You’re Not Worthless!!

We as humans have days when we feel inferior, less than, and worthless especially when there are people or things that contribute to this negative pot of thoughts. This feeling is particularly high in adolescents and teens because of all of the peer pressure, social media sites, and trends that constantly arise. We naturally feel like the number of Instagram followers, likes, and comments are what makes us out to be better people. We feel that the more engagement we have, the more popular we are which means we are awesome people right!?! WRONG!!! This is completely wrong.

It doesn’t matter how many followers, friends, likes, or comments you get. It doesn’t matter how much time you spent putting on makeup this morning. It doesn’t matter how long, straight, or curly your hair is. All that matters is that you are worth WAY more than you think. This stuff is extra fluff. Don’t allow it to validate you as a person.

You are gold honey. You are worth way more than you think. Proverbs 3:15 says, “She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.“ This is after the virtuous woman is discussed in this passage. You may not be a married but this still applies to you. If you didn’t know rubies are one of the most expensive gemstones on the planet. They go for millions of dollars depending on the size, color, and origin. This means that you are worth more than that, yet they will never amount up to you!

You are a child of God and that is all that matters. Just because it’s a major trend does not mean that it’s permanent. Those trends will go away. After those trends are gone you will feel worthless if you keep finding validation in them.

So, we want you to smile. You are worth way more than you could ever imagined. Your life is important on this earth. You are valuable. You were made valuable and the older you get the more precious your life is. We want you to understand that.

Yes, it’s hard going back to school and work and looking at the most popular girl in school get all of the attention for her new hairstyle or purse. We understand because we’ve been there before. Popularity means nothing. Actually, the popular kids in school go through way more than you think. They struggle with peer pressure, amounting up to everyone’s expectations, and feel vulnerable more than the average kids. They just don’t show it.

At the end of the day, we want you to value yourself. We value you, your parents value you, and God values you most. He is so proud of his little princess/prince. Most of all, He wants all the best for you!

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To the Discouraged Dreamer….

You wake up to the sun shining through the windows of your bedroom. You slowly rise thanking the Lord for another day, but the misery still takes over your heart as another day rises and you are still in the place that you are in.

You look at the vision board you’ve worked on over the years with scriptures, pictures, and a list of goals you planned for yourself. You sigh as you see that these items on your list are just that, items that have never come to reality.

Whether you thought your business would have taken off, you would have had that dream job, or a nicer car by now, we completely understand. It’s challenging to keep going when you know that you didn’t plan for your life to be like this. People keep telling you that it will get better but the more you move, the more things fall apart. You hold on to the things you have left but quickly realize that they are falling through the cracks of your fingers like sand. What do you do?

You don’t believe in yourself or your goals anymore. What’s the point?

Giving up is so very easy and it’s especially easy when it seems like everyone around you reached their gold winning Olympic moment. While you are scrolling through Facebook congratulating them on the new jobs, engagements, houses, and little ones, you’re stuck making the last attempt of picking up the broken pieces of your life.

The more time progresses, the more your heart sinks.

This blog is not like everyone’s advice when they say, “It will be okay.” Yeah that may seem strange to say but we are taking a different approach to this topic.

Hope can be such a simple yet complex thing. You have hope when you are feeling down and it’s so easy when you have no other choice. On the other hand, it changes as you wonder why you’re not seeing the manifestations of your work and prayers. This is how hope can turn out to be so…hard.

You slowly feel like hope becomes the enemy because every time you have hope, it slaps you in the face as time passes. What should you believe?

How should you feel?

(You can listen to this song as you finish this blog)

The one poem that comes to mind is “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. The first line always catches the reader when Hughes states, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”

Don’t let your dream(s) die!!! Never let them fall by the wayside and you look back wondering what your life would have been like if you would have achieved them. Don’t sing the “shoulda, coulda, woulda” song for the rest your life.

It’s okay to modify your dream. It’s okay to put them on hold for a while. It’s okay to rearrange them but please don’t let them die. Dreams are meant to live and they are meant to come true. You can do this. It just takes work, sacrifices, money, time, and a whole lot of effort. Any Olympic gold medalist can tell you that there were a lot of things they had to put aside to ensure their place on the team. But if you want it bad enough you will fight hard for it. Dreams take days, months, and years to come to pass but no dream is impossible. Think of Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

At the end of the day, don’t forget that you are in charge of your life. It is up to you to make things happen. As long as you continue to put God first in everything you do, you can do anything and He will direct you. Take advantage of opportunities. Live your life. Most of all, DON’T give up. It’s so hard right now but the more you keep going the closer you are to your dream. Remember the dream is yours!

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Olympic Dreams Start with Small Habits

Kristen Hogrefe

I always get excited about the Olympics, but this year, I’m especially eager in light of my recent ski trip. With my new perspective on snow sports, I know I’ll have a greater respect for winter Olympians and their skills.

The games starting this week highlight the athletes’ best performances, but they don’t reveal the countless hours and early mornings that have led up to the moment. These athletes had to be intentional every day to take the steps and make the sacrifices necessary to reach this opportunity.

You and I may never participate in the Olympic games, but we do have dreams God’s planted in our hearts. What habits do we need to cultivate in order to reach them?

#1: Desire God more

Wait a minute, Kristen. I thought you were going to talk about how we can achieve our goals?

That’s right. Who better to teach us and train…

View original post 365 more words

Blog Feature “4 Dating Rules I Never Learned”

No one taught me how to date. Odds are, no one’s taught you, either. At some point, my parents deemed me old enough to hang out with friends and to have boyfriends, and that was that. (I’m pretty sure no one taught them how to date, either.) A couple years ago, I met the […]

via 4 Dating Rules I Never Learned — Big Sister Knows

Diamond in the Spotlight-BHM

We would like to highlight Jessye Norman as the first Diamond in the Spotlight in celebration of Black History Month.

