Hi Mom,
My husband Jonathan and I want to talk to you today about daughters. We know them well because we have four of our own. With more than 13,505 combined days of parenting girls under our belts, we can honestly say that raising Alena, Kaitlyn, and our twins Camryn and Olivia has dramatically changed our world…for the better!
Parenting a houseful of girls has caused us to take a deeper look at why God gave these special girls to us and how He intends us to operate as His children and their parents.
Our girls are very different from each other, and each of them has a distinct personality—and that gives us much joy! However, we have had to experiment and learn, to try and try again, grappling with what it looks like to parent each of them while holding on to the values and the kingdom mindset befitting a family following after the heart of God.
We are constantly reminded that everything we have is God’s, including our daughters. Parenting from this perspective gives us purpose, identifies our responsibility, and defines our way of life.
We are raising God’s girls. And they are ours—but they are also His.
God has created your daughter for a specific purpose. And He created you to parent her in a way that leads her heart and mind to His truth, love, and perfect will.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Wrong.
It did not take long for us to realize that raising our daughters was not going to be easy. If our daughters were robots and we could program them to think and act just the way we instructed them, then life with them would be a breeze. But they are not robots.
Girls are complex. They are tender yet strong, emotional but sturdy, and an inquisitive mix of facts and opinions. There are times when our task as parents of daughters makes total sense—and times when we can’t seem to make sense of it at all!
Vulnerability, innocence, joy, spontaneity…these are all wrapped up in the four-letter word that describes our daughters: G-i-r-l.
Whether you are a mother or a father, whether you are struggling with your first infant, raising busy toddlers, surviving a houseful of teens, navigating the roads of young adulthood, or a combination of all these…parenting girls is not an easy job, and it needs your full attention and presence. It requires a level of patience you may not have known existed and a prayer life you’ve probably always wanted to attain.
We want to encourage you to embrace your journey with your daughter, and to understand and appreciate your high calling. This journey is about intentionally leading your daughter to the everlasting love of her Creator. And it’s about seeking God, recognizing that as a parent, you desperately need His guidance. Start with this prayer:
Dear God,
I release my daughter into Your care.
I surrender my desire to control her.
I surrender my desire to manipulate her future.
I surrender my tendency to overprotect, shelter,
And suffocate her.
I surrender my desire to be her best friend, first.
I surrender my own dreams for her.
I surrender my need to be her source.
She is Yours.
I’m totally open to You, dependent on You, and desperate for You to be in control as I let go. I’m relying on the fact that You are God and that You have created my daughter for Your purpose and for this time.
I pray that You will draw her to Yourself.
I pray that she will delight in You.
I pray that You will be patient with her.
I pray that You will provide for her.
I pray that You will bless her.
I pray that You will use her to be a blessing to others.
I pray that You will mature her.
And ultimately, I pray that she will show Jesus in
Her very being.
I trust in Your sovereignty. I wait in expectation for Your providence.
Lord, she is Yours, and I trust You with her.
Amen.
***
Wynter Pitts is an author and the founder of For Girls Like You a ministry that equips girls to walk boldly into who God has created them to be and to resource their parents to raise strong Christ-following God girls that say yes to His plans for their lives.
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