Tommy Nelson's Brave Girls Confidential Read online

  Other Books in the Brand

  BRAVE GIRLS 365-DAY DEVOTIONAL

  BRAVE GIRLS HOLY BIBLE

  BRAVE GIRLS BIBLE STORIES

  BRAVE GIRLS: BEAUTIFUL YOU

  BRAVE GIRLS: BETTER THAN PERFECT

  BRAVE GIRLS: FAITHFUL FRIENDS

  Brave Girls Confidential

  © 2017 by Thomas Nelson

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Tommy Nelson. Tommy Nelson is an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Published in association with the literary agency of Folio Literary Management, LLC.

  Cover design by Brand Navigation

  Illustrations by Aleksey and Olga Ivanov

  Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the International Children’s Bible®. Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

  Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

  Epub Edition August 2017 ISBN 9781400309269

  ISBN-13: 978-0-7180-9725-7

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on File

  Printed in China

  17 18 19 20 21 DSC 5 4 3 2 1

  Mfr: LEO / Heshan, China / September 2017 / PO # 9448256

  Contents

  The Beach House Sleepover

  Introduction

  Gracie’s Doubt

  Facing New Changes

  Glory’s Pain

  Dealing with the Unexpected Things in Life

  Hope’s Snub

  Discovering the True Meaning of Friendship

  Faith’s Dilemma

  Knowing When to Speak Up

  Honor’s Rejection

  Staying True to Who You Are

  Bedtime Talks

  Back to the Sleepover

  Faith’s Masterpiece

  Accepting Mistakes and Things That Aren’t Perfect

  Gracie’s Triumph

  Giving Over Your Concerns to God

  Hope’s Victory

  Striving to Remain Brave in Everything

  Glory’s Big Day

  Keeping Positive No Matter How Bad the Day Might Be

  Honor’s Reward

  Believing in the Friends God Has Given You

  Confidential

  Good Night Brave Girls

  Brave Girl Activities

  Meet the Brave Girls

  Hope

  Ready for a game of football? Yeah, I know I’m a girl. And girls aren’t supposed to play football, right? Well, you haven’t seen me with my brothers. Every Saturday afternoon we’re out in the yard playing flag football with our neighbors. And if it isn’t football, it’s soccer or softball. We even have a volleyball net! I guess that’s one advantage to living on a farm outside of town—plenty of room to play hard.

  I actually have a girly side to me that likes to dress up and be pretty and all that stuff. But give me a pair of broken-in jeans, a T-shirt, and a good group of friends, and I’m happier than a homecoming queen.

  I guess you could say nothing in my life is all that fancy. Farm life just isn’t that way. But I have a terrific family. I’m the oldest, and my two younger brothers are twins my parents adopted from Ukraine when they were two years old. I love those guys, even though they bother me sometimes. We all work together around the farm and around our church. We help out with the local charity too because we can’t get over how good God has been to us. And sharing His hope with others? Well, it beats football any day.

  I do admit that I have a challenge I don’t like to talk about: reading. I do okay in school for the most part. But when I read, the letters get mixed up, and sometimes it looks like another language to me. They call it dyslexia. I call it embarrassing. But I do my best to remember that God can help me tackle this challenge. And He’s where I’m learning to put my—you guessed it—hope!

  Glory

  If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? I’m kind of torn. Half of me would want to be on a high mountain somewhere, enjoying a beautiful sunset. Or maybe the beach, looking out across the sparkling waters. But the other half of me would be just as wonderstruck walking down the streets of New York City with my mom and sisters, shopping for all the latest fashions! I mean, you can never have enough boots, right? Or scarves and earrings and nail polish to match?

  Yes, I know it might sound weird, but there is a common thread to everything I love: beauty! I love beauty wherever I see it: in this awesome world God created, in a gorgeous dress in a store window, and in the great hugs I get from my friends. I think God’s beauty is everywhere—you just have to look for it.

  Lately, I’ve had to look a little harder. Life at home wasn’t so pretty, and just last summer my parents got divorced. For a while, I got really mad at God and forgot about the good in the world. But then my friends from the youth group started writing me encouraging notes and inviting me over. Their love and friendship was, well, beautiful—and it got me noticing all the other amazing ways God shows His love to me. I’ve started to see how God can take even the ugly, hard things in life and turn them into something good. I’m working on forgiving my parents and praying that God will use me to encourage other girls like me. You know, God can take even the messiest of situations and use them for His glory!

  Honor

  My friends say that whenever and wherever there’s a challenge, I’m the one to take it! Maybe that’s why I always pick up stray animals and bring them home. I love to care for my furry friends and figure out how to make them better. I’m always going to the library to find new books to help me in my animal rescue mission! In fact, I love to read books in general. Last summer I started volunteering at the library so that I could help other kids learn to love books too.

