My Twelve New Daughters, by Sally

I have enjoyed my life of raising three wonderful sons. They are a delight. I must admit that I even enjoyed being the only gal in the place. I even enjoyed the locker room atmosphere of our home, from living around the US to living in Sentani, Irian Jaya and on the Micronesian island of Yap. Our house was always noisy with lots of activity from these lads.

I have a wonderful story of a time when we lived in Sentani, Irian Jaya. One day my friend, Eloise, who has three daughters, was over for an afternoon chat. All of a sudden our three sons came home from school. They hit the house with activity and noise. They made their way to the kitchen and were rough housing around with our houseboy, Jusak. They were laughing and loud. All of a sudden Eloise announced that she just had to go home. It was just too noisy for her. I think I looked at her in astonishment and asked, "What noise??" I didn't notice it.

Awhile later I was at her home when her three lovely daughters came home from school. They walked quietly into the house, but were grumbling with each other. I heard comments like, "Mom, you know what Kim said to me today?" "Mom, Barb hurt my feelings today." etc., etc. After awhile I announced that I had to go home. I couldn't take the whining any longer.

Get it?? We were use to the complexion of our homes around the three children that God had given to us. I have always been glad that I have sons.

I do love girls. I have wonderful daughters-in-law and wonderful granddaughters, a great-granddaughter and even a great-granddaughter on the way. Over the years, I have met and counseled with many lovely young ladies and have enjoyed their friendship and have looked at them as Spiritual daughters.

Last weekend God gave me twelve new Spiritual daughters. Brenda and I spent the weekend with twelve lovely young ladies who love Vessels & Flowers, love each other, and most importantly love Jesus.

They found V & F in different situations and fell in love with finding out how wonderfully God had created them. At the beginning of the weekend we asked them to tell us how they learned about our book and what it meant to them. In each case the book met a specific need for them. Each had something they either didn't like about themselves or something they couldn't understand about themselves. And V & F answered that question for them. They all found out that God had created them this way and it was okay to be who they really were.

Another marvel that I saw was that these 12 gals honestly respected and loved each other. It was a true Sisterhood. Some of them were meeting for the first time, but they accepted the other with love and respect. We played a game where one by one we turned our backs on each other and the group would tell nice things about that person. I noticed that there was no silence. No one had to think up something nice to say. They immediately began to praise each other. That is rare in a group even of Christian young women. That impressed me.

And most importantly, these gals loved Jesus. They loved talking about Him. They honored Him in all that was done. Yet they had fun. Even amidst all the hormones there was so much laughter and joy.

I will never forget this last weekend. I will never forget these wonderful gals. It is a friendship that will last into eternity.

I love you Sisterhood gals. I love knowing you and I love learning from you. Yeah!!! I now have 12 special daughters!!!

Huggies,