Three Ways to Show Your Daughter Your Love

Connecting with a growing girl isn't always easy. She's moody. She's stubborn. She's changing and sometimes it feels that she's leaving you behind. You've got to step up your game and be diligent to find and make connections with her. Keep trying! Don't ever give up when it comes to showing your daughter that you are interested in her, her friends, and her life. Check out these three areas to focus on:

Winning words. Use your words today to affirm your child. Shore her up with language that encourages and uplifts. Try these:

• I love you!
• You are beautiful!
• Jesus loves you!
• God made you so very special!
• Cute outfit! 
• Your hair looks nice.
• I am glad God gave you to our family!
• I am so proud to be your mom!
• I noticed how (fill in the blank with a positive character trait, such as kind, helpful, generous) you were when you were dealing with so-and-so yesterday. I like seeing God's love shine through you.

Connect with your daughter at a Pure In Heart Conference!

Loving looks. How do you look at your girl? Do your eyes and your expressions convey your love? Let them! Sometimes we moms get so busy we do not stop to enjoy just looking at our daughters, just enjoying the funny, adorable things they do! They notice when we give them a look of love!

Absolute affection. Some moms may find they come up short in this department. It is not that you do not love your child, it is just that you were not brought up to be affectionate. Ask God to help you be liberal in open displays of love for your daughter! Hugs, kisses, cuddles—these are moments both you and she will cherish! Your lavish affection for your child will do some unseen work in her heart and mind: It gives her security and peace.

Btw, need I remind you that these are things that take TIME to do? Take time today to show your daughter that you are interested, you care, and you really do love her.

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More about the Young Woman of Worth Conference

If you're visiting today because you live in or around the Bowling Green, KY, area, a special welcome to you!

Hey Everybody,

Danya and I have a couple of promotion events scheduled today in Bowling Green, KY, as we gear up for the Young Woman of Worth Conference coming up on Saturday, August 1st! We'll be going by Christian Family Radio to visit with Suz on The Morning Cruise. Then we'll pop over to WBKO's MidDay Live.

Today's young women face so many challenges. One of those struggles is with their self-image. Girls are sent conflicting messages that leave them feeling confused and isolated. For example:

• Look like a street walker in the way you dress, but be a girl who is respected by the guys.


• Play dumb in order to gain laughs and popularity, but make sure you get the grades you need to go to a good college.


• Have a boyfriend that you've been dating for a year or more, but don't get serious with him or plan your life around him.

Those are just a few instances of things real girls have said they deal with. The only person who can lead a double life and get away with it is Hannah Montana, an image most 10th - 12th grade girls today have seen getting lots of attention over the past several years. But honestly, there is no way to have the best of both worlds. It's just conflict and chaos.

So where does that leave a young woman? What is she to think about herself? How does she reconcile the image the world pushes on her outwardly with the image of God that nudges quietly from the inside? She has to know what she is worth, and that has to be a place, a standard, a depth of certainty that she can go back to time and time...and time...again.

The Young Woman of Worth Conference is a day set aside for girls to learn what they are worth. And here's something I've discovered: Whether it's a diamond ring, a baseball signed by a Hall of Famer, or a beautiful shawl that a wonderful husband brought home all the way from Kenya, when you know how much something is worth, you know how to treat it. I believe that once we lead girls into an understanding of how much they are worth to Christ Jesus, the Lover of their souls, how much they are valued, and how much they are loved by Him--then they will know how to treat themselves (and one another).

Please pray for this conference!