Photo Credit-National Public Radio

Photo Credit Link: https://www.npr.org/artists/15347875/jessye-norman

Authentic, classy, beautiful -three words that describe the stage presence of Jessye Norman, a world renowned American opera singer from the small town of Augusta, Ga. Yes, right in our own backyard. Ms. Norman was born Sept. 15, 1945. In a 2014 interview at the Chicago Humanities Festival, the opera singer discussed her life story and book, “Stand Up Straight and Sing.” She recalls holding a handheld radio to her ear as she listened to her favorite opera singers every weekend as a child.

Ms. Norman has completed her education through some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions. Such schools including Howard University where she received a music scholarship at the age of 16 and the Peabody Conservatory. Jessye Norman is fluent in various languages including Italian and French as she believes that one should never sing in a language they don’t know. Ms. Norman has traveled around the world where she has gained a variety of life and career experiences she often mentions during her interviews.

Overtime, Jessye Norman has accumulated various awards and honors including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, her place in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and the National Medal of Arts from President Obama. Although these are only a few of her extensive list of work and accomplishments, Jessye Norman has made a mark in the world of opera through her voice. Because of Ms. Norman’s achievements, the Jessye Norman School of the Arts was constructed to aide disadvantaged youth by shaping their crafts in various areas of the arts.

She has definitely earned her spot in Be A Girl Like Me! Inc.’s Diamond in the Spotlight list. Every girl and woman can look at Ms. Norman’s career and character and become inspired by the wonderful work she has done!

Great Fitness Tips!!

Also, I just need to say . . . do not run in your Converse like the woman in the picture above. Get some decent sneakers. Wow, you haven’t run away screaming? Good for you! You’ve made it to the second part of the workout series. Reading about exercising is almost as good as doing it. So…

via 7 Ways to Get Fit This New Year + A Workout Guide! Part Two — SKG fun

Top 8 Confidence Boosting Songs for Women

Teenage girls and women struggle the most when it comes to confidence because we are constantly going through different periods of change. This includes the transition into womanhood, motherhood, etc. It can be difficult especially when life gets in the way to maintain our confidence especially in our capabilities and appearance. So this is our list of favorite confidence boosting songs for women!!

Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars

I Was Here by Beyonce

Overcomer by Mandisa

Stronger by Mandisa

He Knows My Name by Francesca Battisstelli

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys

Superwoman by Alicia Keys

Rise Up by Audra Day

 

 

 

 

Top 8 Confidence Boosting Songs for Girlz

From Jamie Grace to Selena Gomez and Mandisa, there are plenty of confidence boosting songs for young girls to enjoy during their dark days. Yes we will admit, being confident is hard! You will not feel like your best self every day that’s why we wanted to make this post especially for you! Are you ready? Start scrolling baby!!!

1. Girl in the Mirror by Sophia Grace

2. Every Bit of Lovely by Jamie Grace

3. Do Life Big by Jamie Grace

4. Free to Be Me by Francesca Battistelli

5. Gold by Britt Nicole

6. Who Says by Selena Gomez

7. 1 Girl Nation by 1 Girl Nation

8. Girlz by L2M

Sharing Your Insecurities

Every day you go about your life thinking the way you think and acting the way you do not realizing how you value yourself. For instance, for years I tore myself down in the hopes of avoiding the hurt and pain of hearing it from someone else. Over time, I thought that this would help me deal with my insecurities but failed to realize the damage it would cause in the future. I found myself doing this in middle school. I started making comments about my appearance like my teeth, hair, and skin complexion by thinking to myself, “If I say what they’re thinking, it won’t be as bad if they agree instead of them bringing it up first.” This caused tremendous damage to my self-esteem as a preteen and teenage girl. As an adult, I’m still trying to recover from the damage I’ve done to myself. That’s so messed up right!?! I know.

As an adult, I’ve discovered the importance of sharing my insecurities with my sister or at least a very close friend. I shouldn’t validate negative thoughts to protect my confidence. I should say and think positive thoughts to build my confidence.  I remember sharing with my sister how I said or thought things to beat people to the punch and she replied, “You’re creating a defense mechanism out of those things when they are not even true!” I thought to myself, “OMG she’s so right!”

Sometimes what we may think make sense are actually building blocks of self destruction. So, be honest and talk. I know you don’t want everyone to know your business. Your hidden secrets are just that. But in reality, what you may think of as something to be insecure about may be what others think is so awesome and beautiful about you.

Listen to one of our favorite songs while you finish reading this blog! Remember you’re lovely!!

Anywho LOL..

Find friends that will build you up instead of tearing you down. So, even during those hard days, you will have friends that will share encouraging words and compliment you. When they do, DON’T SHOOT THEIR ENCOURAGING WORDS! Embrace them instead.

We as girls and women always slam each others positivity but that’s not good for us, our confidence, or our relationships. Take the comments with a smile on your face. Repeat them to yourself and see how much it will help. Being a confident woman or girl is hard. You will not be confident every single day, but you can work on it. Take more selfies, smile more, do your hair, dress up and see how awesome you feel after doing those things.

You have every right to be a confident, happy, person. Speak more positive things to yourself and do more for yourself. Things such as spa days, bubble baths, hair and nail salon visits can do wonders to your confidence as well. Not only is it a great reason to get out of the house but also surround yourself with more positive and supportive people. And besides, you deserve it! We think you do!!!

New Episodes Coming February!

Hello Everyone! We have new episodes coming for you in February! We will be discussing topics such as dating, college, faith, and much more!!!! Feel free to watch our new channel intro and follow our blog by either signing up via email or clicking on the follow button if you already have a wordpress account!!! Stay tuned.