What Do We Tell the Next Generation?

What do we tell the next generation?

Psalm 78:4 guides us gently into the right answer.

“We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, the wonders he has done.”

In these last few months, I am listening more than I ever have.

New stories have humbled and challenged me.  Some stories are from teenage girls, others are spoken from the voices of exhausted young mothers, and even more are emerging from women, single and married, who are carrying heavy work hours and serving in their communities.  I have made new friends with women I would have never known, and their stories are the jewels that sparkle Hope in this season of writing and sharing.

I began writing about body image because I believed I might not be alone is my desire to heal from years of believing lies about my body.   And I was right.  There’s a force of us, willing to circle together in community, and we want healing for these open wounds.

We want to see the women around us like the Lord sees His beautiful daughters.   We want to see ourselves like He sees us.

And, on some days, that is grueling work.

But the hard work is being pursued because we are doing it together.   We choose to keep each others’ stories confidential, listen without judgment, and challenge each other with questions that are focused on who God is.  He is full of power, full of wonder, completely praiseworthy!

Joyfully, I celebrate God’s goodness today!

Today is Maundy Thursday, the evening marked by many believers as the time Jesus gathered with his disciples, just hours before his betrayal and arrest. He took each of them aside, postured himself to kneel before each one, and washed each person’s feet.  He cared for each of his close friends and celebrated what was to come for them – hard, but full of love.

He spoke to them, pursuing their hearts, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

I celebrate God’s goodness today because the good work of healing is happening. It is in celebrating what is hard, as we love one another, where we often find hope for healing.

That is the story we will share with the next generation — the hard, full of love, journeys we walk alongside one another.  We experience the joy of healing in the presence of our powerful, wonderful, praiseworthy Savior!