Real Girls of the Bible: A Devotional (Faithgirlz!)

195 Pages·2008·10.32 MB·english

by  Mona Hodgson

You’re not alone.
You come from a long line of strong girls, girls who
struggled to know God and to follow his plan, just as you
do. And you’re a part of this girlfriend community.
Here are the stories of thirty authentic girls of the Bible.
Each devotion includes a Scripture verse, prayer, and more
fun features to help you find your place in the world. You’re
on your way to becoming a real girl too!
H
Mona Hodgson is the author of more than twenty-two children’s books.
o
In addition to writing and speaking, Mona likes to read mysteries and love d
g
stories, hike Arizona, travel to Africa, play table games, climb rock walls, s
o
and practice hula-hooping. She lives in central Arizona where she’s learning
n
to be a real girl of the Bible.
KIdS / jUvENIlE / NoN-fICtIoN
US $9.99/UK £4.99/CAN $11.99
ISBN-10: 0-310-71338-2
cover design: Sarah Molegraaf ISBN-13: 978-0-310-71338-8
50999
N
A
E
9 780310 713388 Mona Hodgson
Real Girls_final_cover.indd 1 10/30/07 9:48:08 AM
Other Books in the Growing Faithgirlz!™ Library
The Faithgirlz Bible
NIV Faithgirlz! Backpack Bible
My Faithgirlz Journal
Nonfiction
No Boys Allowed: Devotions for Girls
Girlz Rock: Devotions for You
Chick Chat: More Devotions for Girls
Beauty Lab
Body Talk
Everybody Tells Me to Be Myself but I Don’t Know Who I Am
Girl Politics
What’s a Girl to Do?
Check out www.faithgirlz.com
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 22 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5555 PPMM
Written by Mona Hodgson
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 33 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5555 PPMM
ZONDERKIDZ
Real Girls of the Bible
Copyright © 2008 by Mona Hodgson
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright
Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non
-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-
screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down loaded,
decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information
storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written
permission of Zondervan
AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-56806-3(cid:13)(cid:10)
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hodgson, Mona Gansberg, 1954 –
Real girls of the Bible : a devotional / Mona Hodgson.
p. cm. --(Faithgirlz!)
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-71338-8 (softcover)
ISBN-10: 0-310-71338-2 (softcover)
1. Women in the Bible--Juvenile literature. – 2. Girls--Prayers and
devotions--Juvenile literature. 3. Girls--Religious life--Juvenile literature.
I. Title.
BS575.H63 2007
220.9’2 — dc22
2007022885
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Inter-
national Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechan-
ical, photocopy, recording, or any other — e xcept for brief quotations in printed
reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan
Editor: Barbara Scott
Composition: Melissa Elenbaas
Art direction: Sarah Molegraaf
08 09 10 11 • 5 4 3 2 1
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 44 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5555 PPMM
To my mom, June Gansberg Jensen,
who brought Bible people to life
for me on a flannel board
To Shirley Millar, my friend in sunshine and storms —
a real girl of the Bible
To Bob Hodgson, my hubby of 35 years, who inspires
me to become a real girl of the Bible

I’d like to thank the following people:
• Robin Crouch, a former editor at Zonderkidz, who birthed
the vision for this book and entrusted me to run with it. Her
cheers still ring in my ears.
• My agent, Janet Kobobel Grant, from Books & Such, Inc.
for her years of partnership, patience, and toting pompoms.
Thanks for cheering me onward.
• Barbara Scott and Betsy Flikkema, my editors at Zonderkidz,
for coming alongside me and taking this book to the finish
line.
• My prayer partners — Shirley, June, Ann, and Karen — whose
faithful prayers brought Real Girls of the Bible to life and gave
it legs. And to all the others who listened to the Holy Spirit’s
prompting and breathed prayers for me and this book and
the girls who will read it.
• My Snoopy Dancer writing buds — L auraine, Eileen, Ceil,
Diana, Nancy Jo, Paddy, and Kathleen — w ho celebrate the
book’s completion with me.
• My true inspiration for becoming a real girl of the Bible and
writing about it — Jesus. It’s all because of him.
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 55 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5566 PPMM
031020755X_relation_fm.qxp 9/8/06 2:21 PM Page 1
This page is intentionally left blank
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
What Is a Real Girl of the Bible?. . . . . . . . . . . 11
PART ONE
Old Testament Girls
1. Eve’s Too-Late Discovery. . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Sarah’s Big Surprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3. Hagar’s Desert Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4. Leah’s Rival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5. A Royal Gift for Jochebed . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6. Miriam’s Journey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7. Rahab’s Rooftop Hideaway . . . . . . . . . . 47
8. Deborah, Leader of a Nation . . . . . . . . . 51
9. Jael’s Big Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
10. Naomi’s Journey Home . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
11. Ruth’s Family Ties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
12. Hannah’s Promise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
13. Abigail’s Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
14. Huldah’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
15. Vashti’s Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
16. A Crown for Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 77 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5566 PPMM
PART TWO
New Testament Girls
17. Mary’s Encounter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
18. Elizabeth’s Visitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
19. Anna’s Call to Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
20. A Cure for the Woman in the Crowd . . . . 117
21. A Healer for Jairus’s Daughter . . . . . . . . 121
22. Mary of Bethany’s Choice . . . . . . . . . . 125
23. Martha’s Sister Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . 129
24. A Widow’s Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
25. A Forgiven Woman’s Fragrant Faith . . . . . 139
26. Mary Magdalene’s Deeper Healing. . . . . . 145
27. Living Water for the Samaritan Woman. . . 149
28. A Miracle for Dorcas. . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
29. God’s Gift to Eunice. . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
30. Lydia’s Riverbank Prayer Meeting . . . . . . 163
More Real Girl Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
About the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Share Your Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 88 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5566 PPMM
Introduction
H
i there,
Do you have a favorite Bible girl? Esther has been
one of my favorites for a long time. Beauty. Royalty.
Intrigue. Bravery. Victory. What a story! But several other
Bible girls have also captured my attention and tugged
on my heart.
There’s Leah’s victorious story of sibling rivalry and
her search for love and acceptance.
And Ruth. She left her home, family, and familiar tra-
ditions to travel to a strange land with her mother-in-law.
A terrific story of friendship and faith.
On paper I’ve met Mary, Eve, Lydia, and many other
fascinating Bible girls I want you to meet. Here you will
read about thirty amazing girls of faith with guts and
grace whose journeys give us glimpses of God. They show
us who God is, how much he cares about you and me,
and how much he longs for a real relationship with each
one of us.
In this book, you’ll get to know some of the Bible girls
better and meet some you hadn’t even heard of. They all
inspire me to be a real girl of the Bible. I hope they do
the same for you.
9
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 99 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5566 PPMM
While getting to know our Bible girls, I also discov-
ered extra tidbits about them and their culture that I
thought you might enjoy too. So check it all out.
Happy reading, fellow real girl,
Mona
10
00331100771133338822__rreeaallggiirrllss__ccss22..iinndddd 1100 1111//1122//0077 66::0055::5566 PPMM