Restoring All Things Girls

As recently as a few decades ago it was common for unmarried women to store household items for an impending future event, such as marriage. In use for centuries, the hope chest (also known as a dowry box or a glory box) was a means by which women could contribute to the home they would one day share with their husband.  Things included were homemade items or items given to her by relatives.  Hope chests normally included treasured items handed down by generations such as china, silver ware, cookbooks and quilts. Whatever became of this time honored tradition?   It is a conversation that never comes up. Times have certainly changed.  It is my hope to re-introduce this tradition back to our young girls.  What a wonderful way to encourage a young girl to prepare for her future. Whatever her career choice is, whether outside the home or to be a stay at home mom, the point is to take the time to prepare her.   With gender roles becoming  more undefined in our society, young girls ar

On any day or night, a young girl can be found before a mirror or an open diary asking: “Am I pretty?” Pretty  is a powerful word that has been the source of so much pain, and has led to many fractured hearts, minds, and relationships. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, someone who is  pretty  is “pleasing by delicacy or grace; [has] conventionally accepted elements of beauty; and appear[s] or sound[s] pleasant or nice but lack[s] strength, force, manliness, purpose, or intensity.” The dictionary defines the word  beautiful  as a “quality…that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.” So, prettiness is the shallowest and most conventional form of beauty, but beauty has an expansive meaning that can include exaltation of the mind or spirit. It is no wonder that the Bible portrays beauty as a transformational force that encompasses, but also extends beyond the senses to exude an internal sense of wellbeing, joy, and contentment.

The decision to go before the king and plead on behalf of the Jewish people was a pivotal time in Esther’s life.  She understood that going before the king without being summoned would bring death, unless the king extended the golden scepter. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, admonished her by saying, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place; but you and your father’s house will perish.  Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Esther requested the Jewish people to pray and fast for three days, and she and her maidens did like wise.  After three days, Esther went before the king and God gave her favor.  The king extended the golden scepter that was in his hand and Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter (Esther 5:2). Like Esther, many young women today are in challenging situations; whether it is an abusive relationship, prostitution, addictions, eating dis