A Letter to My Girl on Becoming a Woman

You, my effervescent beautiful little girl, are appointed to become a woman one day.  I think on this often and there are some things I want you to know.  Really know.   They have been my revelations.  May they become your declarations. 

You were first imagined in the mind of God and thrust into human history within my womb. When He spoke you into existence, He spoke a word.  And that word will never be spoken again.  So my girl, let your life speak the word He intended.

He chose the times and places of your life. Yes, He chose the generation you would be born into and even what ancestral line from which you would emerge–all so that you call out to Him the loudest and the clearest. This is the same God who spoke into existence water and the way a bird sings and a flower smells and the sun burns.  He, being all generous and good–the very meaning of love itself–longs for you as a groom longs for his own bride.  You were always meant to belong to Him.  You can trust Him.  Wholly.

You were created to know Him, your one true Hero.  To be His image-bearer, aligning yourself with Him at every possible level.  His heart is to be your heart; His mind–your mind; His will–your will.  You were made for complete consecration if you are to be all that He dreams and intends you to become.

You are a warrior, a helper of power and strength corresponding in every way with men and in every way their equal.  You and your sisters in the Kingdom that will never end are their greatest allies in the life of faith, advancing the Kingdom of God within and without, doing front-line battle with the forces of darkness.  You are to labor together in beneficial alliance.   You are in a hierarchy of responsibility, not domination. Lovingly and selflessly, use every ounce of all that you are to build up His beloved church with the confidence that the Holy Spirit made no mistakes when your gifts were bestowed.

And if you are called into the covenant of marriage, you and your husband are to become like one body that should never be decapitated through the severing of what God has mysteriously made one. You are to nurture one another through mutual love and honor, laying down your lives in humility out of reverence for your God.  The picture of your union is meant to leave the world breathless.

You are a culture-maker, a co-creator and cultivator on earth, to work with all you have and will be given.  You are made to be a learner with an insatiable curiosity.  Through your very body, yes, the eternal souls you may birth and through your mentoring of others as you make disciples you are a recipient and conduit of the Gospel of Grace.  Imagine.  Be in awe.  These are no small things and they will require much prayer and intention. You are to be a passionate and wise woman of prayer, the floor of your prayer closet worn out from your bowed position.

The externals of being a woman? Your beauty comes from the fact that you know you are beloved.  Don’t waste your energy trying to impress.  Stay in simplicity and ignore the fads.  After all, the verdict is already in and it will not change.  Run along unhindered, with delight in your lovely long limbs and strings of blonde hair accentuated by your Daddy’s eyes.

Your unique, once-in-history voice is not to be silenced by timidity or intimidation.  It is to proclaim hope, even in suffering, to the broken beauty all around you.  We are all only in the first story, but the second one is coming.  Long for His appearing!  And you can be sure that your voice is to speak His praises in the ages to come, for you are made for eternity.

Yes, proclaim the love that never ends, for you and for the world.  And if that means you must go, then go for you serve a God who travels.  He left His home for you, go and do likewise for a people He loves if that is what He asks.

Know this: Everything that ever has been or ever will be expected of you was done on the Cross by Jesus Christ when your Father got his daughter back. Your response is gratitude. Not earning, not owing, not proving.  Loving. Remember, you were once lost, alienated, fearful and full of shame.  You hid.  But you are not to stay in hiding.  You are free and you are not a slave to sin and all its residue of bondage.  You are to become ever more whole, going from glory to glory.   Shalom is your blood-bought birthright.

Live out of a grateful heart.  You have done nothing to earn or deserve the standing you have in Jesus and in this one eternal fairy tale.

Your Hero, let Him have your heart.

It is all because of Him you are truly empowered.  And my girl, all because of His grace, you’ll become a woman.

And be ever-loved by your Mama.