Make Your Youth Count: An Interview with Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird

I was privileged to be able to work with Girl Defined Ministries to present this interview to you.

We wanted to encourage young people to do hard things, and these young women have worked hard to do just that. They have made an incredible impact on many lives, and they are true inspirations.

I hope you will watch and be edified by this interview.

What is Girl Defined?

Girl Defined is a ministry run by two young women, Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird. They wrote a book called Girl Defined: God’s Radical Design for Beauty, Femininity, and Identity, and their ministry is all about coming back to God’s authentic design for womanhood and thriving in it.

I asked them the questions that follow:

1. How did your ministry start?

Their passion started as teenage girls, when they began a blog to share truth to as many people as they could. It was a lot of hard work, but by God’s grace, they were able to bring it to where it is now. Slowly but surely God allowed them to build a platform.

2. What is your vision for Girl Defined?

Their desire is to point the next generation of women to look to God (instead of culture) for their identity. They want all women to realize that His design for them is beautiful and timeless. They love delving into the questions of Christian women in modern society, and finding biblical answers for them. They know how hard it is to grow up in a society that expects you to be “perfect” and they seek to bring grace and truth.

3. Explain what your book is about.

Girl Defined was released last year. It was only by God and His providential ways that this book came into being! While Kristen and Bethany thought it would be impossible, God was bigger than that. They worked hard and prayed like crazy and eventually, a publishing company reached out to them! Girl Defined explains what the Bible has to say about biblical femininity and shares their own experiences with it.

4. As young people yourselves, how did you overcome the struggles of writing a book?

Writing this book was one of the hardest things either Kristen or Bethany had ever done. People often romanticize the idea of writing a book and make it look glamorous, but in reality, it was done through hours and months of grueling hard work. There are no shortcuts. You have to be willing to do hard things! But God opens doors when you least expect it, so work diligently where He has you right now.

5. How has Do Hard Things impacted your lives?

Bethany and Kristen got the book when it first came out and were deeply moved by it. They were struck by the fact that these were two brothers, and they were two sisters, rebelling against society’s low expectations. They remember Brett and Alex sharing 1 Timothy 4:12:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

Bethany was challenged to not wait until she was older to do hard things, but to pursue them right where she was.

6. If you could give one piece of advice to every young person out there, what would it be?

Make your one life count. Make your life count for Christ, no matter how old you are or where God has placed you.

Connect with Kristen and Bethany

• The Girl Defined Blog
• Youtube
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter