Do you remember being 10 years old?

I do. I don’t remember every moment but there are definitely a few details that remain forever embedded in my mind.

For instance I remember my best friend, Shaneia. We attended the same church and as far as I was concerned she was the only one who understood just how complicated 5th grade really was. We even created a secret alphabet. That’s right. We assigned each letter a special symbol and memorized them all. This way we could write notes to each other and guarantee that our most sacred thoughts were protected. Not even our parents could crack the code!!

Let’s see…I remember Deon. He was the crush of the entire 5th grade class!

And I remember that my favorite candy was a Snickers Bar, ok well that hasn’t changed…

But mostly I remember church—my family spent a lot of time there. I remember looking around and thinking I wanted to pray like “that.” And I couldn’t wait to grow up and get to know God the way all of the adults did.

Now that I am a raising 4 girls of my own…one 10 year old…I often wonder if her memories will be similar to mine at her age.

I know there will be names and stories that make her and her best friend giggle. I know there are certain candies and treats that make her smile and I wonder if they always will.

But lately I’ve been wondering more and more about what she will remember about God and what part I can play in embedding a few details in her my mind and in her heart.

I pray that she knows how much God cares about her and wants to be a part of her world today. So I am praying for her and seeking His wisdom. I don’t want her to want God when she grows up…I want her to want Him now!

I want her to know that God cares about her friendships, her science test, her favorite outfits, her fears and that He even has a few thoughts on the class crush!

You and I both know we cannot give our daughters our personal blueprints for building a relationship with their Creator, but I believe we can set the stage and give them His Word in a way that they can relate it to their lives.

Here a few things we can do:

1. Be the example. Always look for opportunities to apply God’s word to your personal situations and talk to her about it.

2. Spend time with her, listen to her and remember what it was like to be her age.

3. Encourage her to grow with a friend!

4. Know the genre of stories she enjoys and point her there in the Bible. For example, if she loves stories about friendships, tell her about the Book of Ruth! If she is into scientific adventures, then show her Genesis and the story of Creation! Show her that God knows about everything she loves!

5. Make it a personal journey. Give her a Bible of her own and give her the freedom to doodle, take notes and highlight all throughout the Book that God wrote for her.

Check out the new For Girls Like You Devotional to encourage your girl in her relationship with Christ!

Pre-order it here!