Donna J. Miller - Growing Little Women/Growing Little Women for Younger Girls Set

Section One
Youre a Character!

Section Two
Happily Ever After

Section Three
Gifts from the Heart

Section Four
Commitment Is Cool

W hen I began collecting information ten years ago to disciple my daughters, I never dreamed these materials would be published for other moms to use with their children. I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me the idea to disciple my daughters and then bringing key people into my life to make this book possible.

I am very grateful to the following people for their contributions and the way they helped me in this project.

• To Ron and Mary Bennett and Jim and Becky Sorensen, thank you for your love of one-on-one discipleship, which proved to be the setting for the Lord to speak to me.

• To my parents, Henri and Thelma Caquelard, and my sisters, Suzi and Runa, for your love, support, and prayers.

• To Ronda, Catherine, and Lorrie, my three very special friends who hold a dear place in my heart. I can never repay you for your sacrifice of time and your encouragement to keep me on task. Without you this book would not have become a reality.

• To my prayer partner, Kathy Chesney, for her love and support and interest in this project.

• To Linda Holland, for realizing there is a need for mothers to mentor their daughters and for your knowledge and expertise. I am thankful.

I n 1985 my husband and I started meeting with a small group in our church to study a course on lifestyle evangelism. It was especially challenging and exciting for me as I learned how to discuss my faith in a nonthreatening way with unbelievers. At the end of this course, we were all assigned to target three or four people to witness our Christian faith to. If we were able to lead them to Christ, we were to disciple them afterward.

During the next few weeks, I asked the Lord to lead me to the right people and to prepare their hearts to receive Him. Each time I prayed, my older daughter, Jennifer, came to mind. I kept praying.

After a few weeks, I finally got the hint. The toughest challenge of allto disciple one of my own children. I immediately began collecting resources and ideas to use in my discipling with Jennifer. A few years later I discipled my younger daughter, Tracy.

How I would love to sit down with each of you and tell you what the months of discipling my daughters have meant to me. Even though the active time of discipling is now over, I can still see the positive effects it had on each of us. It is clear to me that the time we spent together in those formative years strengthened our relationships in their teenage years. Our time together bonded us to each other and laid a foundation of open communication, helping us establish mutual trust and loyalty that grew into a warm, lasting friendship.

As a mother, it is very important that you first examine your own heart before you begin discipling your daughter. I encourage you to be absolutely certain that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and know Him personally as your Savior and Lord. If you are not sure whether or not you know Him or you dont know what I mean, I am asking whether you have ever told God you know youre a sinner, you cant save yourself, and you accept Jesus Christs death on the cross as the payment and forgiveness of your sins. (See John 3:16.)

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As the mom, you will set the tone for your time together, so be relaxed and expect to have fun! There is no right or wrong way to go about it. The important thing is not whether or not you complete a chapter each week. The goal is for you and your daughter to get to know each other better and for you to share a part of yourself with your daughter. The time you spend together is an investment in developing her character and instilling meaningful values. The result is that the two of you will grow together as you learn more about the Lord.

My daughters will not be perfect because of our time together, but I have already seen the Lord use what they learned in many ways. My prayer is that you and your daughter will grow together in the Lord and in your friendship.