#BRING BACK OUR GIRLS: Every Christian Woman's Duty!

The Cry Heard Around the World

A familiar cry, plea, and now growing global mantra screams from my television, Bring back our Girls!  You've heard it too!  The global outrage regarding the kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Nigeria nearly a month ago by Islamic terrorists.  Little was done until the women of this country protested and forced their government under the eyes of international scrutiny. My heart aches for those parents but especially the mothers who know too well  the million ways a woman can suffer and be exploited at the hands of the unmerciful.

Having just celebrated Mother's Day in this country, this tragedy has me thinking about the complicated relationship that exist between mothers and daughters and how important it is that we bring back our own daughters! Bring them back to practical wisdom, godly instruction, and moral fortitude. It's not really that big of a stretch actually and perhaps these women are giving us the boost we need!

Something happens to our precious girls as they begin to mature and try to find their own identity. An incredible bond still remains between mother and daughter but it is tested by emotional fire at every turn.  Sacrifices are made to give our daughters the very best; to educate them and prepare them for worldly prosperity.  But we forget how vulnerable they are even in an assumed protected environment.  It wasn't intentional but only when we witnessed the increasing devaluing of women that exist in Nigeria, and other countries including our own do we heed this wake up call!

I've seen this in my own life and in the lives of women close to me. The emotional cycle goes from emulation (admiring and wanting to be just like their mother) to distancing themselves from everything that remotely reminds you of her. From a daughter's perspective it feels like suffocation when a mother fiercely tries to protect her child from all the upheavals of life even resulting to alienation when the fights over what to wear and who she is allowed to see causes a daughter to shut her mother completely out of her life.  But  Moms you can't give up!   The last stage is appreciation and it's worth waiting for.

Our daughters need us!  They don't know it, can't believe it and will constantly reject our constant efforts to lead them, but like those Nigerian women we've got to do everything we can to bring them back to God's glory. How so? You may ask of a woman who has only sons.  Let  me tell you what I've learned from God's word and the wisdom of many Christian sisters, some who've never birthed a child but have poured seeds of righteousness in other women's daughters:

1.  Tell them the truth. Avoid sugar coating or glossing over the facts of life.  This world is dangerous and will only continue to become so.  They don't need to be blindsided.  (2 Tim. 3:1-9)

2.  Help them find their identity in Christ.  They are a Masterpiece (Ephes. 2:10; Romans 12:1-2)

3. Show mutual respect.  Our daughters are not our possessions.  They are gifts from the Lord and like any gift they won't always suit our taste or preference. (Coloss. 3:21; Psalms 127:3)

4.  Practice unconditional love ALWAYS. They WILL disappoint us some time but let's not burn our spiritual bridges. It may be their only way back from a dark past.  (Rom. 5:8, I John 4:16)  

PRAY FOR THE DAUGHTERS OF NIGERIA BUT DON'T FORGET TO PRAY FOR OUR OWN AS WELL!