Girl Truth Advent Bible Study: Unexpected Place

Characters of The Week: Mary, Joseph, & Jesus (Matthew 2 & Luke 2: 1-20)

Personal Reflection: 

There are many aspects of my life that have come about in an abnormal or unexpected manner and since an early age I have struggled with feeling “out of place”. The earliest occurrence I can remember experiencing these feelings was when my father died and the most recent was the during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In both cases, I felt confused about why those events happened and I often asked God why He would let such bad things happen. However, as I have grown my connection and faith with God, I have realized that in both occurrences God was with me protecting my family and providing support throughout the process. 

Chapter Summary:

The story of Jesus’ birth begins with the Roman census, declaring that all must return to their ancestral towns to register. As a result,...

Girl Truth Advent Bible Study: Unexpected Grace

Characters of The Week: Mary, Elizabeth, & Zechariah (Luke 1:39 & Luke 1:57)

Personal Reflection: 

Like Zechariah, I have on more than one occasion, experienced doubt in God and oftentimes, I find myself asking, ‘How can this benefit me’ or ‘How will God work this out’. However, by remaining doubtful, I am subsequently, blocking my ears and closing my eyes to what God may be trying to speak or show me what His plan for me is. Nevertheless, I must strive to remember that in times of doubt, asking God to bring clarity to my heart will empower me to see and do what I could not do before. In the end, any situation or circumstance that I may face in life (good or bad) is never out of the power of God. Therefore, it is essential that we do not let the doubt and unbelief we may carry, cloud our vision and hinder our ability to see the path thst God has planned for us to take. 

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Characters of The Week: Mary & Joseph (Matthew 1:18-2:23 & Luke 1:26-2:40)

Personal Application: 

This week’s introduction to the story of Mary has led me to reflect on ways that I need to improve my obedience. For me, remaining obedient in my life could be as simple as remembering to thank God every day or as large as avoiding negative thought patterns and/or emotions. For example, in the past I have struggled with anger and taking my emotions out on others. As a result, I have said and done hurtful things to those I love. However, if I had listened to the voice of God telling me to remain silent and treat others with love, many of the behaviors I have had to apologize for could have been avoided. 

Chapter Summary

The beginning of Mary’s story starts in the first chapter of Luke and cannot be described as anything but extraordinary. Specifically, as a young teenage girl, Mary was considered an unlikely choice by both her town and the...

Woman of the Week: Lydia (Acts 16:13-15 & 16:40)

Personal Application: 

Though it is difficult to admit at times, I have found it challenging to remain diligent in working to strengthen my relationship with God. My relationship has wavered, and I confess to periodically turning to Him only during times of trouble or stress rather than maintaining a consistent relationship. In a world of fleshly desires, it is hard to not get caught up in the things that we possess and the desires we want to fulfill. I have found, on more than one occasion, that I tend to gravitate towards taking the easier route and avoiding consequences, than to turn off the television or close the book I am reading and reflect. Either way, in the short timeframe that I have been on Earth, I have discovered the importance of relentlessly running after God instead of running away from Him.  

Chapter Summary:

Lydia, a wealthy and successful merchant of fine cloth, was one of the first to convert...

Girl Truth Teens of Grace

Woman of the Week: Gomer (Hosea 1:1-11 & 3:1-5)

Personal Application: 

All in all, Gomer’s story reminds me of how I have tried to fill a void in my own life with worldly endeavors. Though not nearly as drastic as Gomer’s, I have made choices not too far off from hers and I can relate to running away from God (In Gomers case her husband) and betraying my loved ones. However, my poor choices remind me of how lucky I am to have a family that loves me and will stick by me no matter how much I may hurt them. In addition, I am reminded of how God will always love me and that, in contrast to the world, will not drop everything and run as soon as things become challenging. Overall, this story reminds me of the love, forgiveness, and mercy I am surrounded by and should attempt to provide to others in the present and for relationships to come. 

