How to be a True Girl

True Girl Pajama Party

A while back Bear Bear and I went to the “True Girl Pajama Party” near our home.  The purpose of this party consists in bringing moms and tween daughters together through music, play, and the preaching of the Gospel.  I found it to be a good opportunity for Bear Bear and I to connect as girls and spend quality time together.  Before the show even started Bear Bear convinced me to get into my jammies.  It was an interesting experience to wear my pajamas in public.  But it did make us more comfortable, and I even received a few compliments  🙂

Connections with dancing and games

The night started out with the leaders opening with the “True Girl” song.  They introduced themselves, shared where they lived, and then encouraged all of the moms and daughters to take some time to talk with one another.  One of the girls had a very large stuffed panda bear that she pretended to talk to.  All the other leaders thought that she was silly for talking to a stuffed bear, but throughout the night, that panda bear came out and tried to speed up time by dancing and encouraging the moms and daughters to dance with him.  We even did the chicken dance.

We participated in a game show that featured “Media Mamas”.  This game appealed to the mamas in the group because it referenced moms in tv and movies that mostly the moms would recognize.  

We saw a video demonstrating how photoshop and other computer photography tricks can create an image that does not even exist.  One of the leaders allowed a complete makeover on camera and then showed us how photo altering on the computer changed to photograph to create a picture that did not even look like her.  But these types of images permeate our society, putting pressure on our girls to live up to that unreachable standard of beauty.  

True Girl Fashion Show

We witnessed a “True Girl Fashion Show” that featured three rules of modesty.  

• Rule #1 – The “Mirror Mirror” test – the girls were asked to sit in front of a full length mirror at home with their legs crossed.  If they could see their underwear under the shorts or skirts that they were wearing then the shorts/skirt was too short.
• Rule #2 – The “Raise and Praise” test – the girls were asked to raise their hands in the air.  If we could see their belly button, then their shirt was too short.
• Rule #3 – The “Hills and Valley” test – if you put your finger in the valley on your chest and your shirt bounces back like a trampoline, then your shirt is too tight.

The messages that we see and hear daily

Society constantly screams at us that we need to be more beautiful, that we need to become more like others in order to be accepted and loved.  But the focus of this show confronted these lies that society throws at our little girls.  We as moms can also be susceptible to these lies.  The lie that we need to have a boyfriend/man to complete us.  The lie that we need to look beautiful like the latest models and actresses.  The lie that we are not good enough.  The lie that we are unlovable.  

Jesus is the truth that confronts those lies

In every way, Jesus is the Truth that confronts all of those lies, and He is the only Truth we need.  The show introduced these verses from Psalm 139:

Psalm 139: 13-16 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

As girls, we all want to believe in the fairy tale.  Our favorite story is always where the prince rescues the princess and they live happily ever after.  I believe that God put that desire into our hearts.  He wants us to desire that “happily ever after”.  But I believe that He also wants us to realize that He holds our only true “happily ever after”.  Even if we find the perfect man to spend the rest of our lives with, that perfect man is still a sinner just like we are.  That man will let us down.  He cannot fulfill all of our needs.

My greatest desire for my little girl

But my greatest desire in my little girl’s life is to show her that Jesus is her true Prince.  He loves her just as she is, but He is also working on her to make her more like Himself.  He will never let her down.  Bear Bear will find her “happily ever after” in Him.  She does not have to work to impress Him.  He does not demand that she change herself to make Him love her more. He knows my little girl inside and out, and He loves her more than even I do.

You, mama, are a princess as well

But, you know what?  He feels the same about you, mama.  He is YOUR true prince.  YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made.  He wants you to come to Him so that He can show you how much He loves you.  How can you be a true girl?  By seeing yourself and believing that you are His princess.  Lean into Him.  Allow His love to wrap all around you.  Read his love letter to you, the Bible, and find out just how much He loves you.  He promises this:

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;  Philippians 1:6

You are His masterpiece, His priceless work of art.  Rest in the knowledge that you are His, and you are loved.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

He calls you His true girl, and He will never leave you or forsake you.  He will never let you down.  Nothing can separate you from His love.