He Led The Way

Last night was our first meeting with the young girls program at the Center. The topic was True Beauty (which it will stay that topic for some time). Girls from ages 6-15 were there--9 of them. The 6 year olds went with Mom D and the rest were with me, D, H & M. I brought the before & after pictures of the entertainers, to show what these women/girls looked like before air brushing & 4 hours of make up. They weren't too aghast at Jennifer Lopez. But Katie Holmes & Tyra Banks put them in a little spin.

The first game we played, Lead The Way, seems to be a hit for right now. We blindfolded 3 girls and had them walk through a maze of bottles (plastic) & empty boxes with no help. The girls did do really well, even blindfolded. You could watch their actions and see they were thinking about what their next move was...putting their foot out there first to see if they hit anything....and if they did trying to figure out where it fell so they would not walk into it again. When their friends led them through, I told them they could tell them where to go by voice direction, walk along side them, grab their hand and lead them, etc....whatever they needed to do to get them through the maze. All 3 girls chose to grab the other girls hand & lead them through, which is great. The entire plan was to get them to depend on each other & show that they need each other, that they can not go through life secluded and alone.

After discussing the entertainers & while eating popcorn & drinking lemonade; we discussed what the world defined beauty as.....the girls are quite intelligent!! They also are aware that the world is trying to tell them something different. I told them there is no way we can look like supermodels or women on a magazine cover, because they don't even look like that....so they did get some homework. They must try every morning to get up & saying something positive about themselves and how they look---then they must say something encouraging & positive to another girl....even one they may have picked on before. They were given journals & told to write what they thought beauty was, instances of beauty that they see out there in the world...& also when at a store, what are the magazines telling them in the check out lane??

I was also able to get the Lord in (we are not allowed to preach the Gospel at the Center because of federal regulations--God has His ways though).....I noticed while I was talking to them that I had all their attention---they were listening to us.....I grabbed that opportunity to tell them how our God thought them up, that He created them to look just as they do....that the way their eyes are shaped, their bodies, etc.....were designed by our God, Theeee Artist....I asked them how do they think an artist feels when someone tells them their work is ugly? --Well, how do you think God feels when you tell someone they are ugly, or too fat, or too skinny, or your nose is big or you smell?? I told them everything God created is Good! It says so right in the Bible----they were listening!

Our next meeting will be at our church, so we can preach the gospel there & talk to them about the Lord. We will have pizza and lemonade/iced tea---and there are a few girls who have birthdays in July (including me) so we will bring a small cake or cupcakes.....

I can not wait for the next time around....God is good, He showed up their last night.....