21 Years
It's hard to believe it's been 21 years without my dad.
These 21 years have shown me how deeply a father shapes his daughter’s life—her identity, her confidence and her sense of belonging. And recently, it hit me in a new way: as a little girl, the person I am most like was not there to help me understand it.
At 10 years old, it was my dad and me against the world- on the softball field, on our Sunday afternoon drives, making silly jokes, at the lake, with math homework and in the backyard. I made sense to him, and to me, life with him made sense because I was most like him. And on April 11, 2005, he was gone, but that similarity was not, and I had to learn how to walk it out without him. In ways, I think I lost what made life make sense when I lost him. The dad, father of the bride and granddad I will never know.
By the grace, mercy and love of my amazing Daddy God, this journey has not broken me, despite what the enemy wanted me to believe; instead, He has given me purpose in it.
Purpose that gives me a passion for girls who are growing up asking the same questions I once did, mostly being "where do I belong?". Because I know what it is like to carry both strength and longing at the same time.
Sadly, Lindsey lost her dad in 2016, and her girls lost theirs in 2023. We all know this pain.
And through Girl Talk, we walk alongside countless other girls who carry that same ache of losing their dads.
Too many who are quietly asking, “Am I enough?” “Where do I belong?"
Too many who feel unseen, unequipped, or left behind.
The reality is, the numbers for all girls today reflect what we see every day with Girl Talk:
-Only 55% of girls report having self-confidence, with the sharpest drop happening as early as 5th–6th grade.
-7 in 10 girls feel like they don’t measure up.
-80% of girls and women feel like they’re “not enough.”
-By age 17, 78% of girls are unhappy with their bodies.
-57% of teen girls have felt persistently sad or hopeless.
-30% have seriously considered suicide.
For girls growing up without their dads, the challenges can be even greater—higher risks, deeper emotional struggles, and fewer support systems to help guide them forward.
This is personal and why we want to create something that makes an eternal impact not just today but for the rest of their lives, future marriages and future families.
We all have moments of questions, but we want to continue walking alongside girls and families in a way that points to the ultimate answer: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 You have a Dad who loves you.
This is why we are hosting our First Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, June 15, 2026 at Pursell Farms, benefiting The DAUGHTERS Scholarship Fund through our 501(c)3 Dogwood Dreams DBA Girl Talk Ministries.
This vision is bigger than an event.
DAUGHTERS is a vision the Lord gave me in the fall of 2024 after a year of praying how to help Lindsey with her girls after they lost their dad. DAUGHTERS is about continuing to ignite true worth and meaning in girls through Christ as daughters of the King.
Through DAUGHTERS, we are working to:
• Provide scholarships to help girls pursue their educational goals or wherever God is calling them
• Offer mentorship and equip girls with confidence, purpose, and practical tools for their future in business, finances and time management
• Create safe spaces for healing, growth, and identity restoration in life-giving relationships for who they are in Christ
Because some girls are not just lacking resources in the loss of their dads— many girls are lacking someone to equip them.
And we want to change that.
At the core of everything we do is this truth:
“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him all glory to God Who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask, think or imagine according to His power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:16-21
Even in these 21 years without my dad and the pain of missing him, I have never walked alone because my Dad has been right here with me through the people He has given me, the love He has shown me and the purpose He lives out through me every day. And we know the same is true for every girl we reach—that she is deeply loved, fully seen, and chosen, and we want to spend the rest of our long, long, healthy days showing her:
She is a daughter of the King of Kings.
And she is worth investing in.
If you have made it this far, thank you. We would love to invite you to partner with us:
• Sponsor the DAUGHTERS Golf Tournament through your business or family
• Play in the golf tournament with your team of 4
• Become a business mentor in our 517 Mentoring Program
If you would like more information on how to partner with us and ways to sponsor, you can message me here or visit our website www.girltalkministries.info/daughters or email team@girltalkministries.info to get involved!
Most of all, we would ask everyone to pray for the girls we are walking with every day.
Let’s be part of the reason a girl believes she has a future and a good one.
And knowing as His children, we are all His favorites.
There can be purpose in your pain!
“His favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
Psalm 30:5
While I never got to be on the golf course with my dad, a place he loved to be, today and every day 21 years later, and with this golf tournament, I pray to honor my dad and my Daddy always.
Thank you for giving me the honor of being yours.
, your little girl
"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13
