IMG_5310

On Saturday, March 7th, Building All Children was invited to speak at a Princess and Pancake event at the First Baptist Church in Jenks.  I was blown away with the planning, decorating, and special activities that were planned for the young princesses.

Upon arrival, guests were greeted by these two special ladies.

IMG_5305

Guests were greeted with a yummy, fancy,  ‘PINK’  delight!!!!

IMG_5309 IMG_5308 IMG_5312

The church had the youth girls dress up, and they treated the young princesses like royalty.  They painted nails, fixed hair, put on make-up, and designed princess crowns together.

IMG_5315 IMG_5316 IMG_5317 IMG_5321  IMG_5319 IMG_5318  IMG_5307

While the young princesses were getting their hair, nails, and make-up done, the mothers came to hear Mr. Jamie (children’s pastor) and me (Building All Children) speak about the “Power of a Mom”.

I brought my daughter’s flower girl dress that she wore as a four-year-old, and I shared how she was ‘chosen’ to be a flower girl at a beautiful elaborate wedding.  For years after the wedding, she talked about how she wanted a wedding just like the one she was in.  I remember thinking as a mom, “How are we going to provide her with the wedding of her dreams?” (her dreams were big), and then one day I realized that she wasn’t really talking about the details of the wedding…she was talking about being loved!  I realized that day that I wanted to teach my daughter about God’s love.  The true and only perfect love, a love that will never end, a love that forgives, and provides Grace.  So how does a mom teach that?  Well, I spoke to these moms about three things to remember as they raise their daughers…

1) MOMs–you were ‘chosen’!  I wanted the moms to know that God chose them to be their daughter’s mommy!  Just like my daughter was chosen to be a flower girl, they were chosen to be their princess’s mommy.  Because God equips us to provide for His children.

2) I shared with them that in order for them to pour into their children, they needed to be ‘filled up themselves’.  Meaning…as moms, we ourselves need to be in the Word, listening to Christian music, and surrounding ourselves with Godly women who can provide love and support!  We need to ‘fill ourselves up’ to be overflowing with joy!  Because joy is contagious!  If we are filled up than we are able to pour into our children.

3) I encouraged them to not depend on someone else to teach their children the Truth!  We often depend on others to provide for our children.  Teachers – teaching our children to read, soccer coaches – teaching our children soccer, and sometimes we expect our church to teach our children the Truth.  Yes, churches do a great job teaching children the Bible and the details of living a Christian life, but scripture tells us to teach our children again, and again! (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)  So we encouraged these moms to know it’s their job to teach their children the Truth, and that they are equipped!

IMG_5303 IMG_5300

Mr. Jamie spoke to the moms about how they are the apple of God’s eye. He reminded moms that it is their job to teach their sweet little princesses about the Bible, specifically to “Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.” ~Proverbs 7:2  He also talked with them about the power of our words.

IMG_5333 IMG_5331 IMG_5329

He shared that the Webster Dictionary has 26 letters that make up the entire dictionary.  How are we going to use those 26 letters?  Are we going to use them to build our children up or tear them down?   Ohhh…the power of our words!  I sure need to remember this….I want my words to BUILD up!!!  When talking to the moms about being “the apple of my eye,” he had the princesses look into their mothers’ eyes, and he asked them what they saw.  The little girls all said, “myself.” Mr. Jamie went on to explain that the little girls watch everything we do.  I loved this analogy!  It helped me understand the power of my actions, and that my children are always watching me.

IMG_5337 IMG_5336 IMG_5334

After we spoke to the moms, they enjoyed breakfast with their princesses!  Very sweet!!

IMG_5324 IMG_5323 IMG_5322

The girls made foot scrub and bath oils….

IMG_5314

I met several young ladies.  Kaitlyn and Kaitlynn coordinated the photo booth to help the princesses with pictures of their fun adventures.

After the pictures were taken, the moms entered back into the sanctuary to hear Mr. Jamie and I speak to the young girls.  I told a story about a Princess/Queen who always worried about her outside appearance…dress, shoes, jewelry, hair, nails, but she forgot about the inside….her heart!  Mr. Jamie shared with the young princesses that they are the apple of God’s eye and He cherishes them!  We talked about the inside of the apple and how it is sweet, tender, and everyone eats the apple for the inside…it’s the best part!  We shared with the princesses how we need to focus on the inside because that’s what God sees…our heart!

“Rather, it should be that of inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:4