If you have daughters or granddaughters, I'm confident that you've at least heard of, if not owned, an American Girl doll in your home.

  

A former TV reporter and children's textbook writer, Pleasant Rowland was inspired in 1986 to create the American Girl doll collection after visiting Colonial Williamsburg.  She hoped that young girls might become interested in history through identifying with dolls based on historic periods.  Standing 18 inches tall, each American Girl doll is accompanied by at least one companion book that tells her story.  

 

 

  Pleasant Rowland, creator of the American Girl Dolls

 

Over time, Rowland introduced 50 different dolls, launched the American Girl Magazine in 1995 which now enjoys 470,000 subscribers, and later sold the company in 1998 to Mattel for a whopping $700 million.

  

Clearly, Pleasant's dream of getting young American girls interested in the history of their country was wildly successful.  Those initial dolls brought history alive for millions of girls.

  

Similarly, Dan and Jackie Liberto, the San Antonio Christian parents of three daughters, want to bring biblical history alive for millions of girls as they feature Biblical heroines in their Freedom Girls collection Their first 18-inch doll is Ruth, from the Old Testament, who comes with a companion book "The Story of Ruth Through A Child's Eyes."  

 

 

Dan and Jackie Liberto, creators of The Freedom Girl dolls  

based on Biblical heroines like Ruth 

   

While Dan has worked in management at AT&T for the past 25 years, his heart is to disciple his daughters and help other dads do the same for their girls.

 

 

Dan Liberto with his three daughters, Conner, 16, Syndey, 12, and Jordan, 7.   

Check out his column entitled "A Great Time to be a Husband, Parent and a Dad" which was recently printed in The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Fall 2011 issue.  

 

Jackie is a full-time, stay-at-home mother who delights in helping her daughters avoid the secular potholes that she fell into before she converted to Christ as an adult.  

 

While they lived in San Antonio for 11 years, they attended Trinity Baptist, and now attend Boerne Assembly of God in their new hometown.  

  

I first met Dan several years ago through Bible Study Fellowship on Tuesday nights at University United Methodist Church here in San Antonio off I-10 at DaZavala.  In fact, just last year, as we studied through the book of Isaiah, Dan and I were in the same small group of like-minded Christian men.  

  

It's my prayer that God will use Dan and Jackie's line of Biblical dolls called The Freedom Girls to be even more successful than Pleasant Rowland's American Girl line has been.

 

 

Standing 18 inches tall, Ruth is their first doll based on the biblical Ruth of the Old Testament which comes complete with an accompanying beautifully illustrated children's storybook entitled "The Story of Ruth Through a Child's Eyes" which is written for girls between the ages of 6 and 13.  Now, your daughter, granddaughter or niece can have a doll who inspires loyalty and purity of heart straight from the pages of Scripture.

 

  

The Freedom Girls is a children's ministry designed to come alongside parents as they teach their children that the Lord knows them personally and by name.  And when a girl grasps the real significance of that truth she will more be likely to desire a right relationship with God.  

• "And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." (Exodus 33:17) 
• "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."  (Jeremiah 1:5)
• "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out."  (John 10:3b)

Next to Mary, Ruth is arguably the most well known biblical heroine.  But more importantly, the story of Ruth exemplifies God's sovereignty. Despite the fact that her husband Mahlon died unexpectedtly, the Lord provided a strong bond with her mother-in-law Naomi. 

Who can forget the famous passage from Ruth 1:16?  Ruth, speaking to Naomi, says,"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."

 

In addition, God provided the food that she gleaned from the fields and ultimately her second husband Boaz, her kinsman redeemer. Through their son Obed, Ruth became the ancestress not only to King David, but to our Savior Jesus Christ Himself!  

 

In fact, the Libertos selected Ruth to be the first Freedom Girl doll precisely because of the character attributes of Christ she displays like love, faithfulness and compassion. By contrast, I don't think the latest Barbie incarnation can hold a candle in light of her emphasis on immodesty, selfishness and materialism.  If your daughter emulated Barbie, you'd be pulling your hair out.  If she emulated Ruth, you'd be a proud parent indeed.  

