The dignity of being a girl.. the wonder of being a daughter

This blog post has been a life time coming.


Growing up what did it mean for me to be a girl?


Growing up what did it mean for me to be a daughter?


There was no emotion.


There was no joy.


There was no delight.


There was no safe place.


There was no declared worth or value.


There was no protection.


Being a girl felt less than.


Being a girl felt like being sentenced to abuse.


Being a girl felt like my intellect was open for critique and criticism in the most forceful of ways.


Being a daughter meant being dominated.


There was no delight in that title.


That title was not a title of honor but of horror.



Being a girl... being a daughter meant being laid vulnerable to all that were stronger.  Sadly too many were stronger.



Until...


Until after many many years I met the real Father.  The one who before any day would even be lived had looked upon my unformed substance and knew me thoroughly.  The Father that would fight for me and wait for me to be able to acknowledge Him as Father.  The Father that would protect me and cherish me and declare over me worth and value.


He is patient.  He is kind. He is full of compassion.  He is full of the most amazing counsel.  He has never left me nor has He ever forsaken me.  In Him I find rest. I find delight.  I find the beauty of being a girl.  His girl, His daughter....   What a most elevated and honored place!


He took me from the places of death and darkness and set my feet upon a rock and empowered me to stand firm with His grace.


He wooed me to the idea that being a girl was a most magnificent thing and being a daughter was even better.  Through His gentleness He won my heart, my confidence, my adoration.  I know what it is like to behold Him, tilt my head and acknowledge.. that He is my God, my Abba Father.  Him,  yes, the Creator of all things, declares over me that my worth is far above rubies and that I am clothed in dignity and strength.  I know what it is like to think world of my Father because He truly is that good.


In Him I see the dignity of being a girl and the wonder of being a daughter.


I had a father that lived upon the face of the earth.  I have a Father who created all things.  All that I ever wanted from one I would never get,  but there are things I wouldn't have even ever known to ask for that I have received from the other.


The dignity of daughterhood.  That statement fills out my entire being.  A word I once could only cringe at now brings with it the greatest delight.  He lifted me from the miry pit and called me His own.  Never ashamed.  Never embarrassed. Never abusive.  Never abandoned.


Culture and circumstance DO NOT get to dictate or determine my worth and value as a girl, as a daughter....  I was not cherished.  I was not protected.  I was not beheld as beautiful.  But that doesn't get to diminish the fact that I am cherished.  I am protected.  I am beautiful.


There is dignity in being a girl.  There wonder in being a daughter.


His love washes over me and into me and through me... His love declares upon me that I am His, forever, and always, His!


I relish in the fact of being a girl and being a daughter...  I realize that there was nothing more I ever  wanted and in the most extreme moments of horror I realize all my heart desired was to be kept safe and loved by a dad.  To not be torn apart by him but to be put together and fashioned and formed by him.  To not be degraded verbally, physically or sexually by him but to be cherished and upheld by him.  All that I ever dreamed of ... all that I ever longed for... all that I didn't even know to wish for or think possible I have found in the arms of the Father of all things.  It would take me over 15 years to be able to meet with God the Father and not be afraid.. but


He waited for me...


He wooed me....


He washed away from me false images...


He guarded my growth... as one who would tend a garden... and He anticipated the day with an immeasurable delight .. The day where my eyes would lift to the heavens and know Him as the safest of places... and know Him as Abba...


I am a girl who loves her God and delights in being His daughter...  The heart of a daughter is held, valued, declared over, protected, strengthened, honored... I know that I know that I know that His words over me are that I am His daughter and in my life He is well pleased... He loves His girls... He loves His daughters... May that reality flood you to the depths of your being...