December 2024 Newsletter
Courageous Girls: Hold the reality of what Jesus does in and through us
When the wise men, used to hanging in palaces amongst the privileged, arrived at a stable and saw a baby lying in a manager, they knelt down and worshipped the baby.
Such FAITH!
If I was a wise man on that same journey, in the same life position, I imagine that I would have complained, with moments of grandiose ideas of meeting this King. The unsure journey taking longer than expected, I would likely step back in human disappointment when I saw the barn, possibly indulging in an epic melt down. "This is NOT what I expected!"
Uneducated shepherds. A baby? A dingy barn? In the middle of nowhere? Really?
Anyone else? Is it just me? 😄
As you know, life is full of confusing results and disappointing outcomes. Our expectations shape our behavior, and our behavior reflects our expectations. My own growth in trusting God over the years regardless of the twists and turns life brings is something I hope my daughters absorb, in hopes they catch a glimpse of how big our God really is despite circumstances. God can use ANYTHING.
Western Christianity can often teach a false gospel - that God is only in the good. The found parking spot in a crowded holiday frenzy. Making the top team. A family free of strife. Yet advent says otherwise. God is in both,
Joy and suffering.
Peace and disorientation.
Hope and the not yet.
Love and rejection.
A Courageous Girl is learning how to trust what Jesus does in and through us regardless of her story.
Because of the birth and death of Jesus, we have access to joy, while we suffer. We have access to peace in seasons of disorientation. We have access to hope while living with unmet longings. We are loved, even when there are people who reject us.
This is what we are learning year round in our Courageous Girls groups when we face the bumps in our expectations. When our daughter goes through a prickly season. When we become weary of God’s timing or the chosen companions along the way. God is using it all. A stable. Shepherds. A Baby. Outcasts.
This is likely the plan after all.
May the Christmas story remind us to keep our eyes open. He is at work - even when the story line has a plot twist.
With joy, peace, hope and love,
Words of Love
Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time! They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
Matthew 2:9-12, The Message
Celebrate!
God has allowed CG to grow so much in 2024
Launched our own Courageous Girls App
Updated the Courageous Girls Website. Did you see it yet!?
Updated our Courageous Girls Merchandise
Started a Pilot Courageous Girls Leadership Cohort
Began laying the legwork for Courageous Girls Podcast
Started conversations with publishers about the Courageous Girls Curriculum
Partnerships with For Girls Like You (some amazing projects ahead!!); Christian Parenting, and the American Association for Christian Counselors
Fundraising
340 app users
with 14,000 new girl moms reached
Over 8000 sold copies of Courageous: Girls Being Rooted in Faith
Over 800 CG groups across the world
2012 The first Courageous Girls group began
13 Countries
with CG groups
All 50 States
with CG groups
Thousands of CG curriculum downloads
1000 readers of our monthly newsletters
Courageous Girls started in 2012 from a grassroots movement solely funded by volunteer sweat equity hours from Jeff and Terar Mattson and CG moms, officially becoming a 501c3 by the end of 2023!
Thank you to many generous CG supporters, including CG mamas like you, we have raised $70,000 this year! We are just two weeks away from reaching our $100,000 2024 goal and we can't wait to see what God does!
But we need your help to finish strong!!!
In order to launch the Courageous Girls Podcast, we are 🙏 for:
100 CG groups to commit to giving $25 a month throughout 2025.
Ways you can support the CG before the end of the year.
Make a tax-deductible donation HERE.
Purchase Christmas Gifts from the CG Shop. 40% off all CG Clearance items. See our newest designs!
Ask your CG group to be monthly partners and commit to $25/month as a group
Pay it forward and buy the 6 for 5 deal on the Courageous book and give to 5 girl moms who are behind you in this journey. Help them get a head start!
Pray and share about Courageous Girls with someone you know or on social media
Email us if you are interested in serving Courageous Girls with your unique gifts and talents. You might be the answer to our prayers! Email info@mycourageousgirls.com
Learn more and donate HERE.
Thank You
THANK YOU to our faithful CG board, CG advisory board made up of Courageous Girls moms from around the country, and our amazing team of volunteers.
Specific thank yous to Jen Abohosh, Emilee Beachy, Carrie Postma, Hollie Perlmutter, Stephanie West, and Rebecca Grace, who have given extra time to help us take steps of faith and implement all God is doing!
We are expanding and will have some new voices joining both the Board and Advisory Board in 2025.
Help Us Help You
Have you registered on the Website and the APP?
We want to know you and help you raise your daughters well. We are in this together.
If you are a CG leader, make sure you ask the moms in your group to register on the website. They might not know that they can access all you see on the website. When registered, they get direct access to the curriculum, monthly newsletters, on-going mom & daughter resources. This way you don't have to be the liaison for ALL the amazing resources Courageous Girls provides and is continuing to launch each year.
If you have yet to register on the Courageous Girls App, after downloading it on an app store, you still need to register you and your CG group.
Once you have received your individualized private chat group, you then invite your CG mamas to the chat. Your private chat group allows you to:
📈 Send polls and schedule updates
📩 Have record of all you communication threads for your group
🙏 Send prayer requests
And more...
Get more details HERE.
Merch Store
We have new merch in the store AND it’s time for holiday shopping! A match made in heaven.
BIGGEST SALE OF YEAR: 40% off all CG Clearance items
Visit the CG Shop
Upcoming
CG CHAT — Let’s Talk About Sex
Join us for the next quarterly chat - a personal Q&A conversation with CG founder, author, and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Terra Mattson. This conversation will be all about how to have a healthy and biblical approach to talking with our daughters about their changing bodies and God’s plan for sex. Invite your friends!
This is a FREE event, but you must register to join the conversation.
If you've got the CG app, go to the events page to register, or click the “Register Here” button!
Register HERE.
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