Welcome back,

This week, I am dreaming of a white Christmas! However, as you go through Chapter 14 we will be pondering dreams and the roles they play in the development of character in our daughters. But I have to ask you, do you remember the dreams you had when you were your daughter’s age? I do and they reveal so much about who I was at that age because my dreams occurred BC or before Christ. My dreams at this age involved me being an “executive secretary”. (I know…I know this was so 80’s!) This girl’s dream job was being an administrator for a powerful executive and making sure his business wishes were carried out to the letter. My girlish fantasy involved typing letters, taking dictation with shorthand, making appointments, and brewing coffee. My goal was to make my boss a success! In my middle school mind, I imagined my job would be my life and I envisioned not having time for a family or even being married.

When I look back over the dreams of my youth, I shudder to think what might have become of me if my dreams had come true. At 19, Jesus became my personal Savior. I so needed saving from my sins and from myself. Not only did He wash away my sins and make my crimson sins as white as snow…but He also gave me a new heart with new dreams. Thanks be to God! Almost overnight He placed the undeniable desire to be a wife to Bob and a nurturing mother to our children. I still have the goal of making my boss a success…but it’s different. Now I desire to make my powerful heavenly Boss and also my sweet husband a success. The Lord cultivated a desire to share God’s goodness to others through the spoken and written word.  After all these years, I am still amazed at the way He put His dreams into my heart and in the process converted a heart of stone to flesh.  This week I hope you and your sweet girl will do a little dreaming too as you work on Chapter 14 in The Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood!

Still dreaming,

Activities

• Ladies, think back to the dreams you dreamed as a girl. Evaluate if they were

Dreams imposed by your family ~ family expectations.

Dreams influenced by friends ~ friends’ persuasion.

Dream implanted by the Lord ~ plans the Lord has planned for you (Jer. 29:11)

• Pray about sharing this very intimate part of your developing years with your daughter. There is so much for our daughters to gain by hearing what the Lord has done in our lives and about His faithfulness.
• Have you done anything to make your dreams come true? Read Genesis 37:39-47 and mull over the methods that Joseph used to make his dreams come true.

Memory Verse

Ezekiel 11:19

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them and I will take

the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,”

Post and Ponder

• Alright, girls, I was vulnerable and shared one of the dreams I had as a girl…now it’s your turn. What were some of the dreams you had as a girl? Either BC (before Christ) or AC (after Christ)?
• Now that you live AC, how are your God implanted dreams coming true?
• Does this newfound insight into dreams and character development help you analyze where your daughter is on the journey through beautiful girlhood?