Tuesday, December 20, 2005

What?! No Boyfriend?

Teenage girls are under such pressure to have a boyfriend. They are made to feel that they have not achieved success until they have a boyfriend. When my daughter was 12 or 13 years old, an adult asked me if my daughter has a boyfriend yet. Why in the world does a 12 or 13 year old need a boyfriend? Does it make her more beautiful if she has a boyfriend? Is she more talented or a better student if she has a boyfriend? Of course not. What is this terrible pressure that society puts on teenage girls?!

Being a teenage girl can be a wonderful time in a girl's life. It's her chance to connect with other girls and develop close friendships. It's a time for her to develop her talents and read books she won't have time to read when she's older. This is her time to laugh and giggle and socialize with all her girlfriends. She should have a pajama party with her friends and she should go shopping with her them and try on clothes she would never dream of buying. She should try skiing or snowboarding with her girlfriends. She should refuse to allow the pressure of having to have a boyfriend rob her of this time of building friendships with girls.

One of the funnest weekends I had as a single girl was when a bunch of us rented a room for a weekend at the beach. There were about four or five of my closest girlfriends. We were all in our early twenties. None of us had a boyfriend at that time. A couple of us had just broken up with a boyfriend. The others just could not find the right guy. However, we decided that we would forget about guys for one weekend and have fun just being girls. We rented this room at the beach, we went out to a fancy restaurant, we got tan in the sun, and we had a great time simply being together.

These times with our girlfriends won't last forever. Not much after this weekend, one by one we all had a boyfriend and are now all married. I never see most of these girls anymore. If we had moped around the house because we didn't have a boyfriend, we would have missed out on such a great weekend together.

If you are single and without a boyfriend, please don't allow others to put needless pressure on you. Just keep praying and asking God to bring that right man into your life. But while you are waiting for that to happen, don't put your life on hold. Take a vacation with one of your girlfriends. Go to Disney with a bunch of girls. Go skiing in the Rocky Mountains with your girlfriends. Go eat at a fancy restaurant. Get a new hairdo and makeover, but take a girlfriend with you and enjoy the experience together. Pay off your college and even buy a house. Remember, if you can be a happy single person, then you will be a happy married person. If you are a grumpy and depressed single person, you will most likely be a grumpy and depressed married person.

"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11

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