The skilled artist can envision his or her masterpiece long before it's finished. Everything done by the artist is intended to add depth, color, and personality to the final piece. Parents, likewise, must strive toward molding, shaping, and crafting young girls into unique individuals with a strong Christian worldview. The goal is far more than creating a masterpiece that looks pretty to the eye. It is about working with God to create young ladies who can weather the storms that life will throw at them when they leave the nest. It's about helping them find their gifts and encouraging them to use those gifts for God. It's about helping them understand that they are responsible for keeping the masterpiece in mint condition.
On this page, our goal is to help you stay focused on your masterpiece vision for your daughter(s) and to offer suggestions that might help.
Create a Support Group. Staying in touch with your child's world is tough, especially if you are the parent of a child who is less inclined to talk and share. One suggestion is to create a small support group of other parents with children of similar ages. You can learn from each other and pray for each other.
Plug into helpful sites that provide alerts through newsletters, blogs, etc. These sites are created by a wide variety of ministries, authors, or organizations. Recommendation of these sites does not indicate that we will always agree, but their information can be very helpful and enlightening. Some of my regulars are listed below:
- VirtousReality.com (target: teens & parents)
- purefreedom.org (target: teen girls & parents)
- secretkeepergirl.com (target: younger girls & parents)
- weusedtobeyou.com(target: teens & young women)
- teensforlife.com (target: teens)
- Pure Hope.net (target: parents/leaders)
- Covenant Eyes (accountability software)
- Parent's Television Council (target: parents & concerned tv watchers)
Read books geared toward parenting. Check out your local bookstore (in town or online) and read books designed for parents of specific ages or stages.
Search for books which allow parent/child interaction. More and more authors are creating books and diaries which allow girls and moms (or parents) to work through books together. Many of the websites listed above have resources which fill this need. When you find a good one, share it on our Girls' Ministries Facebook page to help others (use the links in the right column to be part of our Facebook community).