Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

In Psalm 139, David says

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. “ (NIV)

This was how we started our day today. After changing tables (we draw numbers each Monday, changing our spots in the dining hall… genius), we had a fantastic breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and bagels. Everyone made breakfast sandwiches, yum. Then comes Breakfast Club… thus the verse.

Last week Breakfast Club focused on “Social Skills”, giving little hints and suggestions for growing socially while at camp. We try to meet a new friend every day (and try to do it every day of the year). We are genuinely interested in what other people have to say. We genuinely compliment each other on things that we appreciate and value in each other. And so on… Social skills are honed at camp in a very intense way. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for multiple weeks… HUGE VALUE of the camp experience.

Today we shifted to “Physical” growth. The MAIN THING we want the girls to take home is that God DID NOT make a mistake when He made them JUST THE WAY THEY ARE. This culture is brutal on young women. The pressure to be attractive has never been so unbalanced; so unhealthy. How can anyone live up to the standard (and who sets this standard anyhow?)?

Margaret literally shudders whenever we walk past the Abercrombie and Fitch doors at the mall. It isn’t just that awful cologne smell (do they have huge perfume machines spritzing the air conditioning?); it is That HUGE 10 foot close-up of the bare-chested teen-age Adonis getting close to his perfect Aphrodite teen-age babe (almost bare-chested) makes her physically ill. This is wrong. We see the impact and try to provide a refuge from the storm.

The 1 piece bathing suit rule comes from this storm. There was a time when Greystone had no rule for bathing suits, why would we? The old video’s playing in the Hostess Cabin show most of the campers in two piece suits; we have always been a stylish camp. The problem is the style is now rated R. Counselors were having to become the “modesty police”, and you know how awful that battle becomes. If your school has a uniform rule, you know the rich blessing it is to have standards… battle gone. 1 piece bathing suits are not “cool” but everyone at camp wears them so nobody cares. We set the standard of “cool” and the community is better for it.

Girls are being told (who is telling us these things?) that it is “cool” or “stylish” to wear almost nothing almost all of the time. This is NOT a good thing for our culture. It has become a contest of provocative “envelope pushing” and an avalanche of negative self image attitudes. Only 1 in a 100 pull it off… the other 99 feel like they aren’t “good enough”. So they start a cycle that sometimes never is overcome.

I have three daughters. Each is beautiful and delightful in so many ways… a lifetime is not enough time to spend with them. I don’t want them to focus on focus on externals, I want them to have a firm grasp of reality and worth. The fact is that God has control over every detail of this universe, He knows the number of hairs on my head and He made me just the way I am… THIS IS CONFIDENCE that can be a Light to the world. We have a beauty and nobility that far surpasses the fleeting beauty of youth. Get a sense of perspective. Please.

We will be talking about taking care of our bodies. Eating right, exercising right. Simple decisions to eat and exercise in an appropriate way will lead to feeling physically great. It works (I have lost 13 pounds in 3 weeks, by summer end I will hopefully be down 30 pounds… all because I am exercising and eating right); but it is not the end of the story. Our girls need the whole picture. I know you agree.

Wow. Too heavy for Monday? I get worked up on the subject and am not eloquent enough to say what is in my heart.

Humm I can’t make this thing so long. I will do another update later on.

Thank you for reading. Dads especially… ThankYou. Be engaged with your girls.