{"id":115,"date":"2023-10-19T19:13:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T19:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/blog\/welcome-to-womanhood-celebration-introduction\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T03:33:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T03:33:20","slug":"welcome-to-womanhood-celebration-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/blog\/welcome-to-womanhood-celebration-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Womanhood Celebration\u2014An Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Any sort of puberty or sexual conversation can strike terror in a mother\u2019s heart, but it truly does not need to be this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step is to change our OWN mindset. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

How do you tell a little girl she\u2019s going to have a monthly cycle for many years of her life, and it\u2019s going to be accompanied by cramps and headaches and maybe even worse! Yay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uggh! What an impossibility! How do you make it a beautiful, special thing for her when it\u2019s nothing of the sort for yourself? When my mom told me about a monthly cycle all those years ago, I got spittin\u2019 angry and said I wanted nothing to do with growing up! Unfortunately, (or should I say thankfully) I had no choice. Time kept marching along. New signs of adolescence kept appearing\u2026and eventually the dreaded cycle began. And here I am, 25 years later, with whacked out hormones, years of endless infertility, multiple doctor visits to no avail\u2026all related to that one little simple word\u2026period. How am I supposed to make THAT appealing to a little girl who\u2019s barely double digits?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took some mind set adjusting, some real thought as to what is going on in our world, and one good God to help me realize that a period is an INCREDIBLE GIFT! Truly\u2026a gift from the Lord to safely grow precious, little miracles made in HIS image<\/strong>. Little miracles to nurture, to protect, to train for many years, and then watch them transform like a fuzzy little helpless caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly ready to launch out into the big world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What other creation on planet earth gets to grow miracle babies in His image?! None. Only the very special woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Satan hates and wants to destroy every good thing the Lord has made. His attack on the family is overwhelmingly evident in our world today. His attack on something as simple as a monthly cycle\u2026puberty blockers, testosterone shots, you name it. These woman DON\u2019T WANT A PERIOD\u2026they don\u2019t want babies. They don\u2019t want to be a woman at all. Why? Because they hate God. They hate everything that has to do with God. And periods have to do with God because He is the one who came up with such an amazing design. A woman cannot grow a baby any other way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if the devil wants to destroy what the Lord has made, then it\u2019s our job as followers of Christ to do everything we can to PROTECT and PRESERVE the sacred calling of a WOMAN. So, in our home sweet homes, we should strive as much as possible to infuse our girls and our boys (God\u2019s image bearers) with the beauty of His plan. To be a woman is a special gift\u2026a unique calling. Raising beautiful, godly girls who ARE thankful for the role they get to play in God\u2019s creation plan, is how we fight the battle in our modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is why we choose to CELEBRATE it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the beauty and making womanhood attractive to my own daughter has been my quest over the last few years as signs of growing up begin to peek out. I wanted the conversation to be beautiful. I wanted it to be special. I for sure didn\u2019t want it to be scary! And most of all, I wanted her to know that she is \u201cfearfully and wonderfully made,\u201d by a GOOD GOD who has a very special plan for her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So mama, no more, \u201cUggh! I hate monthly cycles!!!!!!\u201d Instead, let it be, \u201cThank you Lord, for the gift of a monthly cycle. Because of that, I was able to nurture and grow this beautiful little girl, made in your image, whom I now have the very SPECIAL privilege of teaching your amazing design for her unique body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conversation Begins as Soon as They can Talk<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I know many here have girls on the brink of puberty, but many more have toddlers and preschoolers, and I want you to know that THAT AGE is where the conversation starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kids ask the most embarrassing questions. Don\u2019t laugh it off and not give an answer. You can answer young children in very age-appropriate ways, and it literally is no big deal to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMom, how do babies come out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, honey, they grow in the womb and come out of a place called a birth canal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s that simple when they\u2019re preschool age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Become a pro at answering awkward questions well. Allow conversation to happen around those questions. Build a relationship around those questions. And always finish a conversation by telling them they are more than welcome to come to you ANY TIME they are wondering about something. This gives your children reason to come to YOU with the questions they have and not feel embarrassed to ask. They should KNOW that you are a safe place to come to, that they can talk to you about ANYTHING and that you WILL answer them as best you can. Drip, drip, drip this conversation throughout their little lives, and you\u2019ll know when it\u2019s time to go a little deeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children are curious though, and they always want to know more. Sometimes, especially as they start reaching those middle years and older, your answer doesn\u2019t suffice, and that\u2019s when I pull a card out of Corrie ten Boom\u2019s father\u2019s pocket. And it works amazingly well. For the questions I can\u2019t answer quite yet, I always share this story about when Corrie asked her father a question he couldn\u2019t give an answer for at her age:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.

