Letters to our Daughters: I second-guessed my abilities
Dear Girls,
I am the awesome creation of God called by the name Solina Ray Arrington Richards. It is important that you know my entire name because each name represents a part of who I am.
Solina is a person who loves life, exploring new things and places, and is a perpetual student. She is calm, reserved and given to listening. She is a mother of two adult children, and grandmother of 3 granddaughters by birth and 2 other grandchildren through grace. She is loyal and a dedicated person.
Ray is the adventurous part. She is direct (sometimes edgy) and has little patience for nonsense. Arrington is the part of my genetic history. It is the biological donation made by father. From that name comes creativity and mystery (because he was absent from much of my life). Richards, well that’s the part of me who married, focused on raising children, being a supportive partner to my husband of 29 years and counting.
My life has been one of highs and lows, learning and failings. My parents divorced when I was just 3 years old. This led to a journey of rejection and fear. Without my father it seemed a piece of me was missing. The protector and provider was not there. I struggled to figure out who I was and what my life would produce. This fear caused me to settle for bad relationships. It was only through learning that God loved me, was I able to release the bad, unproductive, and pointless relationships.
In those fears, I found doubt and a lack of confidence within myself. I always second guessed my abilities and would usually shrink back. Fear of rejection crippled me and delayed the expression for the purpose for my life. I have however exchanged this fear for faith, faith in myself and my abilities. I removed the “bad boyfriend syndrome” and the residual impact of his words and the words of others who spoke death versus life and began to speak a new word over myself and went on to build a new future.
This included getting married to a wonderful husband and completing my first degree (graduating with honors). I overcame the negative words, actions, and attitudes which had been projected on me. In overcoming external forces I completed my Master’s (again graduating with honors). Today I am completing my Ph.D with a GPA of 3.6.
I have also founded an organization called Rescuing The People Community Services. Our past successes include activities like paying a $800.00 water bill for a mother whose child had been shot and killed, assisting the elderly during times of ill-health and sickness, visiting those who are in need during death and other crisis in their lives, providing clothing and shelter to a family after their home burned…..
Girls, my closing hope and encouragement to you is to rise. Rise in the calling that your person was designed to fulfill. Rise, in your strength, because no matter what, it is truly within you. Rise from your seat of hopelessness, despair, complacency to settle. Rise with the knowledge that you are a unique creation of God…..perfectly designed to win and bring victory. Rise and display the glory of God throughout the earth!!!
xoxo,
Solina
Learn more about Solina
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ABOUT Letters to our Daughters
Letters to Our Daughters is a B2F Girls! campaign that aspires to empower girls with the courage to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams as they learn from women who have overcome many challenges and have positioned themselves to live a fierce life. We hope that the stories will be healing and empowering for both the writer and the reader.
ABOUT B2F Girls!
B2F Girls! is on a mission to equip girls nationally with healthy self-esteem so that they can be the best version of themselves. When this happens, everyone benefits. B2F Girls! offers a robust certification program and training intensive, complete with resources, implementation guides and support for women who have a calling to mentor girls. We also produce national female empowerment events.
OUR HISTORY
B2F Girls! initially started as an organization called Tween Style Power that offered free local workshops for girls ages 10-17 that addressed the areas of self-worth, body image and leadership. After our first successful year of implementation, we began to notice we were receiving an influx of women from various parts of the country asking how they could implement a similar program for the girls in their communities. It was then that we recognized a gap that required a systematic and accessible way of providing the training we were already offering. This made way for the launch of B2F Girls!