  But my biggest challenge lately hasn’t been at the library or with my five pets. It’s been at school. Studying has always been easy for me, and I was thrilled when the principal said I could skip a grade. But I had a really hard time fitting in with the older kids. They didn’t seem impressed with my intelligence, so at first I tried dressing and talking more like they did, even though I knew it didn’t honor God. That didn’t work either.

  I just ended up feeling guilty and more out of place than ever. Turns out they weren’t the kind of friends I needed anyway. It’s a good thing God has given me an awesome youth group. My leader and friends there have helped me remember who God says I am.

  So who am I, really? You could say I’m God’s girl, even though I don’t always act like it. But I am learning how to honor Him more. And one day I hope to take all the abilities God has given me and use them, maybe to become a veterinarian or zoologist or something. Whatever I do, though, one thing’s for sure: I want it all to honor God.

  Gracie

  Let’s just say it�
��s all by God’s grace that I’m here. And I’m not just saying that because of my name. If it had been left up to me, I’d still be in my old hometown of Perkasie, Pennsylvania. We’re talking beautiful green hills and parks on every street corner. I was born there, and I knew everybody (and everybody knew me).

  And then we moved. I thought life was over. I wanted my old friends and old world back, and I was pretty stubborn and loud about it.

  In my hometown, my family and I didn’t talk about God much. But once we moved here, we started going to this church, and there were some girls in the youth group who were . . . nice. More than nice, really. They were cool. They liked to do fun stuff and all, but they also weren’t afraid to talk about things that matter—like what we’re supposed to do with our lives. I used to ask myself that question sometimes, like when I was walking through the woods by my house or listening to my music. These girls were able to show me the answer in the Bible. I always knew there had to be a God who made all those beautiful things. Now I’m beginning to know who He is, thanks to God Himself, those girls, my church, and, yes, even my parents, who moved me here.

  Wanna know something else kind of funny? The only time I ever sang back in Pennsylvania was in my shower at home. I loved it, but I was afraid to sing in public. Now I’m in the choir at church, and I’m singing about God to anybody who’ll listen!

  Faith

  Have you ever known anybody who is homeschooled? If you haven’t, now you do! My sister and I have been homeschooled all our lives. I miss my friends, but I still love learning at home because I have more time—to finish my work, to hang out, and to think. I’ve even used that time to start reading the Bible on my own because I really want to make God happy.

  But to tell you the truth, I tend to try to please more than just God. I want everyone to like what I do, which has made me quite a perfectionist. Even though my name is Faith, I think a better name right now would be Worry because I’m always worried that I’m going to disappoint someone, including myself. The only time I get away from those thoughts is when I’m painting, my favorite hobby. Fortunately, I find lots of time for that, which is starting to pay off. I’ve been asked to help the younger kids with their art projects at camp this year, and I’ve even won some local art contests!

  The girls in the youth group are helping me too, and I love spending time with them. They remind me that God already knows all about my mess-ups and sins but loves me anyway. I guess I’m learning that my faith is not a bunch of “dos and don’ts.” It’s about a relationship with God, who knows the real me, and He is working on me to make me more like Him. That’s what real faith is all about— believing that God loves me, forgives me, and sees me as His very own work of art, no matter what!

  The Youth Group

  If God had thought we worked better alone, He wouldn’t have invited so many people into His family. We need each other! Just like a body works best when all its parts are connected, God’s family is the strongest when all His kids work and worship together.

  But a funny thing often happens with a big group of people who spend a lot of time together. The people start to look the same. They dress the same, talk the same, and only welcome other people who are, well, just like them. Think about your body: Can you imagine if your nose decided to be an eye instead? And then, out of peer pressure, your ear became an eye, then your hands, and . . . you get the picture. You’d have a body of eyes without any ability to move, feel, taste, touch, or smell. Plus, you’d creep out a lot of people.

  Each one of us has a special way to honor God and help others see Him in ways the rest of us can’t on our own. But together, we’re even stronger—which is a great part of God’s plan.

  That’s what our youth group is all about: learning how to work together to know God better and to tell other people about Him too. We meet every week to talk, to learn what God is saying to us in the Bible, and to pray about anything and everything—together, the way God’s family was meant to be. Want to join us?

  INTRODUCTION

  The Beach House Sleepover

  We are many, but in Christ we are all one body.

  —Romans 12:5

  Get ready, Glory! A big one’s coming!” Hope leaned into her bodyboard and paddled ahead.

  Glory followed with a “Woohoo!”

  Even though it was her first time, somehow Hope skillfully guided her board to shore. Glory wobbled and fell into the saltwater. She came up laughing. Soon they were both on the beach, soaking wet but smiling. Once they caught their breath, they grabbed their boards and raced back to do it again. Honor, Faith, and Gracie waved and clapped and cheered from the beach.

