"You are familiar with all my ways."  Psalm 139:9

Wow, I mean, are girls relational or what?!  Young and old, small and big, loud and quiet, girls are created as relational beings.  We have sleepovers and stay up till 4a.m. whispering and laughing, sharing stories and secrets.  We pass notes in school, cost our parents zillions of dollars in texting and phone bills and cause more epic drama than any soap opera script writer could ever drum up.

Why?  The answer is as simple as it is complicated: as much as we long to be known, we are equally afraid to be known.   As much as we want to be loved for our details, we are evenly afraid we might be made fun of for them.  You see, we tell each other's secrets to protect our own back.  The best of friends become the worst of enemies when a single blow out jeopardizes the safety and trust the relationship once had.  When someone who knows you so well ceases, in your eyes, to be trustworthy the game is on: Who will spill the others deepest insecurities or embarrassing secrets first?

It's no wonder that girls have such a hard time living in the "drama free" zone.  Our longing for the freedom to be vulnerable AND loved completely is a picture of our longing for the kind of love only Christ can offer.  As girls' ministry leaders, we probably know this personally.  My question is:  Do our girls know that Christ has come to meet that need?

It's easy for our girls to get the wrong picture, a mis-represented idea, of who God is engrained in their head.  They see Him as a dictator with a long list of do's and don'ts who offers gold stars if they follow the rule book well.  Maybe they see Him as a genie of sorts that they take their wishes (ahum, I mean prayers ...) to and wait for Him to grant them.  Many of them know He sent His Son to die on the cross that they could be forgiven and go to heaven one day, but I wonder how many of them know of the deep, abiding, enduring, intimate relationship He longs to have with them.  Do they know that He calls Himself the groom and calls them His bride?  Do they understand what intimacy is involved in an analogy like this?!  Do they know this means that He knows them, details, insecurities, likes, dis-likes, hopes, dreams, and struggles alike, and loves them entirely still?

Maybe it's time for us to take account of the girls in our ministries.  Do they know Jesus like this?  How can we help them see that they have been invited to the most amazing friendship of all time?  I am convinced that if they get this, it will change everything.

Please take a second to share your thoughts or ideas.  This is crucial in each of our ministries and as always, we do it better together.