All about the girls...
My job at camp affords me many opportunities to talk. This summer was no different.
In the morning and the afternoon, everyday, I get to sit and just talk to gals about their worldview and how God would like to present a different picture for them.
To be honest, it always feels like a sacred space to be able to sit across from these very young women and talk about things that I know they aren’t hearing in other spaces.
Things like:
God is very real and He sees you individually.
God created you specially just as you are.
God desired for you to have a mom and a dad- and here’s why.
God sees all the hard you experience and wants to be right there with you- you are not alone.
Being female isn’t equated with the cultural and church stereotypes we so often see.
I’m pretty confident they aren’t hearing much of the story I share because many of our campers:
Are unchurched completely, or very minimally churched.
Are from single parent homes.
Are from homes where at least one parent is incarcerated.
Are living in a culture where the male female marriage is being questioned more and more.
We as a culture are struggling to offer a moral compass to our young people.
Did you know that in 2020 it was estimated that there were 11 million single parents homes in the US with 80% of these being single mothers. In 2022 those numbers rose to 19 million single parents homes. We lead the globe in this tragic statistic. (Pew Research)
Did you know that thirty percent of the adults in North America have experimented with polyamory, threesomes, throuples, and the like. (Thompson, et al., 2021)
Is it any wonder teens today have so many questions and are drawing such drastic conclusions as answers to their questions?
Picture explaining God’s good idea of “gendered image bearers” to young faces with so many questions. Helping them see a picture of a God who delights in their unique differences, and created them within a specific gender.
Young women whose picture of God related to gender is often God telling them “wear this”, “act like this”, “don’t play those sports”... they do not have a real idea of who God is according to scripture.
Young women who see examples in their school of nonbinary or trans individuals. At a season in their life when adolescent hormones, emotions, and feelings bring hosts of struggles, questions, and challenges.
It is into this context that we plop down in a circle and start a discussion. Most of them know me from previous years at camp, and thankfully, most of them come into the conversation trusting me.
We read portions of Genesis together and see a true picture of a God who lovingly created us in His image, and how gender is a part of that.
We talk about stereotypes and how they often muddy the waters in this conversation. They are vocal and energetic talking about how culture tells them how to be female- and how many of them feel outside of that mold.
The idea of being a gendered image bearer was fleshed out for me in the book Fully Alive, He talks about a freedom to live as God has designed us. And how integral the created sex difference is to our being an image bearer. (This would be a great starter for your reading).
So what about you?
I’ve often said that we need a fleet of adults equipped and ready to come alongside teens and young adults. Equipped with the really good news of a relationship with Jesus and His plan for singleness, marriage, gender, and sexuality. Jesus is not afraid of these discussions and we shouldn’t be either.
What are you doing to equip yourself to be a ‘person of peace’ to the next generation?
If you have a desire to be better equipped, reach out! I’d love to sit over some coffee, or send you some resources you could get started reading.
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