Howdy, folks. Hope your January is winding down nicely. Just a few more days til February arrives! Here’s a snapshot of some aspects of culture today:

The Oscars
A month from today, the Oscars will take place on ABC. Go here to check out the nominations, which were announced on Tuesday of this week.

Top Songs
This week, the top songs are:
1. “Grenade” by Bruno Mars (Wow. This guy [who has great pipes!] must be dating the ultimate mean girl. FYI—the ending of the music video depicts his (assumed) suicide and is rather disturbing.)
2. “Firework” by Katy Perry (I’m not a KP fan, but this song—shockingly—isn’t about sex or lust. It’s captures the feelings of a lot of teenage girls, but I’d be hesitant to encourage them to identify with this song for fear it will lead them to look for truth in her other music.)
3. “Black and Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa
4. “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You) by Enrique Iglesias feat. Ludacris and DJ Frank E
5. “What’s My Name?” by Rihanna feat. Drake
6. “Hold It Against Me” by Britney Spears (Yes, this song DOES set the corny and inappropriate pick-up line to [repetitive, uninteresting] music. Lame.)
7. “We R Who We R” by Ke$ha
8. “Raise Your Glass” by P!nk
9. “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by The Black Eyed Peas
10. “Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)” by Pitbull feat. T-Pain  (Not only is the message of this song not uplifting, the song reveals the sad lack of talent and originality in so much music today. Wow. I sound like my dad. But seriously. It's not even worth your time to listen to it.)

Top Movies
1.    No Strings Attached [R]
2.    The Green Hornet [PG-13]
3.    The Dilemma [PG-13]
4.    The Kings Speech [R] (I saw this film last weekend. It’s a beautiful film, although the language is terrible in a few scenes, hence the rating.)
5.    True Grit [PG-13]
6.    Black Swan [R]
7.    Little Fockers [PG-13]
8.    The Fighter [R] (I saw this movie this past weekend, too. Wow. The language is AWFUL, but it’s a gut-wrenching tale that makes you want to stand up and cheer in the end. This may be Rocky for a new generation, but it’s definitely not for appropriate for students, especially younger ones.)
9.    Yogi Bear [PG]
10.    TRON: Legacy [PG]

Last week I think I told you that I was busy working on various assignments related to the Girls' Ministry Forum next month. Well, guess what? I'm still working on things related to Girls' Ministry Forum!

As I continued working on the Listening Guide and other items related to the schedule and break-outs, another title caught my attention....Come to the Well.

The description reads:

Ministry is demanding on the mind, the body, and especially the soul. Without realizing it, you can allow ministry to drain you of your spiritual life. It's something every leader must contend with. Join Nancy Hamilton as she helps you recover your heart.

I'm not sure what all Nancy will cover, but how many of you immediately thought of the woman at the well in John 4 when you read that description? Remember the Samaritan woman? Jesus was worn out from His journey due to the confinement of a physical body (John 4:6), but this woman was worn out on so many other levels. Her weariness might be physical, but just reading the passage you know she has to be wiped out emotionally. Lots of unresolved sin. She needed forgiveness and freshness that only Christ could give.

How often do you find yourself in the same state as the Samaritan woman? Maybe we don't have the separation from God due to sin in our lives, but we know the weariness that cries out for a splash of the Living Water from Jesus. Just give me a splash Jesus! Other times we want Him to dump the whole bucket on our heads!

Me? I often need a tidal wave to come crashing upon me! I want Jesus to give me all the Living Water from Him that I can get...let me drown drinking Him in!

For those of you who came to the Girls' Ministry Forum last year, you might remember Nancy. We had her read the scripture and pray over the group at the end of our time together on Saturday. She is an amazing woman of God. I've known her since she was a senior in college and watched her walk with Christ through blessings and adversity. Her faith never wavered.

