would be standing up for a struggle another sister had or was going through.
These struggles range from eating disorders, body image concerns, sexual impurities, mental/emotional/physical abuse, addictions, anxiety, depression, and other feelings.
As the list was read, girls began to step forward. More than one woman stepped forward for every single question. The list went on and on and the last question was asked.
“Have you ever felt like God could not love you or forgive you?” And many stepped forward .
My first thought- bondage.
Chains.
Then I thought about a daddy, and his reaction to his little girl who may have done something wrong. And here’s the thing, there are times when our earthly fathers are going to fail, because they are human too. But! Our Heavenly Father will never fail us. He loves us unconditionally. He loves without ceasing. His forgiveness can wash any shame away.
One of the coolest things I took away from this day was the clear evidence that God’s love never changed. It stretches across cultures, it crosses oceans, and brings freedom to the hearts of people around the entire world. And to think the same love that saved me had the potential to save the lives of the young women we spent the day with brought tears to my eyes.
As women we are called to stand together. We were designed to do life together.
We’re relational to our core. The image bearers of God’s beauty.
This beauty is a different kind of beauty than the way the world sees it.
This beauty speaks!
It invites the unseen or ashamed and inspires the weak or unheard.
This beauty transcends difficult situations, or the day to day life.
We spend most of our life wanting to be seen as beautiful, but we forget to look inside our own hearts and souls and believe wholeheartedly that we are in fact beauty-full! Our Heavenly Father wants us to never forget we are more than beautiful. He says we are a masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), delighted in (Zephaniah 3:17) , set apart (1 Peter 2:9), beloved (Jeremiah 31:3), and free (Galatians 5:1)!
FREE!
Chains were broken at Stand Up For A Sister. I saw a new strength. I saw beauty.
Some saw their Heavenly Father in a new way! They became a Daddy’s girl of the kingdom! And it was beautiful!
XOXO
Tay
