I never wanted to be front and center in the things that I do.  That helped narrow things down. A little. I would be more comfortable being on the back end of something big. But there are still so many things I could be doing with my passion. It made it hard to really define my passion and use it to its full potential. So I asked myself, “Self, what else are you passionate about?” That answer was simple. My daughters. (Yes, I know I have a son now but this was before he came along). Now I had two passions, helping people and my daughters. There was a start but it still needed more depth. I looked at the problems that I faced as a young girl and through my teenage years and even into adulthood. I wanted better for my daughters. Not just my daughters but other girls.

I began working with Girl Scouts in 2008. The first year, I was just an assistant leader. I eventually became leader for Cadettes which are girls in 6th-8th Grade. Next year, I will be adding a Senior Girl Scout to the group in addition to the Cadettes. I have really enjoyed watching these girls grow. It’s been challenging but I keep going back to THIS is living my passion and dream. THIS is what I was meant to do. Being a Girl Scout leader means that I have the opportunity to help mold these girls into successful women. It is MY responsibility to help give them the tools they need to not only empower themselves but others. When they are adults, I want them to look back and say, “I remember when I was a Girl Scout and that’s what made me who I am today.”

In Girl Scouts, we have the opportunity to teach our girls courage, confidence, and character. Girl Scouts can improve their self esteem and so much more. At a leadership training in August, we were shown some numbers. It doesn’t surprise me when looking at these statistics but what surprises me is the amount of girls that are in our nation that are not involved in Girl Scouts!

• 2/3 of girls today want to be leaders, but only 1 in 5 believes she has the skills to take action and lead
• Women hold only 17% of the U.S. House of Reps seats (Rwanda is 56.3%)
• 2/3 of women who are today’s leaders in government, business, educations, medicine, and science were once Girl Scouts

These numbers show that girls have a drive to succeed. They are passionate about leading others. Let’s equip them with the proper tools and empower our daughters. Now that I have found my passion, I am making my own dreams a reality. In that process, I am helping girls realize their own dreams. I am so proud to be a part of something that is bigger than any one person.

Are you living your dream? What is your passion? How are you using your passion to fulfill your dreams?

I did not grow up in a sheltered home. It was quite the opposite. At 16, I was allowed to stay with my friends at a house that was adult free. My parents knew I was sexually active but they were living in the same “reality” that a lot of other people live in. It’s not surprising that I ended up pregnant at 16. Not that it was my parent’s fault. But they did have a responsibility to me as their child too.

When a parent says the lesson they will teach is “It is best to wait until marriage but if you choose not to wait, you should practice safe sex.” That is giving the child the option. I think that saying it is unrealistic to expect our children to wait is a cop out. Nothing is unrealistic when it comes to teaching our kids. They need to understand that there are more consequences than just an unwanted pregnancy and diseases that can occur from sex. It will effect their emotional and spiritual well beings.

I have had the pleasure of knowing people that chose to wait until marriage. No their marriages aren’t perfect but it is a marriage to be admired. It also made me realize that it is very realistic to expect purity until marriage. It is a conversation I have many times with my own kids (yes even the younger ones). We have our expectations and we want them to understand why we have those expectations. We also want them to have those same expectations for themselves and their future spouses.

Yes, some people may laugh because we choose to raise our children sheltered but in the end, they are my children. As I look at the world today, I think more people should be willing to expect more from their children.

Discovery Girls is a national magazine aimed at tween girls between the ages of 8 and 13. “Our mission is to inspire and encourage girls to be more confident and resilient and help them deal with those difficult situations that all girls run into growing up.” Discovery Girls offers advice and valuable, wholesome content that addresses everything from peer pressure to fashion, friendship to future careers. Most of the content comes from girls just like the audience. You will find quizzes, polls and embarrassing moments in every issue. The cover never has celebrities on the covers, only real girls are chosen to be the “Discovery Girls” models.

Isabelle (just shy of turning and Ashley (12) really enjoy the magazines. Ashley favorite part of the Discovery Girls magazines were the stories. Reading about real girls and their lives. Isabelle enjoyed the stories. We read the embarrassing stories together and talked about the polls. We discovered that 50% of girls earn an allowance. This opened up the discussion for them to start earning an allowance. I really liked that. With a house full of girls, I am excited for Discovery Girls to be a part of our mailings every year.

GIVEAWAY

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This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media.  Thoughts are my own.

I am at the gynecologist office. I will never forget that first visit. It was post LEEP. His comment etched in my brain. “where is your cervix?” An odd question. I didn’t know how extent my LEEP was at that point. He was the first to tell me that a good chunk had been removed. I had high grade dysplasia before the LEEP. It had been discovered during my first prenatal with Isabelle.

My OB at the time reassured me that it would be fine to wait until after delivered. Especially since my last pap was less than a year before that and it was normal. Unfortunately after I delivered, we moved to another town and another doctor. He obviously didn’t see my charts I sent over. So I had to beg to have something done about yet my 2nd abnormal pap. Finally a specialist performed the LEEP in February 2004.

Over the next few years, I had been either pregnant or going every 3-4 months for pap smears. If I could get 3 normal in a row, I could go to yearly. I have yet to get two normals in a row. After I had a normal pap after my 6 week check up, I was told to finally come back in one year! So here I sit, terrified but here. Praying for a normal result so I can go another year without biopsies and colposcopies.