Just how long can I get away with calling myself a “girl” anyway when I have an almost 15-year-old daughter…?

I’m not sure, but I’ll see how long I can push it.

Tonight Lucy came to the streets with me… it was such a blessing to have my teenager with me, tracts in hand, shyly offering them to passers-by. She was so excited when finally someone took the first tract from her.

It was surreal as well. I remember the first time, many years ago now, I went out , she had been a tiny girl eating pizza as I left.

My Pastor at the time had unfortunately told me that I shouldn’t be going out, that my place is with my family. I respected this Pastor and so his words brought me considerable confusion as I knew like I knew that I’d been called to it. But my husband, bless him, also knew I was called to it. I was a full time, stay-at-home mum who went out for a few hours on a Friday night or morning in obedience to the Lord Jesus and he wanted me to go and released and blessed me in it.

So I did for 7 years.

Until the last 2 or so years when I knew God had wanted me to stop going so that we could focus on our children who were rapidly approaching teenager-dom. And so for the last couple of years my going out has been few and far between.

But tonight, and this time with my teenage daughter by my side, it was such a confirmation that all those years were not my neglecting my family but God using it to draw my daughter out too, as she’d seen her mum do.

And she was sooo excited to come with me.

I was typical “Mum” all night though. We were like conjoined twins, we literally moved as one. I never let her out of my sight. Even while I preached I directed her to stand right next to me so I could see her at all times.

Someone said once that our teenagers need not be entertained every Friday night in the name of Christianity, but rather to send them out in to the streets, tracts in hand where they can confront the devil head-on.

That’s where the life is.

Amen to that.