Are you a punctual girl? What does it mean to be punctual, anyway? Punctuality is showing high esteem for other people and their time. Probably you have heard this character quality mentioned in relation to being on time for something, right? Punctuality is so important for girls to learn, but it is often missing from their lives.

Do you like babies? If you are like most girls, your answer is an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Of course you love babies! They are little and cute and so very soft! Think back to the last time you were able to hold a tiny newborn. How did you cradle that baby in your arms and speak to him? Very carefully? Probably you held the little one delicately and spoke tenderly. This is what I think of when I hear the word gentle. Gentleness is not only something we need when caring for a tiny baby, but it is an important character trait for girls, just like you, to learn.

Valentine’s Day…it’s the season of love! If you are like my little girls, you like anything that has to do with hearts, flowers, red, pink and celebrating a special, lovey-dovey day like Valentine’s Day! It’s fun to decorate with hearts and Valentines and craft special messages, gifts and treats for the ones we love! But what is real love?

A few months ago, while my daughter was cleaning the bathrooms, she noticed that there were several hand soap dispensers that were just about empty and needed to be replaced. Rather than throw all of them away, and waste that last little bit of soap in the bottom of each of them, she used creativity and resourcefulness to combine them all into one of the dispensers, so that soap wouldn’t be wasted and could be used to clean hands! This is a great example of a young lady using resourcefulness!

I recently read through the book of Joshua, and over and over again in that book, the Lord instructs Joshua to be courageous and strong! Certainly Joshua’s soldiers needed to demonstrate courage as they conquered cities and fought wars, but is courage important for a young girl, too?

Have you ever been in a conversation with another girl when she began talking about how much she didn’t like some decision her parents had made? Or how unhappy she was with something that her teacher did? Or maybe you have been tempted to discuss these ideas with friends or brothers and sisters? Those are great opportunities for you to demonstrate the character trait of loyalty.

Have you ever found yourself staring at your messy bedroom and thinking, “I am NEVER going to get this place cleaned up!” Or have you faced a math problem that frustrated you so badly that you began to think, “This is IMPOSSIBLE to figure out!” Well then here is a character quality that you might need to learn. It’s called Determination and it’s very important to Christians!

Do you find yourself daydreaming as you skip down the road? Sometimes, do you think it’s hard to concentrate on your schoolwork, chores, or what someone else is talking to you about? Then this might be a character trait that you need to sit up and pay attention to!

When I was a little girl I always looked forward to times of “hospitality.” That usually meant that we were having “company” over to our house for dinner! Maybe some family or friends were coming, or perhaps we invited a new family from church or a visiting missionary family. Regardless of who would show up on our doorstep, I enjoyed those special times because it meant people in our house, a yummy dinner AND dessert, and often some other children to play with! My sister and I eagerly helped my mother cook and clean in preparation for our guests. This is a good example of learning the character quality of hospitality.

Here is a character quality that should be developed very early in the life of a little princess. That is because people are going to hurt you or wrong you often. I’m sure you have already experienced some of that in your young life. When someone says or does something unkind to you, you may have the tendency to want to do the same back to them or maybe you decide to reject them and pretend that they don’t exist.

Remember young Miriam in the Old Testament? She has a real “princess story” that I think will help us understand better the character trait of boldness!

I’ve mentioned before our imaginary little princess living in a beautiful castle with lots of servants to take care of her every need. Her servants, no doubt, display the character trait of attentiveness as they wait on her all day long. But does our little princess have this same quality? Do you?

Orderliness is something that we hear much about this time of the year! Perhaps you have heard your mother talking about reorganizing something or getting the house in shape now that Christmas is over. January is a great time for fresh starts; and developing the character quality of orderliness would be a great goal for a young girl!