Nancy Hamilton

But probably what you need to know is that you won't be disappointed if you attend her break-out - Come to the Well. Whether she uses the passage in John 4 about the woman at the well or a less-known passage of scripture, her teaching is sure to be rich and deep with spiritual truth and encouragement for you as leaders.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Girls' Ministry Forum...Come to the Well.

Today's blog was written by Suzanne Rowe, girls' minister at FBC, Cleveland, Tennessee. When I heard about this event that she did with girls, I asked her to write a blog post about it. We've also included some pictures. Feel free to use this idea (and even the discussion questions) for you and your group.

We had a great time at our Father/Daughter Flag Football game! We had 100 players and volunteers show up at the Family Life Center fields to make this a really special day for dads and their girls.

It was a perfect Fall morning for football with the 35-degree-weather and steamy hot chocolate to get us going. We broke the group up between three fields and had games going for the super competitive folks down to the "just for fun" pairings. Each game played two twenty-minute halves with a short break in between for orange slices and Gatorade. The laughter, cheers, and occasional thud as someone hit the ground hard were heard throughout the morning. We have some TOUGH girls and they can throw a football!

Toward the end of the morning, the Men's Ministry of FBC graciously provided a hamburger/hot dog cookout for all the girls and their dads/father-figures. The Men's ministry was excited to see dads and daughters getting together and wanted to show their encouragement.

Each family was also given a booklet that not only listed flag football rules and definitions for football related terms, but also conversation starters for dads to use on a future dad/daughter date. We even attached a buy one, get one free coupon to Smoothie King for their next date.

Here are the conversation starters given in the football booklet :

1) If you could spend $100, how would you spend it?

2) How would you describe yourself in three words?

3) What is one thing you are most proud about in the other person?

4) What is your favorite thing you do as a family or together as parent/daughter?

5) Is there anything you wish you did differently as a family?

6) Is there any issue/hurt that you need to ask forgiveness for?

7) What change could the other person make to make themselves more Christ-like?

Remember, if you are a parent, then you are your daughter's primary, spiritual developer, role model and character former. Dig in and plan some one-on-one time together...it will never be wasted time.

Today's post isn't about culture. It's about you, where you are with God. Sometimes, words get in the way. We post lots of words multiple times a week on this blog. But sometimes, you just need to reflect. And sometimes, it helps to have an image to jump start our brains. I came across the image below and thought it might trigger some interesting thoughts in your mind. There are no right or wrong answers in relation to this image, no set reaction you should have. Maybe it reminds you of your life now or a season in the past. Maybe it reminds you of someone else and you feel promtped to pray for him or her. Whatever the image below prompts in your mind, take a long hard look, then take your thoughts straight to the Father.

I've been working ahead on events for this year with LifeWay Women and LifeWay Girls. As I was working on some things for Girls' Ministry Forum I came across this break-out title that I had almost forgotten - "Fight Like A Girl!"

The description reads:

Conflict is an issue that every girl faces. Whether talking to your parents or arguing with your classmates, learning how to work through differences in a healthy way is critical to all of your relationships. This conference will help you discover the tools to creating a win-win situation when you face a problem with another person.

My first thought was I'm so glad my friend Amy is teaching that conference, she will do a great job. My second thought was EVERYONE needs to go to that break-out! It is for the high school girls who are attending the Girls' Ministry Forum in February, but even as adults we face conflict on a daily basis.

Is there anyone else who always finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict? The weird thing is my conflicts are not usually between me and another person (I am too old and life is too short to always be at battle with someone)...they are usually between two other people and I get pulled in for conflict resolution. I hate conflict. I hate trying to help resolve conflict. Why me Lord? I really don't mind if the fight is worth fighting, but frankly, many of the conflicts are based more on immaturity than a real problem.

I guess it (conflict resolution) is a large part of anyone's life who is involved in girls' ministry. How can you live in the midst of girl world without someone, somewhere that is related to the ministry not having some kind of drama? Seriously, at any given time among our middle school and high school girls, there is someone who has some kind of "crisis" happening. If it is not one of the girls, it is her mom or another family member. And more often than not, it is related to a conflict in a relationship.

