Contentment 1/24/12

To start the evening, girls were divided into smaller groups and prepared skits together based on Matthew 6:19-21. The skits demonstrated the way a discontent girl with an earthly perspective would respond to a situation vs. the way a content girl with an eternal perspective would respond.

As always, the girls were very creative & the skits were quite humorous. After skits, we sang "Who Will Shine God's Light?" from the Bright Lights CD. I am always so blessed by the girls sweet voices filling our basement!

This evening we had a special treat! One of our older girls, Jessica, taught a special lesson on contentment. She talked about pride, and how it is the main cause of discontentment in our lives. She challenged the girls to put God & serving others first. She did an excellent job, especially since it was her very first time to teach a lesson!

After a time in small groups for discussion & prayer, we ended with tea & dessert.

I look forward to seeing you all for our next meeting on February 14th as we begin Set 5 together! If you're doing 4:12, I'll see you before then on January 31st!

Set 4 Testimonies

Here are a few of the testimonies girls wrote last semester after we finished Set 4. I hope you'll enjoy reading these & rejoice in what God is doing in our group this year!

"Courage to Stand Alone was my favorite lesson. I learned about this a few years ago, but it's always good to be reminded again because we are humans and slip up. I know for myself, I tend to find myself wanting to "blend in" but instead I need to tell myself that God has called me to a higher purpose and I should be serving my Lord instead of myself." -age 14

"Although the lessons have influenced me in more ways than I can count, the way God has most used Bright Lights in my life is giving me boldness. There have been other factors that have helped me with this issue, but Bright Lights has definitely been one of the most important influences.

About two years ago, I was extremely shy... I avoided praying out loud, I was terrified of what people would think of me, and I didn't want to step out of my comfort zone for anything. Although I wanted to serve others and witness, I was afraid to take the first step to doing so. However, lessons like Presenting the Gospel, Sensitivity and Humility convicted me of my selfishness and pride, and God helped me to begin to change. Being a small group leader literally shoved me out of my comfort zone, but it surprised me how quickly my comfort zone was enlarged, so I started reaching out in other ways. Several important times this year, I've felt God prompting me to do something... when I obeyed, even though I was afraid, God would bless what I was trying to do and although it was usually just as hard as I thought it would be (if not more so), it wasn't impossible... and it was worth it.

I'm still shy. I'm still afraid of what people think of me. I'm still selfish and prideful. And I always will be. But God is changing me. Day by day, He's molding me into the person he wants me to be. It's hard; it's a painful process. But He knows what He's doing, and I wouldn't have it any other way." -age 15

"One decision I have made this semester, after we learned about protecting ourselves from polluting influences, is the commitment to submit to my father's rules while I live in his house. It has made a big difference in my life. I am following his rules better and respecting him more. I have also tried to follow my mom's rules more too. The other lesson that had the most impact on me is the one where we learned that standing alone is going to be hard but rewarding. It impacted me most because I do stand alone sometimes at school. But I know that even the times when I don't have friends I can still believe that God knows what He is doing. The Lord is showing me more on how to pick true friends and how to better obey my parents." -age 10

"This semester in Bright Lights there were a lot of important lessons. All the lessons were very helpful for me but I think the one that helped me the most was the lesson on having the courage to stand alone. I have never actually stood up alone for what I believe in, there have always been other people to stand up with me. But, as it says in the lesson on standing alone, before we can apply the other lessons we learned in this set we have to gain the courage to stand alone. This has opened my eyes to all the chance I have had to stand alone, and I haven't. I have been praying four courage to stand alone with God. And for a chance to stand alone for him. Once we have the courage to stand alone in God, we have the ability to stand up to our friends for what we believe in, to use discernment with our words and to stay away from polluting influences." -age 13

"One Bright Lights meeting, we were talking about friends. Allison mentioned that we should evaluate our friends by how they treat others (especially their siblings). I realized that if people evaluated me that way, they probably would not want to be my friend! That thought has helped me set a goal for myself and it's given me more of a desire to be kind to my brother and sisters." -age 11

"I was always concerned about how I looked. I didn't like my hair style. I thought my clothes looked weird compared to the girls' clothes at school. I also wanted to wear make-up. I also was worried about how I talked. I didn't want to talk about Jesus to other kids at school. I wanted to talk about what they wanted to talk about. I also wanted to act cool. I didn't want to be the odd one out. I wanted to have a friend at school. So, I started to act like the other girls at school. I always wore tight jeans and started to wear lipstick, like the other girls. I also started to use the words they were using and began talking a little too much in class. I also had a different attitude about things.

After discussing the lessons this semester, I started to do things God's way. I started talking about Jesus to other girls at school. I paid more attention to who I was hanging out with. I need to hang out with someone God would approve of. I didn't talk as much in class. I changed myself to be more and more like God. I understood things better about what God looks for in a person.

