I remember being thirteen years old and so very self-conscious.
I remember turning sixteen years old and having life all figured out.
I remember becoming twenty-one and fearing nothing was working out like I planned.
These days, my friends and I write to that girl I used to be. We encourage her not to look to rules but to hang onto her ideals. We remind her of how short the days are and how big our God is.
And somehow, in writing to the girls we used to be, the women we now are find encouragement as well.
We call our blog the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship, but it’s made up of women of all ages—young ladies and those who love them.
It’s a haven for hearts. A site to share journeys, not just words. A chance to say, “What? You too?” A place to point the “good girls” back to the One Who loves them for whose they are, not what they do. A place to delight in the God Who is too good to be true, and is true just the same.
The team of writers at YLCF is made up of thirteen women, ages nineteen to thirty-four. We’re spread throughout England, Australia, Israel, and America. Five are single, six are mothers, all of us share a love for the Lord and a heart for young women.
And those young women who make up our readership are even more varied demographically. But a love of good books and of love stories keeps drawing us back together.
We spend a whole month reviewing and giving away books for our annual “March Of Books”. But the most visited section of our website is where we collect “courtship stories” – stories of those who have given the “pen” of their lives to the Lord and seen Him write a beautiful love story.
Each story is as unique as the couple, but their very individuality is what encourages the waiting single the most.
We look at the humorous side of growing up homeschooled. We learn together about our passions and our gifts.
We share hair care tips and we talk about beauty. We delve into the details of each other’s lives in our annual link-ups.
We learn and we grow together, forming life-long friendships, and we pray, touching hearts for eternity.
And when we receive stories like this one, we’re inspired and humbled to know that we’ve had an impact in one young woman’s life:
“I am writing to you because your writing has changed my life. I stumbled upon YLCF on accident, looking for a natural way to care for my curly hair. At the time, I was not Christian. I believe that God has used your writing to lead me to Him. I want to thank you for inspiring me with the stories that came from your own lives and thoughts.”
So we keep sharing our lives and our Hope in words. Trying to be a faithful mentor to those girls we used to be.
If you could write a blog post to your teenage self, what would you say?
Gretchen and her husband sell antiques and vegetables on their family farm in Washington state. Gretchen loves dark chocolate and coffee, but when she writes, she feels God’s pleasure. In addition to being founding editor of the Young Ladies Christian Fellowship (where your guest posts to your former teenage self are welcome!), Gretchen blogs at The Little Pink House in between raising three curly-headed little ones.
