Inspire Strength in Your Daughters

Doreen Hanna has a passion to see young women learn what it means to be daughters of the King.  Unfortunately, many girls around the world have lost their way.  Statistics of teen pregnancies, bullying, and depression among girls are heartbreaking.*

Along with Pam Farrel, Hanna has co-written a new book called 'Raising a Modern Day Princess" (Tyndale House).  It is a work designed to equip parents to cultivate strong relationships with their adolescent girls.*

CBN.com Program Director Chris Carpenter recently sat down with Doreen to discuss why a rite of passage is so critically important to a girl, the significance of Malachi 4:6, and the call for families to support them as they enter womanhood.

In the late 1990s, I recognized that there was nothing out there for the girls at that moment. So I went to the writing board and began to create a curriculum. I knew I had the biblical foundation, but I knew I needed the youthful perspective, because my girls were now in their mid-20s. So I asked my youngest daughter if she'd be willing to come alongside of me. So she brought in the youthful perspective to create the discussion questions and whatnot to make it fun for the girls. So in the process, it has been an amazing journey. In the summer of 1999, I implemented the first class, and I'm telling you, it was an amazing journey. I began to see the value of the curriculum that I put together.  I really began to see who God created them to be.

A rite of passage is a significant moment in time that will be remembered where you're passing from one stage of life to another. Recognized rites of passage are your birthday, your anniversary, your baptism, your salvation, that type of thing. But one of the things that we've missed in the process is acknowledging our children's step from adolescence to young adulthood. So, most people prior to this last decade chose their rite of passage. Most parents did not have a celebration when they were at some point acknowledging them and saying, "I recognize you as a young lady," "I recognize you as a young man now," "Go forth. From this point on, we're acknowledging that you are an adult. And you are going to take on the responsibilities of an adult. It is saying that over a period of time we have prepared you to this time and sending you out now, because we know we've prepared you for such a time as this." So in that process, what I recognized as I studied other rites of passage in other cultures was their father always pronounced the blessing upon the child. So I saw that as very significant, because teenage girls are looking for what at this age? They're looking for affirmation from a male. And if they're not getting it from dad or another significant man in their life that they respect, who do they turn to?  Peer males is who they turn to. And we know all the statistics that go with that today.  A girl needs a man of integrity who has a heart for God, to step up and impart a blessing on these girls.

Exactly.  A man of integrity is the key. So that's been an exciting part of the journey for me. Because in addition to realizing I've been called to encourage and train these girls, and now I've got over 200 facilitators that are helping me with this process, I'm certainly not doing it alone, we have the opportunity to challenge these men to step forth and fulfill their role as a leader of their household, as the priest of their household. And when these men step forward and publicly, in front of family and friends, impart this blessing, I'm telling you, it is powerful.  These men are most often so humbled, because they have never really imparted a blessing on their children. I have girls crying because they'll come back to me and say, "My dad's never said he loved me until today," "My dad said things to me that I never thought he felt or remembered about me today." It has been incredible.