This will be a new series of blog posts on Spiritual Disciplines. These are habits and / or activities that we can incorporate into our lives and encourage our daughters to embrace and incorporate into their lives to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

This series will cover the following:

Spiritual Growth

Mentoring

Prayer & Prayer Journaling

Reading God’s Word

There will be some giveaways associated with this series as well.  I’m looking forward to it and I hope you will as well.

For a long time I have said that the mission of Beauty by Design Ministries has been “turning the hearts of girls towards God”, while this is still true, I mostly do this through my offline live events, when I do interactive girls or mother daughter events and my keynote speaking.  However, I do much more online, and my mission online is a bit different.  I wanted to make my mission clear.  I’m not “changing” it but I am embracing a new mission for my online community here at Beauty by Design.  That mission is:

“Helping moms to connect and communicate with their teen and tween girls.”

This will continue to be done in a variety of ways:

• This blog.
• The Mom-Daughter Connection Radio Show & Podcast. A new podcast is available now here on accountability.
• Our Ezine.
• Our Information Products.
• Our Seminar Series.

I am excited about this and hope that you will gain some valuable information to help you in your relationship with your daughter.  This mission comes from my heart.  I believe it is because I had and still have a strong relationship with my mom that my relationship with Christ is where it is today, and that my life is where it is today.  I want the same for my relationship with my own daughter and I want the same for all of you!

I have started up my Mom-Daughter Connection Radio Show & Podcast up again and I am looking for guests. If you have a message for the audience of Christian moms of tween girls then please contact me. I would love to have you on the show.

To listen to the archives of the show click here.

There are many commandments that we are given as children of God. The Bible lays these out for us in the Ten Commandments and other Scriptures. Some are easy to follow, while others we struggle with.  Honoring our father and mother is one that during our teen years we often struggle to keep.  The simple commandment,

“Honor your father and your mother,” Exodus 20:12 (NIV),

becomes so complex as get to this age.  For some strange reason as we hit around the age of thirteen our parents become dumber and we become smarter.
This was my personal experience.  I can remember thinking that they were so wrong, while I was so right.  Many an argument was fought because of this.  Whether it be a disagreement over whether I could go somewhere with my friends, how messy my room was, or how I chose to wear my hair, I thought they were wrong and I was right.

Sure, my friends often had crazy ideas my parents were right about not letting me participate in, my room did often resembled a pig sty, and my hair  needed washing more than once per week, but I sure did not think so in my naive little thirteen year old brain.

So, as moms and dads, how do we get our children, especially those of the teenage variety to clue into the fact that we are “smart”?  The truth is, as a former teen myself, I believe it is a phase we all have to go through.  Quite honestly as time went by, my parents got smarter and smarter.  I began to clue in to the fact that some of the things they were telling me really were for my own good and slowly I came back onto their side of many an issue.

By the age of eighteen I had come to realize that I needed them, they had good advice, and I could count on them more than my friends.  So, do not loose hope, your child will come around again.  So, be patient, and wait for them to realize the error of their ways, receive their newfound belief in you with love, and be grateful for their new found belief in what you have to say.

The Bible’s words are true that if you,

“Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

Let that verse be the hope that you cling to as you continue to train your child, no matter how dumb they attempt to make you feel, because Mom and Dad, your honor will soon be restored to its rightful  place.

As a teenager, I’m sure the thought crossed my mind, and probably more than once, but follow through I never did. What thought you’re wondering? “I want to run away.” Many of America’s teenagers have this thought run through their heads at one point or another. Whether it is because of a breakup with a boyfriend, a fight with mom or dad, over their latest episode of breaking curfew or worse, the thought is a prevalent one.

I’ve never really dealt with a runaway before, that is until this week. A teenager from the youth group, I formerly ministered to ran away from home. Though her mom knew where she went eventually, to stay with a family member, it was still an ordeal.  There were many hurt feelings, harsh words exchanged, and a feeling of uneasiness surrounding the entire situation. The mom, for quite a while felt helpless.

There is one person who will never allow us to truly “run away”. God will never allow us to run away from Him. He will always bring us back to Himself. Don’t you recall the story of Jonah running from God? No matter where Jonah ran, he could not escape God’s hand. He even lived inside the belly of a great fish, but God was there.

As the words of the Psalmist so clearly state, we cannot escape from or run away from God.

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
Psalm 139: 7-10 (NIV)

Therefore, though this teen’s mom felt helpless, and the teen thought she was running away, she was never out of God’s hand. She was always firmly in his grasp. None of us will ever truly be alone with Christ in our heart and lives.