Now, I realize I don't want to be like the other girls. I want to be like Jesus. I also want to be a Bright Light to others and be noticed as a follower of Christ. This semester has really helped me know who I want to be and what a fully devoted girl for Christ should look like. I want to be able to stand alone." -age 12

"Two chapters from our lessons really meant a lot to me, they are: "Friends" and "Polluting Influences." The "Friends" chapter has made me think more about what kind of friends i choose, and whether or not they are a Godly influence or a bad influence. The chapter on "Polluting Influences" has helped me pay closer attention to what I watch on TV, especially kids' shows that promote boy/girl relationships or anything with bad language. I'm making a commitment to honor God by saying "no" to things that tempt me to think bad thoughts or do bad things." -age 10

"I think Bright Lights impacted my life in the lesson where I had to accept the way God made me. I used to always think that I wasn't beautiful, then I found Psalms 139:14, 'And I praise your for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.' That changed the way I thought about myself. Plus, Genesis says that we are made in God's image! And Bright Lights has really helped me grow on that because I am surrounded by lots of other Christian girls that are friends with me no matter what I look like." -age 11

Q&A Meeting

This meeting was a little unusual because there wasn't a set lesson topic. Instead, Allison answered various questions girls had submitted at our previous meeting and shared about some new happenings for the semester.

We began the evening with a game called "mingle" where girls got to walk around & then get in groups by certain criteria (same color shirt, same town, etc.). Once divided into groups, they were given a discussion question to answer amongst themselves. Then, that pattern was repeated.

After Allison's time of sharing, the girls signed up for pen pals & then went to their small groups for relationship building, discussion & prayer. We ended with tea & dessert.

I look forward to seeing you all again on January 24th!

Christmas Party!

What a great time of celebration, fellowship & laughter we shared together at our Christmas party this evening! The K. family graciously allowed us to have our party at their restaurant, Dr. Jazz Soda Fountain & Grille.

We began the party with a snack of soda & yummy french fries while teams planned a music presentation. Each group was assigned a style in which they had to present the song "Jingle Bells" in.

These performances were quite entertaining and gained quite a few laughs. :)

After the game, different girls took turns reading portions of the Christmas story to the group.

In between each reading, we sang a selection of Christmas carols.

After that, various girls volunteered to come to the front and share testimonies they had written about this past semester of Bright Lights.

It was wonderful to hear some of the ways the Lord has been working in our group this year and all the commitments that were made.

We ended the party with an hour of ice cream sundaes & fellowship!

It's amazing the silly effect sugar has on young ladies at night. ;-)

It was a great evening of celebrating Christmas together & enjoying spending time with new and old friends. Have a very Merry Christmas! I'll see you all in January!

Standing Alone 12/6/11

We ended our set on holiness this evening with a lesson on standing alone. I explained to the girls that in order to apply everything we learned in this set, we have to be willing to stand alone, be rejected & viewed as foolish in order to stand with our commitment to Christ and His holiness.

I encouraged the girls to live their lives with courage, seeking to walk in the fear of the Lord rather than the fear of man. I also reminded them that in standing alone we are never really alone, for God has promised to always be with us & never forsake us.

During the lesson, we played a game where various girls acted out a character of the Bible who stood alone while I read a description of that character. After the charade & description was finished, the group tried to guess who it was.

The girls were challenged to learn from the example of these Bible characters as they sought to stand firm for Christ.

After small groups, we ended with tea & fellowship! After a semester of meetings, it's exciting to see the new relationships that are beginning to form as well as old friendships strengthening.

Since our group is so large this year, I have been doing a private tea party with three girls each meeting. This provides an opportunity for me to get to know girls a little better. Instead of a "date" we call this little get together a "fig."

The girls I had a "fig" with this meeting.

We hope to see many of you on December 20th for our Christmas party. Otherwise, we'll see everyone on January 10th for our next meeting!

Father Daughter Meeting on Courtship 11/15/11

What a great time we had last night as all the fathers joined us for our Bright Lights meeting!

We started the evening with a game. The fathers blindfolded their daughters and then had to use only their voice to direct them through an obstacle course. Dads couldn't touch their daughters or move obstacles out of the way.

As the girls walked through the course, there were various distractions of extra noise & the voices of other fathers. Girls had to discern which voice was her father's so she knew the right way to go.

Besides being a fun game, the goal was to encourage the girls that they can trust their fathers. Sometimes our dads can see obstacles that we are not aware of & it's important that we learn to heed their advice. Just like the dads weren't going to purposefully run their daughters into a wall, our dads have our best interest in mind and we can trust them when we need advice about various situations in our lives.

The topic for the evening was on boy/girl relationships and encouraging young ladies to make commitments in this area now, before temptation comes. I challenged the girls to desire the best marriage, joyfully submit to the protection and guidance of their fathers, save their hearts for marriage & learn to delight fully in the Lord while they are single.

I used an illustration with paper hearts to explain the dangers of dating and giving your heart away to various young men before you're married.

After the lesson, the dads and daughters split up into two groups. My dad led a discussion time with the other fathers about what it looks like to guard your daughter's heart and other related topics. Although I wasn't there to hear the discussion, from what I heard, everything went well and the dads are hoping to plan another time to gather, pray & fellowship.

While the dads had their time of discussion, I talked to the girls about a couple more things and then they broke up into little groups and prayed for each other.

Eventually, everyone came back together and my dad & I encouraged each of the fathers to take their daughters on a special date to discuss what we talked about during the meeting.

We also shared a few of our favorite resources on the topic.

We ended the meeting with a time of fellowship over hot chocolate, apple cider & other yummy snacks.

Thank you to all the fathers who took time out of their evening to come be a part of this special meeting! It was a joy to have you all there with your daughters! I look forward to seeing all the girls for our last meeting of the semester on December 6th!

This was our funny picture of the evening.. haha. Enjoy. ;)