a prayer for girls.*

{via here}

Dear Father,

These girls are precious. They are uniquely Yours, each designed with gifts and abilities that You created and designed from the very beginning. They are beautiful and quirky and silly and quiet and loud and in desperate need of You.

They need Your mercy and Your goodness and Your love.

They need to see Your face.

I want them to see You in the clouds and in the sun and in the hallways and in the locker room. I want them to see You in the homeless, in the helpless, in the faces of their greatest friends and their worst enemies. I want them to see You in me and in Jordan, in the people that minister to them on a daily basis. I want them to see You as an awesome Creator, a loving Father, and the best friend they will ever have.

Mostly, Lord, I want them to see You and to know that they belong to You.

Father, often these years are spent wandering, searching, seeking, hoping for a place to simply be.

Help them to find that place at Your feet.

When they feel ugly, help them to see the beauty You created in each of them.

When they feel unwanted, help them to discover a haven of rest in Your arms and in their homes.

When they feel unloved, help them to remember Your sacrifice given out of more love than they could possibly imagine.

When they look to boys and parents and friends for completion and are not satisfied, help them to turn to You.

Only You can give them what they need.

I am an imperfect vessel. I mess up and say the wrong thing and do the wrong thing and write the wrong thing. I am not worthy to be called their teacher.

But I will not ignore the calling You have placed on my heart.

We are your daughters, and we ask

For courage to do what You have called us to do,

For grace to conquer the countless moments we fail,

For peace to wipe away the guilt and frustration and wandering in our souls,

For beauty to show the world we know what matters, and

For love to triumph over all things.

Open our hearts, our eyes, our minds, and our souls to everything You want to show us.

Provide us with the strength to make each day worthy of the calling You have placed on us.

And enable us to love and laugh and smile and forgive and enjoy the life you have given us.

Amen.

--

Jordan and I are about to embark on our second quarter teaching the high school students at our congregation, and although we are thrilled, we are also hesitant. What if we say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing or do too much or don’t do enough? My mouth and my pen don’t always reflect my heart. That’s where this prayer comes in. I am too imperfect to satisfy these girls’ needs. But our Father is more — much more — than enough.