Faithgirlz

Last week kicked off the beginning of Faithgirlz at the AR Dream Center! (Faithgirlz = girl scouts meets devotional groups.) We had 30 girls ranging in ages from 4-11yrs old on our first night. It was such a GREAT time getting to know each other, decorating cookies, painting nails, coloring, and making bracelets.

Our verse for the year is "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

In preparation for yesterday's second Faithgirlz meeting, I thumbed through old magazines looking for pictures of beautiful models. I arranged the photos in a collage on poster board, and at the top I wrote, "What is seen..."

I flipped the board over and wrote, "What is unseen is ... Eternal!"

I realize it's an abstract concept, so I hope the poster makes it tangible.

After lots of hugging, giggling, and glitter filled mirror decorating, we gather and settle down for "talk-time" yesterday night. 

I've thumb-tacked the poster onto the wall so the girls can see the models, and I point to different women on the poster and ask the girls to tell me why they're beautiful. 

One has pretty eyes, the other pretty hair, another has a pretty purse...

I agree with them, and then explain that as time goes on, those qualities that make them "beautiful" can change or go away. I write "temporary" over their faces. 

I can tell the girls are surprised because it's the first time they've all sat still at once. The poster was so beautiful, but now it's ruined. Just like that, the beauty is gone.

I flip the board over and ask them to identify something that they can't see that lasts forever.

It takes a few moments, and they start with the "Christian" answers... God, Jesus, your Soul.... I ask them about "kindness," and they start to understand....

I squat low to the ground to get eye level with them and tell them the magazines and the movies tell us that beauty looks like these models, but God made specific things about us that cannot be seen, that are inside of us, that make us beautiful. And I prayed in that moment, with every eye looking at me, that they would remember the truth in my statement, the truth enveloped in 2 Corinthians 4:18. 

After small groups and game time, when most of the girls had gone home, I took down the poster. Two girls, about 9-10 yrs old, stood next to me and asked if they could have the poster. After asking each individually why they wanted it, I was shocked at both of their answers. 

"Because, I want to explain it to my mom." 

So, yesterday night, the enemy lost. : )

At least two girls understood the difference between seen and unseen, temporary and eternal. 

And not only did they understand, they desired to share the truth with those who don't. 

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18