There are all kinds of programs that have developed to combat bullying, peer pressure, and peer mediation. However, often the behavior changes on the outside, but the conflict remains. It may be surpressed. It may not appear to be there at all. However, the conflict still went unresolved. There are even studies that say teenagers are suggesting that 90% of their conflicts go unresolved. Basically, they do not know how to resolve conflict in healthy ways.

Really? Seriously? But should we be surprised? When we look at the number of unresolved conflicts among adults and the divorce rate, the model we set is influencing kids probably lots more than we know.

I am thinking that this "Fight Like a Girl!" break-out is going to be a HIT! Girls need to hear that conflict is a normal part of life. We are not created to agree with everyone else all the time. We were created to think and form opinions. We are going to have conflict. However, God also expects us to resolve that conflict.

God desires that we are peacemakers, but not conflict avoiders. A peacemaker and a conflict avoider are two very different people.

Well, now I'm pretty stirred up about Girls' Ministry Forum! Make sure your girls know about this break-out when they attend in February! We are looking forward to seeing you there! Now back to my own way of fighting like a girl for today...tackling that unbelievable "to-do" list!

Got an email today from a girls' leader who wanted to know who would be leading breakouts at the Girls' Ministry Forum in February.

Good question. Here's your answer, in part anyway. Over the next few weeks, I'll be introducing these amazing women to you here on the blog. Make sure to find and meet them at the conference.

Meet Courtney Veasey. She's on staff and works with girls at First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She is fun to hang out with, mostly because she loves Jesus and you can't help but want to follow Jesus with her. I asked her to tell me why girls should go to her breakout "Big Sister, Little Sister: Mentoring Younger Girls". Here was her answer. I think you'll get a glimpse of what I'm talking about:

Why should you care about mentoring those 7th and 8th graders, who most likely embarrass you (and might even smell) from time to time?  Well, for one thing, it’s biblical…no really, it’s in there I promise! Check it out Titus 2:3-5. But also because life happens, and we need each other to help navigate through both the rough and smooth waters of growing up.  

I grew up down the street from a local church, but I didn’t grow up in it.  Yet a best friend and her family would invite me to go, and then began to take me regularly.  After giving my heart to Jesus just before the start of the eighth grade, this new faith was soon tested as in the spring of that school year both my mother and grandmother died of cancer within one week of each other.  Needless to say, my life was instantly changed, but not only because of these devastating losses, but by what God did through them. A group of girls I had met in the youth group in that church from down the street became, quite literally, my sisters. I had keys to their homes, ate dinner with a different one of them almost every night, their moms did my laundry, took me shopping, taught me about “the birds and the bees,” and above all of that they taught me more and more about Jesus and showed me a beautiful picture of His love in the way they loved me. 

I visited there recently for Thanksgiving and went to see one of those families.  When I walked through the door, memories flooded in. I said to these women who loved me so deeply, “It’s been too long since I’ve driven down this road.”

They know the song of my heart, in fact they helped me to write it…and they are the ones who sing it back to me when I have forgotten it.  

Who will the girls in your youth group have as mentors? Who will help write the songs and help sing it back when life happens? That's why this conference matters.

I heard this morning that 49 of the 50 states have snow somewhere on the ground within them. Here in Nashville, the novelty of snow has finally worn off for me. (I still think it’s beautiful; it’s just that driving in snow and ice scares me.) I’m eagerly awaiting the next time I get to see the sun in all its glory. So, I hope you’re staying warm, wherever you are! (And if you’re in someplace with warm weather right now, then take a moment to be grateful for that!) Here’s what’s going on in entertainment this week:

