The Power of Women

Every day I look at my girls and wonder how they are going to impact their world.  More specifically, I wonder how they will impact the lives of the few people they are destined to know, be influenced by and be influencers of.  Women are truly powerful beings, and my girls are headed on their way to being world changers.

I remember when I was desperately trying to become a mother and wondering if I ever did, the kind of children I would raise.  When I had girls the questions grew ever more poignant and ever more pressing.  How was I going to raise these girls to be women of greatness, women of courage, women of compassion and bravery and boldness?  How was I going to combat and wrestle with body image issues and insecurities that were lurking out my very windows anxiously waiting to prey on my little girls.  I know, it seems overly dramatic, but the realities of this world are real.  How was I going to raise little girls that were feminists and yet gentle, who were strong and yet understood their own weaknesses, who were able to speak life even when all around them they were bombarded by negativity?  Hmmmmm.......no wonder I had a few of the baby blues.

Here is the most amazing thing.  As I have journeyed to find my own self I have found this unbelievable clarity in my approach to these little women in my life.  If you want to raise little girls to be strong, be a woman who is strong.  If you want to raise girls that are bold, do bold things where they can see.  If you want to raise confident girls, be a confident woman even when its a struggle.  If you want to raise little girls with a strong work ethic, work tirelessly towards your own goals. If you want to raise girls that speak life into others, speak life into them.  Want a little girl to have BIG dreams? Then be a woman who is tenaciously chasing her own. Remind them daily about who they are, about what makes them special, about how much Jesus loves them about how much they matter.  Speak it, live it, show it, walk it, talk it, repeat it, over and over and over.

That is the Power of Women, and that is how we shape the next generation of bold female world changers.

This month my girls have shown me this power, its already blooming inside of them and the pride that I feel is overwhelming.  When I embarked on this IRONMAN journey I knew there would come a time when the training was all consuming.  That I would choose IRONMAN over them, when I would wonder if they will look back on this time and feel abandoned.  Instead of living in this fear I made the choice to chase my dream, to live boldly, to be strong, to be confident and live this life with abandon.   We have had some hard times, but.......my girls get it.  I have had hard days, long days, weeks where I am tired and simply not sure how I am going to get the training done and they have become my greatest life givers.  Twice in the past 2 weeks I have had moments of weakness where I have admitted to them, "Girls, I don't know how I am going to do this." To this they respond, "Go Mommy!  You can do this because you are strong!"

They don't feel abandoned..........they feel empowered.  They feel part of something greater than themselves and it has brought out the greatest things inside of them.  By choosing to live my own life courageously I have discovered the secret to raising my girls well.  Be the example of how you want your little girls to be.  Love daringly, show kindness unashamedly, celebrate yourself, live courageously, speak life to those around you, dream big, shut out negativity, show bravery and live a life of joyful abandon.