I enjoyed the first class with the girls. We were able to get through page 11 in the Student Book and will continue on Monday, if the weather permits, with Lesson 2 “Balanced Beauty”. We will revisit pages 12-15 at a later time.

On Monday the girls were able to see a glimpse of who God designed them to be and learned how to make our outer appearance more appealing by starting first with our hearts (who we are on the inside is revealed by our outside). They also learned about putting Jesus first, others second, and ourselves last. This spells JOY (Jesus, Others, You). This is the Biblical order and with the Lord’s help we can strive to follow this example and reflect joy in our lives thus allowing our outer beauty to shine brighter and our inner beauty which comes from knowing Jesus to be a light in the world. We will continue to go over this throughout the course.

The girls had before and after pictures taken. The first round of pictures the girls were asked to stand as they felt was comfortable and how they would normally stand. I did not give them any guidance as to how to stand at that point. Following that we learned some “Posing Points” and then put them to work for the next round of pictures. At first the girls were a little nervous about having their pictures made, especially on the first night of class in an unfamiliar environment and not knowing me yet, but they soon warmed up. The before and after pictures were a dramatic change! Very good change and I hand them out at our next class so they can put them in their workbooks. We closed with look on page 17 “Reflecting Christ” and talked about how Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Parents/Guardians are welcome to work through and read the information in the workbook each week with the girls, but I ask that you please not go ahead of where we are in the class. This will help the girls be more excited about what we cover for the following week. Much of what is in the Student Book is not in the material that I teach, so it is beneficial for them to read through each lesson and practice pointer they learned after we have done so in class and to answer the questions “Write from Your Heart” each week (excluding Lesson 1, for now).

I ask for your prayers as I prepare weekly to teach them about God’s social graces and their true identities in Christ. I want the girls to see that I am transparent. I don’t claim to know all the answers and I am far from and expert on the Bible, but I do have a love for the Lord and a heart to reach girls for Christ. I have experienced much of the growing pains many of the girls are currently facing and going through as they are approaching their teen years or beginning them. In our human flesh we fail and we will never achieve perfection, but with the Lord’s help we can be refined as silver and live a life of joy if we seek to please and know the Lord. I hope that this class will create a ripple effect among the girls and that they will share the basic social graces with friends, but most importantly Christ with those in their circle of influence. May God receive all the glory for the good that comes from this humble effort to help these girls be confident in Christ and in social situations.

I pray hearts will be open and receptive to the suggestions taught and that they will grow in a relationship with the Lord through scripture memorization and Bible reading.

Please let me know at anytime if you have any concerns or have any questions. I intend to update you weekly on the class progress and other information as I see necessary.

~ Candace Riner