by Sherry Kyle and originally posted on Tyndale Stories
When was the last time you heard your tween girl compare herself with others?
Maybe the person she is comparing herself to is better at sports, gets better grades, or has more friends. Or maybe she has perfect hair, flawless skin, and can sing and dance.
Maybe your daughter feels like a loser with a capital L.
Most of the time, tween girls feel awkward in their bodies and hope their BFF still wants to be friends. Most of the time, tween girls want to know they are loved.
How do you help your daughter in times like these? How do you help her understand God’s unconditional love?
- As a parent, before you can do anything for your daughter, you need to understand God’s unconditional love for yourself. When you have a personal relationship with Jesus, you will understand the sacrifice he made for you—and for your girl.
- Next, show your daughter how much you love her. If you love your child during the good times and the frustrating, get-on-your-last nerve times, you are telling her that nothing she does will make you love her any less. By loving her through thick and thin, you are showing God’s unconditional love.
- Finally, get your daughter connected. Are you part of a church? Are there people in your daughter’s life who can speak God’s unconditional love to her? Do you have books for her to read that encourage and inspire?
Love, Lexi: Letters to God is an award-winning and exciting devotional experience for girls ages eight through fourteen. Each entry starts with a fictional letter to God from seventh-grader Alexis Dawn Cooper, a.k.a. Lexi, who humorously shares with God what’s going on in middle school and her life.
Love, Lexi: Letters to God also includes responses directly from God’s Word, short devotional thoughts, and journaling pages for your daughter to share her story.
Your tween girl will discover, along with Lexi, that when she compares herself with others, it’s easy to feel like she doesn’t measure up. She’ll always be able to find someone who she feels is better than her in some area. But God created her special and one-of-a-kind, and He loves her just the way she is—with her unique looks, talents, and personality. God loves her hair, the shape of her nose, the color of her skin, and the sound of her laugh. Your tween girl is made in God’s image and exactly how He designed her to be.
By the end, Lexi learns to seek God first above all else. And by reading Love, Lexi: Letters to God, your daughter will contemplate her own special place in God’s eyes.
Love, Lexi: Letters to God, now available as an E-book at your favorite online retailer.