Top movies right now
1.    True Grit [PG-13] When my boyfriend said he’d like for us to see this movie this past weekend, I was not excited. I’m not a big fan of Westerns (because the colors always seem so muted and everyone looks so dirty.) But boy, did I love this movie!! The 14-year-old girl in the movie is an incredible actress, and I loved her attitude and intelligence. Jeff Bridges did a great job as well. The colors still seemed kind of drab, and everyone was filthy (and the language was a little rough in places, as were some bloody scenes), but I was impressed by this film. The only song you’ll hear in it is “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” and Scripture is prominently displayed at the beginning of the film. Not that it’s a movie running wild with Christian themes (although I’m sure that there are those out there who could find a lot more symbolism in it than I care to.), but it’s one that I was surprised by how much I liked it.
2.    Little Fockers [PG-13]
3.    Season of the Witch [PG-13]
4.    TRON: Legacy [PG]
5.    Black Swan [R] No thanks. I tend to avoid movies that bill themselves as “psycho-sexual thrillers.”
6.    Country Strong [PG-13] I hope to see this one over the weekend . . .
7.    The Fighter [R]
8.    Yogi Bear [PG]
9.    The King’s Speech [PG] As my mom’s a speech pathologist and I enjoy learning about history, I want to see this one, too.
10.    Tangled [PG] Saw it. Loved it! (As did every other female I’ve talked to…)

Golden Globes: This weekend
The Golden Globes will be happening on Sunday, January 16 on NBC at 8et/7c. Check out the lists of nominees for film and television.

Occasionally you meet someone and you think, "I don't know what God has planned for them, but it is something big." A few years ago I actually met "2 someones" and I still believe God has great things planned for them.

When I met Elissa and Becca it was a VERY HOT, HUMID day in Atlanta. Their band the Sonflowerz (yes with a "z") were one the many bands for a huge outdoor summer concert Atlanta Fest. There were multiple stages and literally too many bands playing over a three-day period for me even to count or remember. My friend Pam and I arrived right before the Sonflowerz were to play, along with my middle school daughter and her friend. We watched as Elissa and Becca shifted from talking with fans to the stage.

From the first strum of the guitar, it was obvious these girls had a passion for leading others in worship. They were more than concert artists. Although I didn't know any of their songs at the time, I was drawn in by the honesty of their lyrics. After about an hour I knew I loved them. However, even better than their music, were the pure hearts for ministry I saw in them as they greeted all their old and new fans alike after the set. We just kind of hung back and watched them talk and pray for those who wanted to spend time with them or thank them for their music.

My daughter and her friend joined in and took their turn meeting the Sonflowerz face-to-face. It is so amazing how one meeting can make such an impression on a middle school girl. Elissa and Becca became role-models for two middle school girls that they've never seen in person since that one meeting.

Since that terribly hot, summer day in Atlanta we've had the Sonflowerz as worship leaders and break-out speakers for You & Your Girl events with Vicki Courtney. And I am so excited that this year they will also be leading worship for the Girls' Ministry Forum at LifeWay in Nashville on Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26.

If I could tell you anything about the Sonflowerz, Elissa and Becca are the real deal from A to Z. The two young women I met several years ago are still the same. They have the same passion for God. They have the same passion for sharing Jesus through their music and leading others in worship. They have the same hearts for ministry to others - the girls and moms at You & Your Girl events, the children they sponsor through Compassion, or those they meet along the way. They are Christ-followers on and off stage.

I don't know what your plans are this year in your Girls' Ministry. I don't know whether you will be attending the Girls' Ministry Forum or a You & Your Girl event. I don't know if your church is hosting the You & Your Girl Simulcast at your church on April 9 where the Sonflowerz will be the worship band. However, one thing I do know is that the Sonflowerz are two amazing sisters who love Jesus. If you are looking for some incredible role-models and worship leaders who are worth introducing to the girls in your ministry, stop and check out the Sonflowerz. True to their band's name, they will guide the girls in your ministry to focus on the Son, Jesus, just like a real sunflower always turns and leans toward the sun.

Let me know if you've ever heard the Sonflowerz! Are you already familiar with their music?