\u201dWill you carry it off the train, Corrie?\u201d he said.

I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

\u201dIt\u2019s too heavy,\u201d I said.

\u201dYes,\u201d he said, \u201cand it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It\u2019s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.\u201d<\/p>

~Corrie Ten Boom<\/h5> <\/div> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I have told this story to my daughter many times. In fact, after sharing something with her in our Welcome to Womanhood Celebration, she asked, \u201cIs there more for you to tell me later?\u201d When I assured her that, yes, there was, she said, \u201cOh, it\u2019s one of those \u2018you carrying the suitcase things?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gets it, and she\u2019s satisfied with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It really Comes Down to Relationship<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This conversation really thrives on a good relationship with your children. If you\u2019ve been listening to all their prattling, answering all of their crazy questions, playing with them often, just being there for them always and tying those heart strings their entire lives, the puberty conversation, although a little awkward for us parents, is just a natural (and healthy) next step for them. It really is no big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Welcome to Womanhood Celebration<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve been building a relationship with that little girl from the day you brought her home from the hospital. You\u2019ve been answering all of her awkward questions as best you can, you\u2019ve been watching her blossom into a beautiful young lady all too fast. And now it\u2019s time for the conversation you\u2019ve been dreading!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relax! It\u2019s actually something to really look forward to! If done right, it\u2019s a really exciting time for both you and your daughter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get started, you\u2019ll want to get yourself a copy of the book Before Your Tween Daughter Becomes a Woman<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. (Amazon Affiliate) It is full of great ideas to come up with a fun little celebration of your own!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you need help with the puberty conversation, get yourself a copy of Growing up With God, Level 1,<\/em><\/strong><\/a> by Gather Round Homeschool. (They offer the study for both girls and boys!) I have done a lot of research to find a good fit for our family. So many books have struck out, but this little study has been the perfect thing for us! It is well written, tastefully illustrated, and most importantly, glorifying to God in His beautiful plan for our bodies. Another benefit is that the lessons do not share about the opposite genders. There are three levels, so they can grow with your girl as you\u2019re ready. (I\u2019ve only previewed level 1, but have high hopes for future levels.) The lessons are written for your child to go through by herself, but I\u2019ve preferred to go through the lessons out of order with my own daughter as she\u2019s ready for them. So far the lessons we\u2019ve gone through together have been really well done, and I\u2019m happy to finally be able to recommend something that\u2019s so needed in our up-side-down world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am all about having those continual open conversations, but I sure am happy for a tool like this to help me cover all the bases and make sure I\u2019m not missing anything important all while being done from a Biblical perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s time to do some planning of your own!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy planning a wonderful womanhood celebration for that beautiful girl of yours! She\u2019s growing up too quickly! Don\u2019t miss your opportunity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Some links here are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases. So THANK YOU!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Any sort of puberty or adolescence conversation can strike terror in a mother\u2019s heart, but it truly does not need to be this way. <\/p>\n

How do you tell a little girl she\u2019s going to have a monthly cycle for many years of her life, and it\u2019s going to be accompanied by cramps and headaches and maybe even worse! Yay! <\/p>\n

Uggh! What an impossibility! How do you make it a beautiful, special thing for her?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[67,275,276,445],"tags":[57,440,435,437,64,436,438,50,31,56,441,439,444,443,442,434,55],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adolescence","category-motherhood","category-parenting","category-tweens","tag-adolescence","tag-build-relationships","tag-celebration","tag-girls","tag-girls-only","tag-growing-up","tag-growing-up-with-god","tag-motherhood","tag-parenting","tag-puberty","tag-raising-girls","tag-relationship","tag-tween","tag-tween-girl","tag-tweens","tag-welcome-to-womanhood-celebration","tag-womanhood"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/IMG_5460.jpg?fit=1600%2C1067&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfulandflourishing.org\/staging\/9315\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}