Raising a Princess in a Commoner's World

This is a blog post I wrote for Tyndale several months ago. 

     Your daughter is precious to God. As a child of the Heavenly King, she is his princess—and so are you! Raising your daughter to be a princess in today's world is no easy job. While it might be tempting to isolate and shield her from a world full of the wrong values and priorities, it's more important to help her learn to stand out and live out God's plan for her.

            Want to help your daughter live as a princess in today's world? Model what a princess of the True King looks like. This can be a natural part of your day as everyday routines and circumstances become teachable moments.

Be joyful

            Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Philippians 4:4 How many times have you been out with your children running errands when you encountered a grumpy cashier at the grocery store or a rude fast food worker? Bad moods are contagious so don't spread them. Instead, respond with a smile and a kind word. It may make a difference for that person, and it will show your daughter that princesses don't have to let others steal their joy. They can spread joy instead.

Put Others First

            Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-4 We live in a "me first" world. If your daughter is exposed to any kind of media, she'll quickly pick up on that attitude. People do many foolish and ungodly things for attention. Let your daughter see you putting others first. That begins in the home as she sees you taking care of your family's needs. Encourage her to let a sibling have the first turn or the last piece of cake.

Be involved in ministry opportunities which allow her to meet others' needs. That could mean donating food to the food pantry, sorting out clothes to donate to the homeless shelter or finding a neighbor who needs a helping hand.

Celebrate Your Uniqueness

            Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalm 139:14 The pressure to act like everyone else in order to fit in is strong. But God made your princess in a unique way. He gave her the talents and personality she needs in order to fulfill his plan for her. Encourage your daughter to be true to herself whether she's athletic or musical or a scholar. Let her see you exploring your talents and being true to yourself and God, and encourage her to do the same. She's one of a kind.

Guard Your Heart

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 The things your daughter sees and hears cannot be unseen or unheard. Watch for the subtle messages that creep into your home through books, DVDs, magazines, music and television. Know what your daughter is reading, seeing and hearing. It makes a difference. What fills her heart will influence her attitudes. If you want her to have the heart of a princess, provide things for her to read and watch that will accomplish that goal. (see my blog post http://just4christiangirls.blogspot.com/2014/09/best-christian-books-for-preteen-girls.html  for a list of the best Christian books for preteen girls)

Make God's Word Your Guide for Life

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

Society's view of right and wrong is flawed. Things that were not acceptable twenty years ago are now flaunted openly. But God's standards never change, and the Bible is the guidebook for living life as a princess here and now. Help your daughter find a Bible she can understand. Supply her with a devotion book that's written for her age group and interest level and encourage her to read it. My children are motivated by being able to stay up a few minutes past bedtime if they are reading a daily devotion book, and that may be all the motivation your daughter needs too.

Raising a princess doesn't require dressing her in pink or buying her a tiara. It means connecting with her on a heart level that allows you to instill the values and attitudes she needs to live as a princess of the True King. 

These are only a few suggestions about how to raise a princess in a commoner's world. Add your own ideas and thought in the comment section below.

More Spring Break

Ty is still at Job Corps in KY. He had a chance to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum with some of the GO crew.

I think we can crop this to look like a real baseball card, but I don't have a program for that on my computer.

He's not enjoying the program he's in --IT. But he's had a lot of cool trips and experiences lately like the fire training, rodeo, this museum, Muhammad Ali Museum, Amish store and mall etc. They go to movies once in a while, but often it's not a movie Ty would choose.

Jasmine wore her new necklace to church (see the last post to see how we made them)

 We did a McDonalds' sundae run. It was really our second one this week.

We are still reading Robin Hood, but we were reading a version from 1923, and it was just too difficult for the kids to understand. So I got the puffin classic version from amazon for my kindle, and we started over. Of course you can't read Robin Hood without shooting archery. Well, technically you could, but what would be the fun in that?

This is what happens when you shoot it over the fence. You have to climb over and get it. Unfortunately this arrow was not found.

Kaleb has the best eye for it, but the most trouble with the bow.

He out shot both sisters both times, but we only compete against our own scores :)

Kaleb has his second baseball game tonight. I think we played the least talented team in the first game, and the pitcher walked everyone. They said tonight's team is tough. So our guys are going to have to play strong. I'd love to say Kaleb is an athlete, but unless we are talking about running, it's just not true. But he is trying and improving. And he's having fun with it. We'll see where the season takes him.

Little missy is home today on out of school suspension for stealing and violence. I gave her verses to write about kindness, and she refused to write them. I didn't give her jobs because then she would have gotten my individual attention for the poor behavior. She is going to get to write the verses on Friday when we are off of school. We will be at the beach, so she will not be happy I'm sure. But it was her choice to steal and assault a child and to refuse to write the verses today. Right now she is seeing how horrible she can be. That's a choice also. One that means she can't be with the others because she can't treat them right today. I know some of you reading this blog are going through the same thing, so know that you are not alone. And hopefully all our kiddos will eventually figure out that good choices mean more privileges, and poor choices mean a loss of trust and privileges. Right now she has to be within sight of Rick or I except at Sunday school and school.

I don't want to end on a negative note, so I'll post Jasmine's picture that we got in the mail a few days ago.

This her "attitude" picture. They put them altogether for a percussion picture & woodwind picture.

Love it!

Here is last year's. Both different, yet both uniquely Jasmine.

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Spring Break

We had an at-home, inexpensive spring break.

It started last Saturday with the cookout at the park that I previously posted.

On Sunday morning Jasmine and I were in charge of one of the rooms of two-year-olds. There were 9 kids, usually there are 12 in this room. There is another room of 2's, and we've worked in it also.

2's are fun, and I love doing this with Jasmine.

Sunday evening we didn't have church, so Jasmine and I went to Insurgent.

Remember the picture below that we took last summer in Atlanta?

It was really cool to see this scene in the movie. So if you go see it, when you see them zipline across from the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, think of us.

The kids continued working on the pinata on Monday.

On Monday afternoon, Jasmine, Kaleb and I went to the new Cinderella movie. If you go between 4 & 5 you get a discounted rate, so that's when we try to go.

Many good themes with the overall one being Have Courage and Be Kind. Also a speech from Cinderella to the prince about wanting him to love her if he could accept her as a simple farm girl etc.

On Tuesday we ran/walked in the park and went bowling. I had free game passes so only had to pay for the shoes.

Wednesday night is $1 night at the skating rink. Normally Jasmine has hip hop on Wednesday nights. (She normally has  choir/Bible study on Monday nights) Jasmine was already out skating before I took pictures, and I didn't realize I didn't get any pictures of her.

Jessica joined us after work.

I've had these skates many years. Not even sure when I did get them.

Thursday they continued work on the pinata.

The plan was to get Subway and have a  picnic in a park downtown and then go to the library. But it started to pour, so we ate at Subway, but still went to the library.

 Friday we ended up canceling our plans due to behavior issues, but started reading The Christian Girl's Guide to the Bible during circle time. 

And we started making the nail cross necklaces from page 156 for Easter.

Today we all went to Strange Magic at the $2 theater. The review I read wasn't totally positive about it. It criticized it because the characters randomly break into song. But that is why we all ended up loving it!

We got popcorn and courtesy cups of water. Can you see how dinky the water cups are?

The characters burst into song a lot, and it was songs like Can't Help Falling in Love, I"ll Never Fall in Love Again, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger, Sugar Pie Honey Bunch and other fun songs.

We started painting the pinata

And we finished the necklaces. Jasmine chose a small cross because she made a big one a few years ago.

I have photos of Tyler in KY that I'll post soon.