If you are living in the portion of the U.S. that's been hit with snow over the weekend, you can use this simple idea to get your girls talking. All you'll need is regular paper (or something fancier if you'd like), scissors for each girl and leader, pens for everyone, and some tape.

Distribute the paper and scissors and direct the girls to create their own snowflake. If you (or they) don't remember this fun activity from the third grade, simply click on instructions and refresh your memory.

Once they've created their paper snowflake, distribute the pens. Instruct the girls and leaders to write down on their snowflakes at least five things that are unique about them. It could be as simple as "I still have a baby tooth" or as complex as "my dad died when I was three." Once they've finished their work, collect the snowflakes.

Read the first statement from one of the snowflakes. Ask girls to guess whose snowflake it is. Read the statements one by one until the girls correctly identify the snowflake creator. Repeat the process until everyone has been identified.

You can then steer the discussion in several directions, such as God creating each person uniquely (Psalm 139, Genesis 1:26-27); you could also talk about how each individual snowflake combines with millions of others to make a beautiful winter landscape and then seque into how each member of the body of Christ is made uniquely (1 Corinthians 12) but joins together to make a beautiful tapestry of God's amazing grace.

The activity might seem simply or even juvenile, but girls love it. They get to be creative, get to talk about themselves, and get to socialize...three things girls LOVE. And it has the potential to give you some real insight into the lives of the girls, especially if it is a new group.

Got any easy get-to-know-you ideas? Tell us about them!

We're a week into the new year . . . is 2011 off to a good start for you? I hope so! It took me a little longer than usual to come up with my new year's resolution for this year. I just made it on Wednesday, in fact. (Better late than never, right?!) Anyway, I've decided that this year I will learn to REST. My pastor was sharing during a leadership meeting this week the story of Elijah. After he called down fire from heaven, Jezebel threatened him. So he ran like the wind. Exhausted, he passed out in the desert, only to be awakened by an angel who'd baked him fresh bread and fetched him some water. So after he'd eaten, gone back to sleep, and eaten again, he set back out on the journey. I was struck by the tenderness toward Elijah in that story. That God recognized his need for rest. And then I felt convicted for not recognizing my own need for rest. So this year, I'm going to make rest a priority so I can be better at doing the things I'm called to do. I'm going to try to make time to rest, to renew, to refocus. I expect good things to happen as a result—both spiritually and physically.

So what about you? Any new year's resolutions for you this year? Take the poll below, and let me know!

YouTube cuteness

In other news, for some precious penguin action (set to an appropriate song for this time of year), please check out this video on YouTube. So cute!

The year in review—musically

In terms of online downloads, the following songs were tops in 2010:

[Info compiled by top10songs.com]

Who knows what kind of music we'll hear in 2011, but here's what's most popular right now, according to the Billboard charts:

1. Katy Perry, "Firework"
2. Bruno Mars, "Grenade"
3. Ke$ha, "We R Who We R"
4. Rihanna featuring Drake, "What's my Name?"
5. P!nk, "Raise Your Glass"
6. Enrique Iglesias, "Tonight (I'm Loving you)"
7. The Black Eyed Peas, "The Time (Dirty Bit)"
8. Wiz Khalifa, "Black and Yellow"
9. Bruno Mars, "Just the Way You Are"
10. Nelly, "Just a Dream"

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Meet Sissy Goff and Melissa Trevathan.

Why are they important? Because they are speaking at the Girls' Ministry Forum, February 25-26, 2011, here in Nashville, TN.

Why should you care about listening to them? It's not just because they both counsel teenage girls on a regular basis and have more training and education than I can list. It's not just because they both bring their dogs to their counseling center as a part of life at Daystar Counseling Ministries. It's not just because they are well-known speakers and authors of several books. It's because both of these ladies love teenage girls and love Jesus. And when those two passions come together, great things happen. 

Don't take my word for it. Watch for yourself. And then sign up for the conference. And then encourage your fellow partners in ministry to do the same. You will be glad you did.