Now, I’m no parenting expert – I’m mean I’m only 17 years into this gig. However, Frank, my sisters, and myself (it takes a village, y’all) have always made a conscious effort to build our girls up.

We don’t talk about weight. We talk about being strong. We don’t talk about how we look in clothes. We talk about being healthy. We don’t talk about following trends. We talk about feeling good.

We compliment. A lot.

We build up. Every single day.

The other day Maggie and I had to unload a huge cooler of crawfish (because if that ain’t Texan) by ourselves because my men weren’t home. Now, please understand the 12 year old girl is freakishly strong – her momma not so much. I said, “Maggie, I’ll try my best but you know I’m a big ol’ wienie.”

And then she said these words:

“Mom, you’re a lot stronger than you think you are.”

Boom. Hallelujah. Amen. Girl Power.

Guess what I did? I lifted that big ol’ crawfish cooler right up out of the car and into the garage – because SHE said I could.

I said all of that to say this:

▪️If we want women that lift each other up – we need to raise them.

▪️If we want women that will be each other’s biggest cheerleaders – we need to shape them.

▪️If we want women that clap for us – we need to clap for them first.

Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and anyone else – Build. Them. Up.

Build them them so the world can’t tear them down. Build them up so that they, too, will be a builder.

“Kind words are like honey sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24