Beauty...

<<This is a burden of mine, maybe if we pray together we can find a way to reach those who are struggling with finding beauty...>>

As I was driving this week I heard a frightening statistic on the radio. They were talking about eating disorders and the people who struggle with eating disorders. They said that today they see people as young as five years old struggling with an eating disorder. Five years old! At five children should be playing and loving life not worrying about their looks, their weight, their appearance. But the world tells us otherwise, society puts an emphasis on beauty and ones looks. 

As a girl, as a women, I know the pressure that society places on us to be beautiful. Society tells us we have to be beautiful to be loved and to be beautiful we have to meet their standard. To be beautiful we must be a certain weight, wear our hair a certain way, wear our makeup their way, and wear certain clothes. If we do not look like society tells us we must then we are not beautiful! When I go to the doctors office I often read the magazines just to see what society is saying and each time it breaks my heart. There are always really “pretty” girls on the cover and as you read there are more of these “pretty” girls dressed in scandalous clothing and we are told that we must look like this to be beautiful and to be loved.

As a teenager I struggled with being content with who I was and with the way I looked. I often read these magazines and watched television and tried to meet the standards of society so that I could be beautiful and be loved. Most of the time when I looked in the mirror my heart broke because I did not look like the models and the people that defined beauty and I felt like I was never going to be beautiful and in turn I’d never be lovable. This lead me to live in a secret life of depression and self injury. 

As children of God we need to step up and let girls, and women for that matter, know that beauty is not what society calls beautiful. Beauty is not dressing like the models and having the body of the models in the magazines or on television. Recently I was reminded that God created each and everyone of us and He created us uniquely. God created us in His image, 

((Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Genesis 1: 26))

What does being created in God’s image mean?? Does being created in God’s image mean that we look like those women in the magazines or on television? No, I think that being created in God’s image means that we are all unique and we are all beautiful! As God’s children we are to be set apart! God called us to be holy, to live holy lives. 

((...but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct... 1 Peter 1: 15))

We should be concerned with our bodies and with our beauty but not in the way that society says that we should be. 

((Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17))

Our bodies are a temple of God. As believers His Spirit dwells in us we should take care of our temple. We should exercise, we should eat right, we should abstain from things that will hurt our bodies. But we should not be obsessed with these things. We should not focus on doing these things for our selfish gains or desires, we should do these things because we love God and we want to honor Him in taking care of the temple that He has given us. When I think about beauty I think that those who are content in who they are and do not seek to fit in the mold that society says that we must fit in are beautiful! Most importantly, as children of God, OUr beauty lies in our love for the Lord and our contentness of where He has us, not in our meeting the standards of the magazine.

If your talking to someone who does not know the Lord, you may not want to start by telling them that their body is a temple of God. You can but that may be extremely hard for them to understand without knowing God and His love, grave, mercy, and forgiveness; without understanding Christ’s sacrifice! Tell everyone, believer or nonbeliever, that they are beautiful and not because they look the way society tells them but because they are unique and because they are who they are!  We need to encourage everyone, but especially girls and young women, to realize how precious they are! They are precious and beautiful, not because they meet the standards society sets but because they are who they are! Just think about how you can encourage young girls and young women! Many people, men and women, struggle with eating disorders, self injury, and depression because of the standards society places on us, find ways to encourage those around you to see themselves as the beautiful creation they are! You could save a life!!

God's Plan...

((Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18))

2012 was a great year for me! God taught me so many things throughout the year! The lessons began near the end of 2011 when I traveled with a wonderful group to Haiti. The week we spent together taught me so much, the people God blessed me with the opportunity to serve alongside were amazing. God placed people in my life who showed me real faith! A hurricane was heading our way and the people I was with went straight to prayer, there was no fear there was only faith in God and His plan for us. That week started my journey to grow in prayer. I saw people really pray and I met people who knew a lot about prayer and how to pray. The Lord had already shown me that I needed to grow in Scripture reading and prayer. This was my opportunity to observe brothers and sisters in Christ and to learn from them about prayer. 

