“Girls Wanted” is two years old this month! But look at how many birthday cakes we’ve had! That’s because we learned early on that a birthday cake, made with love, can really put a smile on a girl’s face, as well as a lift in her spirit.
Ever since that first girl was celebrated with a cake with her name on it, we have seen the beauty of being intentional about making our girls feel known and loved. Vanilla cake, strawberry cake, lemon cake, cookies and cream cake…no matter the flavor or the name, they all spell the same thing: Wanted. Known. Loved. So many cakes…so little time.
Girls Wanted recently made a new friend. Kelly Crawford, owner of Buttercream Dreams by Kellbelle, is a dream come true for Girls Wanted! Kelly is all about giving back to her community, and her initiative “Cakes for Smiles” is a perfect fit for our girls' birthday cake wishes. After meeting Kelly at a youth expo, we both knew this was a match made in heaven. We are so thankful to Kelly, for starting this initiative, and blessing Girls Wanted with her professional baking and decorating skills. Those of us who started the cake baking for our girls are more than happy to pass on that baton to a professional!
Our hope at Girls Wanted each week, is to make meaningful connections between the girls, our female leaders, and most importantly, God. Connection is really what every human being craves.
At Girls Wanted, we:
Eat•Play•Talk•Create
We speak truth over the girls in our Bible study time, and with our 5 affirmations, which we say out loud together:
I am nobody’s property
I am a child of God
I have a hope and a future
I am beautiful
And so are you!
Girls Wanted is a place for a girl to just be a girl again. No pressure. I tell the girls, “We don’t want anything from you, we just want good things for you.”
The opposite of connection is neglect. We are here to stand in the gap of neglect. And if we do that with a piece of cake in our hands, well, that’s all the sweeter.
Written by: Lisa Jones, Girls Wanted Director