Blog Archives: January 2010 — December 2010
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October 21, 2010
Truly UglyLaura Reynolds
Have you heard of the new “Ugly Meter” iphone app? Users take a picture of someone’s face on their iphone that will then be judged by the “ugly meter” to determine ugliness on a scale of 1 to 10. This troubles me, because it’s just one more thing girls to be ridiculed about and to be tempted to ridicule other girls about.
This app has the potential to lower the self-esteem of teenage girls (and boys alike) in seconds. They’ll laugh with their friends about it on the outside while cringing on the inside. But I believe something even greater ...
September 28, 2010
InterruptionsLaura Reynolds
“I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one’s work. Then one can feel that perhaps one’s true work—one’s work for God—consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one’s day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day—the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush ...
September 16, 2010
I am Woman: A Discussion on RoleKristen Carr
A few days ago I came across an article on MSN.com in the lifestyle section called "Real-Life-Stay-at-Home Husbands." You can check out the article here. As a wife and mother this article caught my attention. As a girl's ministry leader it concerned me. About half way down the article there was a particular quote by Diane Sollee, who is the director of the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education and smartmarriages.com, which really set off alarms in my mind. Here it is: "Not only is she the breadwinner with a great job, but ...
September 10, 2010
He is Good!Laura Reynolds
“When is this going to end? When am I going to get a break? When is life going to slow down long enough for me to catch my breath.” Have you ever been in the thick of issues and struggles and wondered when some good was going to come your way?
The psalmist points to those in such situations – “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!’” (Psalm 4:6-7) Sometimes we feel like we just need a break – someone to show us some good for a change. And who better than the Lord?
Well, the ...
September 03, 2010
Today’s Impact on Tomorrow/Twenty Years From NowLaura Reynolds
What will be popular for girls in 20 years? When I was a teenage girl, I never dreamed such things Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace would be “in” for girls today. And I’m sure girls today (much less those of us who work with them) can fathom what’s to come. What’s more, I’m certain girls don’t understand future implications of their actions on such social media sites today.
In a recent Forbes magazine article, the CEO of Google pointed out that “Twenty or thirty years from now a U.S. President will have a public record of photos and data that ...
September 01, 2010
When the Plot ThickensKristen Carr
Sometimes I feel like life is a little bit like watching a really good movie. When a new circumstance presents it's self, it's like the opening scene. You are excited about the prospect of this movie, all of your friends say it is incredible and your thinking "wa-hoo, it's only just begun!" Then, as the movie progresses, you notice stress creeping in as the characters meet with complications, unexpected road blocks, misunderstandings based on bad information that threaten to end the leading characters perfect romance and your thoughts ...
August 27, 2010
The Face in the MirrorLaura Reynolds
Most mornings when I roll out of bed and stumble to the bathroom, the face in the mirror looks more like a character from a scary movie than my own. Shortly after gazing upon such a frightening profile I proceed to shower, dress, and make myself presentable for the day. But what if one morning I wake up, see how bad the face in the mirror looks, forget about, and leave to face the world with mascara smudges, crazy hair, and all? James says that failing to be obedient to the truth is just like forgetting what I see in the mirror. “But be ...
August 24, 2010
BFF'sKristen Carr
"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 ...
August 19, 2010
Discipled in Culture or Truth?Laura Reynolds
“How do you know you’ll be happy with the same guy for the rest of your life?” The bubble senior girl asked over coffee. “You don’t.” I quickly responded. “Marriage isn’t about your happiness.” Part of me grieved because she’d been so influenced by our culture’s decree that happiness is the goal for relationships and life in general. The other part of me grieved because she’d been a part of our youth group since sixth grade, not only as a participant but as a leader and one of our most committed girls. Not to mention she can from a strong ...
August 14, 2010
Where Did I Go Wrong?Laura Reynolds
I learned the hard way. I’m sure it’s happened to you, too. I logged onto facebook, and there was a peculiar line in my news feed; a girl in the youth group had joined a group that would make even her father blush. A wave of questions washed through my head. What should I do? Should I call her parents? Should I confront her myself? Maybe I should just ignore the issue all together.
The next Sunday I approached her as soon as possible, asked why in the world she did that, and then proceeded to demand that she tell her parents or I was going ...
August 09, 2010
Waffles are Better Fully ButteredKristen Carr
This past Sunday I heard a pastor compare sharing the good news of Jesus' love to pancakes and butter. Interesting right? He said that many of us think that if we "plop" Jesus love in the middle of our community -- much like we would "plop" a dab of butter in the center of a pancake -- than it will certainly "melt" all around and cover the entire pancake. The problem with this line of thinking, he went on to explain, is that our community isn't like a pancake. It's like a waffle ... It has walls.
So true. I would say the same thing ...
August 06, 2010
Girls Ministry in the HomeLaura Reynolds
We had waited for this day for 5 months. Would our lives soon be filled with trucks and trains or would we be living in a world of pink? It didn’t matter if our baby was a boy or a girl, but we (mostly me) longed to know. Our little one was quite stubborn, or perhaps just modest, but finally we caught a glimpse; the little person growing inside me was a girl!
I didn’t feel the weight of this until later that day. I had devoted my life to ministering to girls and discipling them to be mature, godly women. I had routinely encouraged mothers ...
August 04, 2010
Back to School? Back to Budget!Kristen Carr
It's that time of year again! Pencils are being sharpened, teens everywhere are packing out malls buying new diggs ... and you are sitting in your office trying to plan your 2011 calendar so that your budget gets done on time. Good times right?
Well, whether you have a supervisor or finance office breathing down your neck right about now or not, this is a great time to begin considering just what your ministry to the teen girls you work with will look like this next calendar year. Which means that God, you and God's word are about to get ...
July 29, 2010
Bitter BettyLaura Reynolds
We’ve all had days like it before – when everything possible goes wrong. I had one such day just a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I were in between homes, so we were staying in a hotel for the weekend. After moving way too much stuff into our little room on that sweltering July day, this five month preggo discovered the air in our room didn’t work well. Just a few hours later, I set off to take care of some errands only to back straight into another car. After dealing with that foolish oversight, I discovered the engine light in the car ...
July 27, 2010
Girls with GumptionKristen Carr
I have a three month old daughter. As part of her "bed time routine" I sing to her while I feed her, right before I put her down for the night. I really like the idea of singing truth over her as she shifts from play time into a drowsy quiet and I watch her little arms and legs relax. It reminds me of the verse in Zephaniah 3:17 that says "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." In the same way my Savior quiets me with ...
July 22, 2010
Girls Ministry - A NecessityLaura Reynolds
In recent months local news stories of female criminals have caught my attention. One woman found guilty of multiple robberies was seven months pregnant. Another toted her toddler as she committed theft. Still another disguised herself as a teenage boy and lured teenage girls to bed with her. As I heard each of these stories, I was struck by a number of thoughts. Why are women involved such crimes? Doesn’t committing criminal acts with one’s children in tow (in utero or otherwise) go against a mother’s instinct to protect and nurture? What ...
July 14, 2010
Yay for New ThingsWell waa-hoo! Welcome to the NEW girlsministry.net site! Please take some time to look around and get familiar with new pages and new content. We are excited about the possiblities for this new site. It will allow us to run disscussion forums as well as this running blog ... among some other really cool things!
So, we want to take full advantage of all the new fun things, which means you need to know how you can plug in! Here are the ways you can become an active part of girlsministry.net right now!
1. Create an account This is FREE ...
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