 

 

Frankly, Ruth is as relevant today as she was back then.  Put simply, she is a role model worthy of your child.

  

It's about time young girls had an alternative in their play, and thus their life lessons, from the pagan, threatening culture that is downright poisonous to their souls.   

 

When you couple the doll with the book, you will be further assured that your daughter will glean and, prayerfully apply, all of the compelling biblical lessons.  "The Story of Ruth Through a Child's Eyes" provides a complete account of the entire book of Ruth including Scripture references to follow along in your Bible.

  

Read some excerpts from the book. 

 

As you open the pages of the Freedom Girl paperback, your daughter will encounter a modern 8-year-old Ruth from 2011 who learns about her Scriptural namesake.  While the contemporary Ruth battles her own sin nature as revealed in her fights with her brother and the roll of her eyes behind her parents' backs, she nonetheless has a yearning for God.   

 

 

 

In the Liberto book, Ruth's mother uses her daughter's temper tantrum as a teaching opportunity.  She opens her Bible and tells her daughter the story of Old Testament Ruth.  Intertwined throughout the Scriptural narrative is an honest, refreshing dialogue between mother and daughter as normal child inquisitiveness takes over.   

 

The beauty of the 18-inch Ruth doll is that your daughter will re-enact the story of Ruth over and over again until it becomes a part of her.  The doll provides the perfect connection to the Biblical account.  Your daughter will come to understand that the same sovereign Lord that sheltered the daughter-in-law of Naomi under His wing now watches over her.

 

Dan and Jackie Liberto talk about their creation of the 18-inch Ruth doll with the companion book "The Story of Ruth Through A Child's Eyes."

Not only can you read "The Book of Ruth Through A Child's Eyes" aloud to your young daughter, but you could also easily incorporate it into your church's Sunday School curriculum.  Plus, they've even provided journal pages in the book for your child to record her spiritual journey which she can keep for years to come to share with her future children.

  

Maggi Beardsley, who reviewed the 80-page paperback for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, wrote "It will create a bridge of living faith between you, [your daughter], and God."

Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us that God "has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." 

  

As the father of Honor, our 2-year-old boy and Mercy, our newborn girl, there is nothing more I want in this world than to see them come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.    

 

Adam and Amy McManus with their 2-year-old son Honor  

and their newborn daughter Mercy behind the Thanksgiving table.

 

If I had a daughter between the age of 5 and 12, I couldn't buy the Ruth doll and book fast enough to help me communicate the eternal truths found in Scripture.  Allow the Libertos to help you answer your daughter's questions about eternity through Ruth.

 

You see, Dan and Jackie started The Freedom Girls product line to counteract the decline of biblical literacy. Their mission is to help parents equip this generation of children and youth with Truth.

 

 

Psalm 78:5-7 could not be more clear.  "Then commanded our parents to teach it to their children so the next generation would know, and all the generations to come know the truth and tell the stories so their children can trust in God, never forget the works of God, but keep His commands to the letter."  We, as parents, are to instruct our children to trust God and to keep His commands.   

 

But that's easier said than done.  Now, thanks to the Libertos' new Freedom Girls line of dolls and books, you have one more tool in your discipleship toolbox to shape and form the Christian character of your daughter.

 

 

As a result, she will step into her teenage years with a clearer understanding of her true worth in Jesus Christ.  And, thanks to her identity being found solidly in Christ, she will be that much more emboldened to resist the world's temptations that might compromise her purity, righteousness and integrity.   

 

Let's be honest. That's priceless!

 

Without question, the highest prayer of Dan and Jackie Liberto, the creators of The Freedom Girls product line, is that the next generation will have clean hands and pure hearts thanks to the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.   

 

They want your daughters to join their daughters and be "the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, God of Jacob." (Psalm 24:6)

 

 

3.  Check out The Freedom Girls blog which includes such entries as "Lies, Camera, Action", "Put All Your Eggs in His Basket", and "WinSome and Lose None."