There is more to yesterday’s story, of course. Isn’t there always more to the story? I wanted to share at least that much with you because I am taking steps to letting people in on my processing. If you read that post, you have now read nearly the entire introduction to the book I’m working on. That is a hefty statement to make.
Since The Man is a youth pastor, I spend a lot of time around teenagers. Good girl teenagers. Just like me when I was their age. And kind of just like me now. So this isn’t just my story. It is the story of so many good girls living, working and hiding while longing for authenticity and rest. For the tired teenage good girl, living like Jesus is real is not so easy. First she has to recognize those do-good masks she wears. Then she has to be convinced that it’s safe to take them off.
Secretly? I think everyone is a good girl in hiding. For the girls who have it all together and the girls who are falling apart, there is a perfect, invisible good girl living in our head, standing in the corner with her perfect self, either shaming or congratulating performance. She watches our every move, recording, judging, and manipulating. She can never be pleased. She always requires more from us.
And it’s time to shut her up. There is a new way to live.
What about you? I know I’m not the only one who has tried to be a good girl with varying degrees of success. I know I’m not the only crazy person with a good girl judge in my head, hiding behind masks of performance and self-dependence. Do you have a good girl story?
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