Self-image might very well be one of the most difficult issues girls and women deal with. We compare our insides to other peoples’ outsides, and if you’re like me, we come up short every time. The real measure we should use is God’s word. Last night, I had the pleasure of speaking to our church’s youth girls and women about self-image. Each gal received a gift: “IT IS WRITTEN.” Jesus Himself combatted Satan’s lies with God’s word in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10), telling him, "It is written..." before quoting scripture. Eventually, He just tells Satan, "Away with you!" We can too! So as our evening came to an end, we listened to "Mirror" by Barlow Girls, an with a permanent marker wrote scriptural truths about how God sees us and who we are in Christ around the outer edge of the mirror, leaving the center clear. Then we took a dry erase marker and wrote a truth we specifically needed for the moment. Now, when we look in the mirror, we no longer see our reflection. We see God’s truth. The center writing can be changed as different scriptures become particularly relevant to address a mindset, struggle, or circumstance. Here are the scriptures and the key words we used to represent them, starting with “IT IS WRITTEN” in all caps at the top. Scripture Words for Mirror I Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” Beauty/heart I Peter 3:3-4 “…let your adornment be…the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Gentle/quiet spirit Proverbs 31:30 “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Fear the Lord Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” God’s workmanship For a purpose Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” His image 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” New creation Psalm 139:14 “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Wonderful Marvelous Luke 12:7 “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Valuable Psalm 8:3-5 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Cared for Romans 8:15-17 “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” & Revelation 19:16 “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KINGOF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Adopted Heir Princess I Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” His temple Romans 9:25 “As indeed he says in Hosea, ‘Those who were not my people I will call “my people,” and her who was not beloved I will call “beloved.”’” Beloved Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Unshaken I Timothy 4:7-8 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Value godliness Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” Powered by the Spirit 2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Sufficient in His grace Psalm 23:1-4 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” Fearless Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” In His thoughts Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Celebrated Romans 8:38 “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Inseparable 2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Transforming 2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” Ambassador Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Redeemed I John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” Heard I Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Special Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Strong Philippians 1:6 “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” In progress Perhaps you need to make your own “It Is Written” mirror. Or go ahead and use a dry erase marker to write these truths around your bathroom or full-length mirror (if you live at home with your parents, get permission first!). Or maybe your daughters need to do this with you, or a teenage girl you know, or your ladies’ Bible study, or your church's youth and/or women's ministry. Feel free to take the idea and run with it! Lord, may Your word define us as we become more wholly Yours each day. Shauna Wallace Holy His

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This week we are learning about Job. There is so much to learn from Job. He was faithful no matter what happened to him. There are several printables today, including a fill-in-the-blank for the kids to list the before and after things that Job had. And there is a song with visuals, too! Lesson: Today our lesson is found in Job 1 & 2, 42. It is in the middle of the Old Testament, right before Psalms. Job lived in UZ. He was faithful to God. Click here to download the before and after visuals of Job and his blessings. Job had 7 sons and 3 daughters. He also had 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 female donkeys and a very large household. One day, Satan told God that the only reason Job was faithful was because he had so much, and he had an easy life. So, God told Satan that he could do anything to Job, except lay a hand on him. Soon after, a servant came to Job and told him that while the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were eating beside them, the Sabeans came and took them and killed all the servants except for him. While that servant was talking, another came and told Job that a fire came from heaven and burned up the sheep and those servants, all except for the one that came to talk to Job. While the servant was talking, the Chaldeans took the camels and killed all the servants, except for… the one talking to Job. Again, while that servant was talking, another came and told Job that all his children were eating a meal and a great wind came and killed everyone, except for the servant talking. Job stood up and tore off his robe and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and said, "The Lord gives, and He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." No, Job didn’t get angry and shout at God for his misery! Now, Satan told God that Job was faithful because those things (servants, animals his children) that were taken away didn’t hurt him physically. So, God said Satan could do what he wanted except kill Job. (Job 2:7) We purchased this pot and broke it! My husband used this for a visual when he taught the teen class about Job, and I used it for this lesson. The kids loved it! The first thing Satan did was put painful boils all over Job, from his feet to the top of his head. (Job 2:7) Job used a broken pot to scrape himself! Then, Job’s wife started telling Job to curse God because of what was happening to him. Job told her that sometimes there’s good in life and sometimes there’s bad and Job did not curse God or sin. When his three friends came to see Job, they didn’t even recognize him! They ate with Job for seven days and nights and didn’t even talk! They did talk after that, and Job stayed faithful and didn’t blame God. But Job did have questions for God. (Job 38:1) and God answered Job out of a whirlwind. Job said “I know You can do anything (Job 42:2) When Job prayed for his friends, God gave Job back all that Job had lost, He even doubled it! (Job 42:10) God blessed the last days of Job and gave him (42:1212-13): Click here to download the before and after visuals of Job and his blessings. 14,000 sheep 6,000 camels 1,000 oxen 1,000 female donkeys 7 sons & 3 daughters There were not any women more beautiful in the land than Job’s daughters. Job lived 140 years after that. I printed this worksheet and we filled in the blanks as we talked about Job. Click here to print the Fill-In-The-Blank worksheet. The second picture is the answer sheet which can also be used as a teacher's visual. Click here to print the answer sheet. Ok, anybody that knows me, knows I can't sing. But, I woke up singing this one morning! I told my husband we had to wait to do our errands because I had to write it down before I forgot it! He just laughed and said OK! That was months ago, and I still like it! So, anyway, here is a song for Job with visuals. Just click on the picture to print it. Click here to download the worksheet. Click here to download the lesson. Click here to download the updated visuals. Not all are shown. Click here to download the pictures to color. (These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.

I have been teaching my students to write narratives. Wow! They have some great imaginations. It just takes a little bit to shape their great ideas into stories. So far we've worked on Entertaining Beginnings and Elaborative Details. I have two resources that I'm currently using to help me with this process: 1. The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever, By Barbara Mariconda. This book goes step by step through the writing diamond and has helped me to get great products out of my students. 2. Empowering Writers Website is an awesome resource too. Here they have a whole narrative writing program you can buy... it is pricey for just one teacher - if you're school is willing to purchase it, it might be worth looking into. However, there are many great resources at the website that you can use that you do not have to pay for. Here is a link to my TpT store for a freebie. I have typed up the writing diamond so you can put it together on a poster board. Check out mine below: Good luck putting yours together! -Nicole