Since the trip to Haiti I have learned a tremendous amount about prayer and my own prayer life has grown. From one of the relationships I made in Haiti, I was encouraged to join a local prayer team here at home. The prayer team meets once a month and drives and prays in and around the county. The prayer team is a team that was birthed out of the homeless shelter that is being shaped in our county. After I prayed about joining the team, I indeed joined and God blessed me with more great relationships with sisters! One of the sisters began to teach me so much without even knowing that she was helping me to grow in the Lord! She had a sweet family member who was in need of prayer! I thought well I can pray so I started praying for this sweet family member! I saw God work in mighty ways and my prayer life was strengthened and my faith grew, my relationship with the Lord grew! 

I went on a trip to South Asia near the beginning of this year. On that trip I spent most of the week with a sister in Christ who at first seemed to be someone I might not really get along with. Oh how I was wrong! The Lord used her the week that we were in South Asia to teach me about my identity being in Christ and not this world! I saw her faith and her assurance that her identity was in Christ and nothing else. Her knowledge of the Scriptures was incredible! I was blessed in this week to be taught that my identity was in Christ and not in the things of this world! I saw the importance of studying and knowing the Word of God!! I was greatly encouraged by her to be in the word more and to know the word, to have God’s word written on my heart so that anytime I could recall His word!! I praise God for the sweet time I had in South Asia and I praise Him for molding me and growing me while I was there! I thank Him for the sweet sisters He has used to help me grow closer to Him!

((I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12: 1-2))

God was not through teaching me after the South Asia trip! In the summer I was able to travel with a group to Africa. My best friend and I traveled with fifteen other people and we got to share the Gospel with so many people! I was so excited for this trip but I had no clue the things that God had in store for me! I have been overseas quite a few times and I have helped plant seeds but I have never prayed with anyone to receive Christ! That changed while I was in Africa! I got to share my story, share the Gospel, see many come to Christ, and I got to pray with two people when they accepted Christ! It was amazing to see fruit! God is so good! Also during that week I meet another sister in Christ who God used to teach me and to mold me! She helped me to understand what being content in life situations meant! She and I had similar testimonies and were in similar places in life and to see her demonstrate such contentment was encouraging to me. She helped me to realize that I need to be content in Christ, nothing is better than the love of Christ! I praise God for her! I praise God for the opportunity to serve and to make relationships with other brothers and sisters!

((Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. Romans 10: 1))

By July of 2012 God had taught me so much and I was growing in Him. I could not imagine what else He was going to do in my life! God is so good! In August He orchestrated the circumstances that allowed me the time and resources to be able to finish school and to graduate in December Praise God for giving me the strength and endurance to make it through!! Knowing that I was to graduate in December I began to apply in January to a program that would allow me to serve overseas for a few years. In October I went to make my job selection! Oh what a great weekend that was! God taught me so much!! I heard God speak to me for the first time. He showed me how He speaks through His word, prayer, and other believers! He also used a sweet, godly woman to affirm me and to encourage me. She was so sweet, and the things she said affirmed that my life has been radically changed only by the power of Christ! 

As 2012 ended I realized that God was teaching me His faithfulness! God is good and He is faithful! ((God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9)) Many times in Scripture we see that God is faithful, and that is so true!! He is faithful in all things and all seasons!! And as 2013 has begun I am seeing God’s faithfulness!! God has a plan for all of us and He is showing me that His plans are better than any I could ever create. The plan was that I was going to go overseas for a few years in just a few short weeks. But God!! When 2013 started God started revealing things to me and changes started being made in my plan! I know without a shadow of a doubt that God saved me and He gave me a heart for the nations, but I also know that God’s plans are always the best plans. In the past week I have prayed much and I have sought godly council. It has been amazing to see how God uses other believers in our lives. God has used three brothers to encourage me, to affirm me, and to confirm the things that I need to do in this season! After praying and seeking council I realize that right now God’s plan is not for me to be overseas, His plan is for me to be here. He has shown me areas where I need to grow and He has called me to make some changes in my life so here I am for now. In all seasons God is faithful, even in the painful seasons, the seasons filled with questions that we can’t answer. 

When people ask all I can say is God is good, He is faithful, and He has a plan! 

((Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 1 Peter 4: 12-16))