Chapter Summary

As a prostitute, Gomer was considered an unlikely choice for...

Girl Truth Teens of Grace

Woman of the Week: Esther 

Personal Application:

Throughout the story of Esther's life were many demonstrations of loyalty, obedience, faithfulness, and humility. Personally, for me, I admire Esther’s humility as I continuously struggle with being humble in instances when I need to acknowledge that I am wrong and/or I need to take accountability for the mistakes I have made. In addition, I also struggle with recognizing that I need help and acknowledging that I do not know how to do something. On another note, particularly as a teen, I also struggle with remaining faithful and remembering to express gratitude to God for the blessings in my life. Either way, whether in faith or humility, Esther’s story has reminded me the importance of both and how, regardless of how successful we may be, it is always important to own your mistakes and thank God for the blessings you have experienced in your life.

Chapter Summary: 

Woman of the Week:

Rahab

Read: (Joshua 2:1-24, 6:17-25)

Personal Application:

In the past, I have made choices that were against the nature of God just like Rahab did. As a result, I tend to perceive myself as an individual that never learns from her past and therefore, will never be good enough to do the work of God. However, Rahab’s story proves that God can use anyone that he chooses. Personally, I still struggle to realize that though I may be a sinner, God sees me as His daughter who is more than her mistakes. In the end, I have come to the realization that living as a Christian is less about trying to live life perfectly and more about recognizing my imperfections and accepting that I will always make mistakes. By understanding that my mistakes do not define me and that my identity is in God, I can try to follow His example and behave in such a way that reflects His nature. 

Chapter Summary: 

Though she was well known for being a prostitute in her town...

Woman of the Week

Rachel (Genesis 29-30)

In my own life, I have always struggled with insecurity and jealousy as early as grade school. Specifically, the first time I remember experiencing it was when I lost my father. Shortly after his death, I began to resent that on Father's Day or during Father Daughter dances everyone had a father but me. However, as I got older that resentment and jealousy I once felt morphed into insecurity about my appearance and personality. In the end, our insecurities may never go away. They will continue to adapt to our lifestyles as we grow older. Regardless of the insecurities you may have (whether it is family, appearance, wealth, or choice of career) it is essential to find one aspect of your life that you love and hold onto it. 

Genesis 30 begins with conveying how after being given to Jacob as a second wife-who was tricked into marrying her sister Leah beforehand-Rachel began to feel insecure about herself because of her inability to provide...

Hi Ladies!

Is your daughter struggling with her identity? Does she know what her identity is and where it comes from?

 I want to share 2 points about identity.

1. God determines our identity. I know that seems really simple. I know it seems like “Duh, I knew that.” However, I don’t think people really, truly believe that their identity comes from God. One of the things that we’ve been discussing in our community with our mom and teen daughters is everything originated from God. Human beings were his idea, (Genesis 1:26-27). Not only did God begin our identity as human beings, but He also breathed His life into us and man became a living soul. So every piece of our DNA has the breath, the soul, spirit and the life of God inside of us.

If we were to walk into any art museum we would see paintings or sculptures by different artists. When people look at that art they are trying to determine what the art means and what was the artist thinking. Ephesians 2:10...

During these past weeks I’ve been having conversations with our Girl Truth girls and we were talking about our identity in Christ and how that affects our behavior. A lot of times when we’re trying to talk to teenagers about Christianity or the things of God, sometimes it comes off like a lot of rules. Christians do this, they don’t do that. It can sometimes come off legalistic or religious. Now, we know there are boundaries. There are things that we do and there are things that we don’t do, but the reason WHY we do or don’t do things is because of WHO WE ARE. It comes out from an overflow of who we are in Christ.

So we were discussing this reality from Colossians 3:3, that who we truly are is hidden with Christ in God. I had the girls come up with some visuals of what that looks like for them. For me, I think of it like a cocoon. Me and Jesus are up in the cocoon, in God. Some of the girls thought of a wing or a kangaroo pouch. As we talked...