What Does Beautiful and Brave Really Mean
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Includes a children’s book giveaway
What does beautiful and brave really mean?
In an age when beauty seems to be revered more than ever, the saying that it’s only skin deep seems to be more true than ever. While the digital age pummels our vision with what seems to be beautiful and society promotes what appears to be brave, the truth is that only by seeking out what God says about these characteristics can we begin to understand their definitions.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30
Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them and don’t be frightened, because the Lord your God will go with you. He will not leave you or forget you. Deuteronomy 31:6
Beautiful
The need for me and my girlies to understand that beautiful doesn’t mean wearing the latest dress or the perfect hair style is critically important. Dresses are wonderful and hair- well, everyone needs a good hair day. Preferably more than once a week.
But I want my girls to see true beauty- the kind that goes beyond the skin and flows from the heart. Beauty is who we are. And it comes in all different forms.
Brave
Being brave means having the courage to take a step. Sometimes brave means “no.” It can be stepping back when the crowd is stepping forward. Sometimes brave means “yes.” It can mean stepping forward when everyone else is stepping back.
For the last 5 weeks, we’ve outlined Women in the Bible: Beautiful and Brave. We’ve reviewed the lives of Deborah, Hannah, Sarah, Ruth, and Mary. All of these women exhibited true beauty and each of them acted bravely on many occasions. From your suggestions in the introductory post, I wanted to provide the next 5 women in the Bible we will study for the series:
Week 6: Esther
Week 7: Miriam
Week 8: Rahab
Week 9: Jochabed
Week 10: The Woman at the Well
Can’t wait to explore the stories of these beautiful and brave women together over the next 5 Wednesdays!
And now I am so excited to share the news of this brand new Bible storybook celebrating great women of the Bible!
Brave Girls Bible Stories teaches children all the wonderful Bible stories of women and life lessons on growing character. Girls will learn Bible stories along five modern-day Brave Girls who are just like them! This books has the stories of 30 women in the Bible. To help you understand the value in this beautiful new Bible storybook, take a peek at this letter to parents from the awesome Tommy Nelson team:
Dear Parents,
If you have a daughter, you know that the deepest desire of any parent’s heart is to see
her happy, confident, and most importantly, deeply aware of God’s love for her. For her
to know how courageous and strong she can be, and that God has a plan to use her life for
good!
Strong, confident girls and women are making a splash in pop culture. From Disney’s
Merida in Brave to Veronica Roth’s Katniss in The Hunger Games, girls are taking their
place as the heroes of the story, and rightfully so!
Women have been a crucial part of God’s story for generations, and the Bible is full of
brave girls whom God used to make a difference. Ephesians 3:20 tells us, “With God’s
power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.
To Him be the glory!”
We are overjoyed to tell you about a new brand making its debut this September that we
hope will speak these truths to your daughters’ hearts, Tommy Nelson’s Brave Girls!
Brave Girls Bible Stories, the first book from the new brand, will help girls grow in their
knowledge of the Bible and in their faith. Your daughters will get to know our Brave
Girls – Hope, Gracie, Glory, Faith, and Honor – five modern-day friends – as they
journey through the Bible together.
The girls are each very different, but they all love Jesus and love each other. Readers will
find parts of themselves in each of the five Brave Girls as they share their strengths –from
sports to fashion – and struggles, including making new friends and working through
dyslexia.
As the Brave Girls narrate, readers will learn such valuable truths from more than thirty
women in the Bible who dared to follow God.
Sincerely,
The Tommy Nelson Team
I know you want a sneak peek! So here you go:
[scribd id=237407420 key=key-q7fRjDvGcDXt3YFTHrjI mode=scroll]
I have two little brave girls who are super excited about this brand new book and guess what?
They want to give a copy of this book to one of you! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment answering the question below. One of my girls is going to randomly pick a winner on Saturday morning from the comments. And your question is:
Which woman of the Bible is your favorite character and why?
For more details on Brave Girls Bible Stories, click here:Brave Girls Bible Stories
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I love studying Ruth! Her loyalty to her family and her devotion to God, despite being very new in her faith, is encouraging to me.
My favorite women in the bible is Esther. She was so brave and was obedient to God and her king. She is a true princess and as a kid I admired her as one day I could learn from her way as an adult. She was opinionated and had a strong will of Gods mercy and grace…. God always was with her and though, she felt uncomfortable in positions that she was put in…. She new she wasn’t alone and God gave her favor on her people. It is wonderful that God is always with us even when we don’t feel brave, he guides us into it! Speaking as I conquered anxiety! God held my hand and I bravely overcomed it.
Esther -she was willing to sacrifice her own life for her people but with God guidance she got the favor of the king not only for her but for all the Jewish people.
Ruth – I have always loved her loyalty.
My favorite woman in the Bible is Mary, Jesus’ mother. The faith she had to have is so inspiring. And at such a young age! 🙂
Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
I know the question asked for only one woman, but I have two trains of thought…I have always loved the Blessed Mother Mary! I love that God created her specially to be the mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus! The beauty of her “YES” to God has always given me a feeling of hope that each day I can say “yes” to God! My other inspiring woman of the Bible is Rahab. She led a life that wasn’t always filled with purity, but God knew her heart and she said “yes” to God when she hid the spies sent by Joshua. She risked her life with faith in a God she had never known. I am encouraged by God’s story for her life. We are all called to say yes to God, even those that others think are not good enough. God says we are all good enough not because of anything we do or don’t do, simply because He loves us! What a blessed gift His love is!
I love Esther and Deborah and Mary (of Mary and Martha) and I gotta give love ego Martha because just the other day I felt The Lord say, quit being Martha over something trivial and you know…so much of my life is like Martha’s! I want to choose Jesus but I’ve got stuff to do and no one is helping me lord!!! Haha! L
I’ve always liked the story of Ruth. Now that I am married, I have a better understanding of what it would have felt like to leave your own country, follow your mother-in-law to her country, and care for her like she was your own mother. What a woman!
Add one more week for the woman with the bleeding disorder who was brave enough to touch the cloak of Jesus. 🙂
I recently read and enjoyed the story of Abigail…she was the wife of a terribly cruel man but was so good at keeping peace and was very brave and quick to take action to protect her family. I love her soft heart towards people even though she has reason to be otherwise.
Mary the mother of Jesus is my favorite. She is nothing like me…I am kind of loud and speak my own mind. But Mary was quite and humble. She never spoke out and defended herself when she knew she was with child. She let God handle the details. She was that way her whole life. Submitting to Gods will, holding, caring for and raising the greatest one ever to walk this earth. Who could ever comprehend her pain at his crucifixion? Truth is, she may have been meek and mild, but she was far from weak. What strength of character she must have had. How brave, wise and trusting in The Father she must have been. Surrender is the word use when I think of her, and surrender is what I strive to do!
I’ve always loved the story of Mary and Martha because they remind me so much of me and my sister. 🙂
But then Esther was so brave…..and Deborah….and Hannah…..There are just too many to choose!
Tanya- YOU WON the book. The girls chose your entry to win the book. We’ll email you to be sure you receive the notice and have a moment to reply with your mailing information.
Mary, mother of Jesus. To imagine what it was like to be visited by an angel, much less to live through the message… To have the child that obeyed! The awe inspiring things that she witnessed from the beginning to the temple with Simeon to the incredible heart break of the cross! To read her story and try to imagine what she was thinking and feeling, there is just no words to describe it!