#TellHisStory: A Love Letter to All the Daughters Everywhere
Dear Daughters,
So let’s start with the startlingly obvious:
You are loved fiercely.
That’s where it all begins and ends — and begins again. With love.
I want paint that truth on your hearts and under your eyelids so you never forget.
In a world where people are unfriended with the click of a mouse, I want you to know that you’ll never get de-loved in this house. You’re loved because of who you are, not because of what grade you get, what college accepts you, what job you land.
You are loved because you are.
I don’t want to simply tell you that. I’ve got to show you. I’ve got to show you what it means to live life knowing I’m already loved – fully and deeply beloved, as is, by God.
You’ve got to see your mama doing the hard things and the right things and the brave things. Even when they’re the super-scary things.
Lessons are, as they say, “caught” — not just taught. You girls are mirrors, and what am I reflecting? You’ve got to see me living as one deeply loved – not because of what I do, but because of my cross-bought identity. Let me preach this lesson with my life: I am preapproved, already approved, because of Jesus.
We have nothing to prove.
You’ve got to see your mama being comfortable in her own skin when she steps on the bathroom scale, and when she looks in the mirror. You’ve got to see me being kind to myself, even on the bad-hair days. You’ve got to hear me picking good words to describe my abilities. You’ve got to see me taking a few giant leaps of faith — even if my subpar performance puts my approval rating in jeopardy.
Yeah. I want to live the words I’m writing to you, girls.
So maybe, as much as this letter is for you. It’s for me – and for mamas and daughters everywhere.
This is what I want us all to know …
{I’m sharing the rest of this letter on the blog of my friend Lisa-Jo Baker …}
Read more …
So, what’s your Story?
A #TellHisStory is any story that connects your story into the story of God.
You’re invited to tell that story right here, in community with us.
Share your narratives, your poems, your Instagrams tagged with #TellHisStory, … your beautiful hearts. You are the chroniclers, the people who help others make sense of the world with your words and your art.
Story is how we know that, no matter what happens, we can get back up again.
Visit someone (or two) in the link-up to encourage with a comment. Then, Tweet about your posts, and the posts you visit, with the #TellHisStory hashtag. Come back on Friday to visit our Featured #TellHisStory, in the sidebar.
A final note: This is a safe place to tell your stories. You don’t have to be a professional writer to join us. Story is built into every single one of us. Your story matters, because it’s part of God’s story down through history, not because you punctuated everything correctly. Deal?
#TellHisStory
For more details on the #TellHisStory linkup, click here. Share the love of story by visiting someone else in the community!
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You’re loved because of who you are, not because of what grade you get, what college accepts you, what job you land. http://crazyparts.nl/FQqHiX
“The greatest lives are marked by love-not by trophies.” A thousand times yes and amen! Love those words, Jennifer.
“We have nothing to prove.” Oh, to hear that over and over so it sinks in deeper and deeper. Thanks, Jennifer.
Great words!! I felt my heart echo this message for my boys. May they know they are loved because they are created by God…not by their achievements or what society deems “acceptable”.
Soul-searing truths, Jennifer. We are a mirror our daughters look into and we are the voice they hear when they look at themselves. We paint the picture and frame it and hang it when we teach them to look beyond and see what HE alone sees. He sees past our flaws, actually they are beauty in His eyes, and He sees who we are to become because He sees our end from our beginning, thankfully. He sees the glorious work..the masterful beauty that we become daily as we shed layers and cover ourselves in grace for ourselves and for each other. Oh, that we would hear His whisper, “you are beautiful”. i appreciate the precious gifts you share here.
Blessings!
Dawn
Beautiful, through and through! It is something about your voice. It is so soft, loving and caring(yes, I’ve heard your voice on the video for Love Idol and for IL conference videos, but it is how your voice is in the words you write)!
You’ve got such a heart of love, where you reach even those like me- that don’t always know how to accept, but you make me believe it even though I can’t understand it!. It is so true what you write about not just telling, but also showing our daughters(I think it goes for sons and husbands too).
Thank you for this!God bless your heart and your writing!
-Ava Sophie