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Kum ba yah: On Getting “Emo” and Being Kind To One Another

by Allie Marie Smith

I just finished speaking to about 20 junior high girls at our local Christian school about the many truths behind what it means to be “wonderfully made” by God.

I have the privilege of leading a six-week girls-only chapel series and I’m enjoying these precious girls more every week.

I got a little emo and the end (which I’ve been known to do when I speak!) and ended our time together with an impromptu “kum ba yah” style hug. I asked them to look one another in the eye and promise themselves they would kind and gentle with one another. I saw sweetness and sincerity in their sparkling eyes.

“Do you promise?” I asked.

“Yes,” they said as they nodded their pretty little heads.

To close I had them stack their petite, different-colored arms and hands in the center of the circle and on the count of three scream “WE ARE WONDERFULLY MADE!”

I think they think I’m crazy. But I think they kind of liked it!

Speaking of kindness, I know you girls will be stoked on what our friends from The Kind Campaign are doing:

Why do you think girls can be so unkind to one another? Have you ever personally experienced the hurt of another girl’s unkindness?

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