  Glory had been coming to this beach every summer since her parents bought the beach house when she was little. She wondered if they would keep up the tradition now that her parents were divorced.

  “The only thing better than a sleepover is a sleepover at your amazing beach house,” Hope said.

  Glory smiled and admired the three-story house. It was a beautiful house, with its wall of gleaming windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Glory thought the best part was the enormous staircase that led up from the beach to the wide back porch overlooking the ocean.

  Together the girls walked back to their friends on the shore.

  “Great sand castle, Honor and Gracie!” Hope called.

  “It’s supposed to be Glory’s beach house, but we’re having trouble making it tall enough,” Honor said.

  Hope took a bucket and started to dig. “We can do it if we work as a team.”

  “What’s that you’re making, Faith?” Glory asked.

  “I’m using these shells I collected to make art.”

  “Oh! I see now,” Glory said. “You’ve made a bunch of different flowers, like a floral pattern on fabric. It reminds me of a dress I have. Can I help?”

  “Sure!”

  “Girls!” Glory’s mom called from the porch. “Dinner’s ready!”

  The girls looked over to see Glory’s mom walking toward them, carrying pizzas and plates. “How about dinner on the beach?” she asked.

  They all cheered in unison. Sunset was still a couple of hours away, and they wanted to be outside as long as they could.

  Glory’s mom easily got the girls to come inside, however, when she told them they were going to have gourmet cupcakes for dessert.

  “And each of you can design your very own cupcake,” she said.

  Glory got a gleam in her eye. “There’s a catch. We each design our own using whatever we want to represent our personality.”

  The girls squealed in delight when they saw the enormous marble kitchen island loaded with a variety of cupcakes on cake stands. There were several colors of frosting to choose from. And jelly beans, chocolate chips, candy, coconut flakes, and sprinkles in pretty bowls lined the counter.

  “Wow, it’s like my wildest dream just came true!” Faith said.

  “I don’t know where to start.” Hope’s eyes widened.

  “I do!” Honor chimed in. She took a vanilla cupcake and got straight to work.

  Glory was piping cream cheese frosting onto her cupcake when she squeezed her piping bag too hard and accidentally splattered frosting everywhere. A huge glob landed on Honor’s glasses. For a moment, Honor stood still, surprised. Then she wiped it off and tasted it.

  “Yum,” she said.

  The rest of the girls laughed. Honor retaliated by throwing a marshmallow back at Glory, but she missed. The marshmallow hit Hope instead. Soon they were all throwing candy around the kitchen, giggling.

  Glory’s mom rushed in. “Girls!”

  They froze. Glory looked around. Food was everywhere, including all over the girls. The special aprons her mom had bought them to take home after the sleepover weren’t doing much good keeping them clean.

  “Glory,” her mom scolded. “What are you doing?”

  Glory shrugged and grimaced. “Sampling the food?”

  “Well,” Glory’s mom s
aid, smiling, “you ladies have some cleaning up to do. But first, I want to hear about these gorgeous cupcakes.”

  “I’ll go first,” Faith said. “I chose carrot cake with cream cheese frosting because I love how it tastes. Then I chose colorful sprinkles to represent the paints in my special art kit.”

  Hope went next. “I designed my cupcake to look like a soccer ball. The cake is chocolate, so I put vanilla frosting over it in a pattern. Even though—well, it kinda looks like a pile of slop.”

  Honor laughed. “My turn,” she said. “Mine is vanilla cake and vanilla frosting. I used coconut and chocolate chips to make it look like a kitten, see?”

  “Honor loves anything with fur, Mom,” Glory explained. “Even furry cupcakes!”

  They all giggled.

  Gracie said, “I chose a chocolate cupcake and used pink frosting. Then I made music notes with icing because singing makes me happy.”

  Glory was the last to show off her cupcake. “Mine is red velvet—very fancy,” she said. “With cream cheese frosting, of course. I decorated it with white and milk chocolate chips. See? Polka dots! My cupcake is fashionable, like me.”

  “You girls did a great job,” Glory’s mom said.

  “Now do we get to eat these?” Hope asked.

  “Sure.” Glory’s mom opened a cabinet and took out a broom. “After you clean up the kitchen.”

  Gracie took the broom and started to sweep. “I’m a good sweeper.”

  “Wait, I’ll help,” Faith replied.

  Soon they were all tidying up the kitchen. Because they worked together, they were finished quickly. Glory’s mom was impressed.

  “You girls work fast!”

  Glory smiled. “Like Hope said, we make a great team.”

  After they got ready for bed, the girls carried their sleeping bags into the living room, which was located in the center of the beach house. It was an enormous room with white walls, white leather couches, and dark wood floors. The second-floor bedrooms were on a hall with a balcony that looked out over this room.