I currently teach a bible study for middle school girls.
I think what draws me to this age is that, in many ways, I never graduated out of middle school.
I still think fart jokes are funny, I regularly giggle at immature jokes and pranks,
and, even if I don’t say it out loud, I frequently think “that’s what she said” at inappropriate moments.
But it’s not just the silly stuff.
I also still struggle with many of the same feelings of inadequacy that first surfaced in middle school.
I’m not sure exactly when it happens, but somewhere along the way…we start caring about other people.
And that’s good!
But it’s also bad.
Because when we start caring about other people, we start caring about what they think.
And, heaven help us all, what our peers think isn’t always what they should be thinking!
The bible study I’m doing with these girls is called From Head to Foot by Annie Downs.
I was first introduced to Annie by the (in)courage community, where is is a regular contributor.
(Sidenote: There is so much fabulous writing there and I have actually started using those posts as my daily devotionals.)
This book touches on the core issues that girls face.
She starts with your mind, and goes on to eyes, ears, mouth, shoulders, heart, hands, stomach, knees, and feet.
Showing how we should love what we have, protect what we have, and use what we have to become a better person.
And all the things she covers in this book are great, but yesterday we took a little detour.
I’d recently talked to some of ‘my girls’ as well as some of the high schoolers about the bible.
“The bible is boring.”
“It has nothing to do with me.”
“Half of the time, I don’t even know what those words mean.”
All week I mulled over these things that they’d said.
How can I bring this to life for them?
How can I show them that it is for now, it is for us?
And so I decided to do what I do for myself when I feel the same way.
I break it down into my own words.
I tend to be able to handle it better in bite-size pieces.
We went line-by-line and wrote out the each verse.
And then we went line-by-line and ‘translated’ it into our own words.
I was proud of these girls.
(Note that since God is love, we used those two words interchangeably.)
Love (God) is patient and kind. Love (God) is not jealous. It is not stuck up, selfish, stubborn or bratty.
Love (God) is not happy when you do bad things, but is happy with good choices.
Love (God) can take anything, knows the right thing, thinks that you’re important.
God doesn’t give up on you.
Love never ends!
What do you to bring the bible to life? How do you get other excited about God’s word?
**None of these links are affiliate links and this is not a sponsored post. I just think that every female from pre-teen to “keenager” (as I recently saw senior adults called) should read this book.**
First of all, I LOVE that you’re doing Head to Foot!! Annie Downs is a friend of mine. Well, in actuality, her sister is a best friend of mine. 🙂 It was a fabulous read for sure, and I think it speaks to adults as much as teenagers!! Second, one of my favorite things is to interchange the word “love” for “God” in the Bible. I love when I see that others have the same thought process as me. 🙂