(This is a long one. But it is SO worth it. I hope it’s the most encouraging thing you read all day, besides your Bible.)
I asked my teammates and the girls I’ve been living with a very important question and I think it’s best to start with their answers.
“What is your favorite thing about being a girl?”
Kate G: “I actually love being a girl, so there are a lot of things. I think the thing I love most is the adversity of it. I love doing things that I’m afraid of because I love the adrenaline of overcoming something. So I like that the odds seem to be stacked against me as a woman who has been created to be bold and in authority and in leadership positions and in a place where I have power and influence to make the world different for people. I actually really like that there is adversity in my life because I’m woman and because I’m called to those things.”
Alina: “I literally love being girl. I think I would hate being a boy. My absolute favorite thing about being a girl is the fact that girls empower girls. Girls are able to love and support other girls so well because I feel as though girls want to see other girls grow into beautiful and powerful people. I love that girls are always trying to break stereotypes and boxes we are put in. I think it is amazing that girls are trying to prove other people wrong…and we do. We are looked down upon, but we are continuously rising up. I just have so many influential women in my life and I strive to be more like them, women are just really freaking great.”
Josie: “Being a girl is such a sweet sweet gift. I love it for the simple fact that we were all made for a specific purpose, so by believing in that I have to believe that in order for me to fulfill my destiny I need to love exactly how I was created. Women are powerful, influential, and beautiful in so many ways. I love that they are necessary for life, that I may feel confident in knowing that I am needed, and wanted, and capable of more than I probably realize because I was perfectly hand crafted by the Father.”
Alyssa: “The world is literally incomplete without women. They are, not only a necessary part of creation, but such a wildly valuable part of it too. I LOVE BEING A WOMAN. period. I think they present and express parts of the Lord’s heart that nobody else is able to. One of my favorite parts about being a woman is that we are super relational. Women are able to care for people so deeply, intentionally, and intimately… It actually blows my mind. ALSO, there are so many women in my life who have shaped me in crazy ways. My Mom, my friends’ Moms, my Mom’s friends… Women are just awesome, insanely powerful, and influential.”
Kelly: “my favorite part about being a girl is being able to say ‘girl power’ during a total rockin girl power moment. I also love the way gals empower each other but that’s just more girl power to me. I love being a gal and being able to have amazing sista gal pals in Christ!”
Kyla: “being a girl comes with a lot of stereotypes. The cool thing though is that I get to break all those stereotypes in Christ. And even more so as woman we get to embody the desires of God. Our desires to be loved and be seen and be pursued are the SAME desires that God has. How stinking cool. So my favorite part about being a girl is showing others that my desires and God’s desires are the same. Girl power.”
Kara: “Girls get to hangout with girls. Girls get to bond with girls. And I like being a girl because I get to understand girls. It puts me in a place to see the vulnerable side of other women.”
Dasia: “women. Women are bold. Women are empowering. Women are strong. Women have such a strong foothold in my life. So many different women have taught me tangible love. They’ve shown me compassion and strength in ways unimaginable. Women. What would this world be without them? Craziness. Thank you God for creating women. They sure are great. It’s an honor to be a woman, to give life to this world. A true honor”
Cat: “Being a girl is for sure not easy. We go though hard things, but we also overcome them. We are strong because we are honorable woman through Christ. Being a woman is so empowering because love is something that everyone has, but we are able to show our Father’s love to the world which is such a blessing. Being a girl is amazing because we get to be honorable women for the Lord.”
Kaylee: “I absolutely love being a girl. As a woman we get to strengthen and love those around us in so many ways. We can can be woman of honor and integrity and inspire those around us. As women we see so many things differently and that’s so cool. Women have always had a huge influence on my life and it inspires me to influence the women I meet.”
Kendall: “I want to use my influence as a woman to share my story and speak truth into the lives of younger women. To be a light in their lives. To disciple, encourage, and love. To walk with them through the darkest areas of their life. I think being a girl is really freaking cool because it enables me to do these things that I’m most passionate about.”
GIRLS. Get behind one another and love who you are. Love that you get to be a girl with all of these girls, love the strength you have, love that you are seriously and incredibly gorgeous. I have learned so much about being a woman of God in the last four months. The women I am surrounded by are absolutely and insanely amazing, inspiring, and beautiful. The things they chose to talk about actually make me believe that I’m beautiful and it’s so refreshing to listen to someone who believes they’re beautiful. I rarely hear talk of image, weight, or waist size, yet the things that ring in my ears are encouraging and life giving. The girls here comment on how strong, how hopeful, how influential each other are.
Do you know why it feels so good to hear that you’re beautiful? Because if you were in perfect relationship with the Father, that is what he would tell you. He would tell you that you are perfectly beautiful and you would BELIEVE him. Every time I hear someone tell me I am beautiful, what gives me life is the part of my heart actually believes them. Let me tell you. It feels so good to hear GOD call you beautiful and to believe it. It makes so many wrong things in my mind right. It makes me a much more beneficial human to everyone else I am around. I had a conversation with one of the most inspiring women on this squad, my gorgeous friend Lillabea (go check her blog. wow). She said something that stuck with me. She talked about ‘boomeranging’, allowing every thought you have of another person to turn right around on yourself, becoming stuck in a cycle of comparison. It drains relationships of life and uniqueness. This has changed my perspective on friendships and relationships in general.
So with that said, here is my goal: I want to be secretly incredible. I want to be ALL for the Lord. To show his glory and show all the parts of Him that He has put in me, and to have every eye that sees me fixed on him. I want no attention except attention that comes from the Father. I want to draw lines in the sand, quietly, and FIGHT for people. I want to do incredible things in Jesus’ name and I want GOD to be on display. I want selflessness and generosity to be my beauty. I want to be graceful and pure. That’s my favorite thing about being a woman. A girl. I get to be beautiful and to be told that I’m beautiful by the one who created me to be STUNNING, and I get to tell every single girl I meet the same thing.
GIRLS. Be the messenger. Tell each other how beautiful you all are. Tell each other the things you see that have true value and eternal worth. Maybe fast from talking about your image and strive to be secretly incredible, so that God will look at you and see a gorgeous heart that longs for Him. What’s your favorite thing about being a girl? PLEASE comment and tell me!! It seriously would be an honor to read. I LOVE YOU ALL. Kate
