To any girl who has ever felt un-beautiful :)

We as women and young ladies are constantly being bombarded by messages (sent from everywhere, it seems!) that we have to be beautiful. Beauty gains love. Beauty gains friendship. Beauty gains security. You can't turn on the t.v. or pull up the internet or even go outside of your house sometimes without getting some kind of signal that beauty is a necessary thing to possess. Consequently, many of us feel that we have to look a certain way to be beautiful. And this can be very frustrating!! After all, how many of us really look like that super-model, flawless image you see on the magazine covers? We buy make-up and we have all kinds of things done to our bodies in an effort to be more beautiful. But why? Is it really that important? Have we believed the lie that the enemy has sold to us through media that without certain features we are not good enough and can never be loved?

I find it very unsettling that so many women are trying to fit an image in which they were not created. Don't you see what the enemy is doing here? He wants to distract us from what we're really meant to be so that we never reach our true potential in Christ. God created us in HIS image. SO WHAT if the world's definition of beauty does not line up?! Wouldn't you rather be considered beautiful by your Maker? And He does think you are beautiful!! In fact, He has crowned you with beauty!! DO not measure your beauty by worldly standards because you were NEVER meant to fit the standard. But you are meant to fit God's standard, and.. God's standard is BEAUTIFUL!! Begin from now on to measure your beauty by heavenly standards. Begin to set your eyes on HIM and not what YOU see in the mirror. Seek Him and spend time in His presence and let the things of His heart become the things of yours. I've noticed that the more in love with Jesus a woman is, the more it shines through in her countenance. And that, in my opinion, is THE MOST beautiful image. True beauty, then, is an alignment with the heart of God!

My constant prayer now is that God will make me beautiful from the inside out. I won't always have this body. In fact, my life is a mere vapor of smoke compared to eternity. I want the "me" that is eternal to be beautiful, don't you?! Line your heart up with what the Word of God says about you. Find verses and write them down. Post them up on your bathroom mirror. Look in the mirror and boldly declare that you have been created beautifully in the eyes of Christ.

Now, I know that all of this may sound unrealistic to the one who is deeply hurting because of insecurity. I know because there was a time that I did not believe it either. Or, not so much that I didn't believe that God saw me as beautiful, but that I felt that wasn't enough. I wanted people to think I was beautiful too. I wanted to see myself as beautiful. But I have learned that God has such a full and abundant life planned for us, and if we can never get past the outer appearance we will never move forward in spiritual matters. And the spiritual is what really matters, because the spiritual is who we really are, the part of us that is eternal. Take your eyes off of the temporal, and look upon Him. I know this doesn't change the way other people may see you, or even the things they may say to you, and I know that it is so very difficult to see what God sees when you can't get past what you see in the mirror. But be encouraged, dear sister! First of all, you are not alone in your struggle with the mirror. Second, you are so very loved and treasured and highly esteemed by an Almighty, Perfect, Holy, Beautiful God Who has made you in His image and for His pleasure!

I pray that this has encouraged you! I don't know how many will read this, or if they do, who will read to the end. I know I got a little wordy! But know that I am praying for you, all of you beautiful ladies of the Lord! If you have questions or need specific prayer, please send me a message! I won't pretend as though I have this all figured out because, believe me, I don't. I still struggle with this sometimes. But God has shown me how beautiful a relationship is with Him, and how in His presence nothing else matters, and how faithful He is; and I know I have only scratched the surface! I pray that you will allow Him to do the same for you. :)

A Heart Like Jesus

Many of you have probably heard of the recent devastation that has taken place in Alabama. I haven't had a chance to see the areas of major destruction, but from the few pictures and areas I have seen, it looks like a third world country out there. It seems so unreal to me still and I am having trouble grasping the reality of it all since I still have not seen much of Tuscaloosa. I was born there, and my dad lives there, about 5 minutes away from where much of the destruction is. I praise the Lord that he and my family is safe though! They were huddled together in the basement and could hear it go over their house, but they are safe. It's so crazy how quickly something can be destroyed. It makes you realize the fragility of life and how short it is.

It just breaks my heart hearing all of the stories about children who have died and entire families being wiped out. Entire communities have been leveled and just absolutely taken off the map. They have no homes, no cars, and many of them have no where to go.

But it has also been amazing to see churches and communities rise up without hesitation and rush to the aid of those who are in such desperate need. I was privileged to go up to Tuscaloosa this last week and volunteer in a shelter by helping to prepare meals. There were so many people from the who had been showing up for days to help and staying for anywhere from 12 to 17 hours. They were truly sacrificing themselves to serve the hopeless and the broken.

As amazing as this is and as encouraging as it is to see so many help, it also makes me wonder how many of them will still be around a month from now. People sometimes are so willing to help in the wake of a disaster, but what about a month later? Two months? That seems about the time that people start to forget. They think they have done their civil or Christian duty and they can just wash their hands of the whole situation. Places like Eclectic (where I was able to help today), while some areas are completely devastated, there will be recovery soon. There is a lot of cleanup to be done and houses to repair, but before too long, I think that can be accomplished. But in Tuscaloosa, so much of the city has been destroyed that it will take months or years even to get these people back on their feet. Please don't forget. I read a quote recently pertaining to this...

We are in this for the long haul. As it was said with the earthquake in Haiti, don't change the channel. Don't move on. Don't forget about this.

The number of volunteers will soon be dying down, or so it is expected. That is when the workers will truly be needed. Pray about what you can do.

So, all of this is to say, don't stop. Don't stop praying. Don't stop donating. Don't stop volunteering if you are able. Jesus Himself did not come to this earth to be served but to serve. Who are we to think that we can escape that lifestyle? Our lives are not about us, but about what we can do to live the Gospel and shine the light of Jesus. Our lives are not just about what we can do to get by here, and how much money we can make, and how comfortably we can live. Our lives are only preparation for eternity. And we prepare for eternity by learning to have a heart like Jesus. A servant heart. A loving and compassionate heart.

Bought With a Price

It is so very important that we always keep in mind what God has done for us and from what He has rescued us. I think so often we flippantly talk about God and how good He is, and it's not that we are not meaning what we say, we just forget the magnitude of the greatness of God. The Almighty, Just, Righteous, Holy, Perfect Creator of the Universe has redeemed us from darkness and death to Himself. We, who are nothing apart from Him and merely a breath in this life compared to eternity, were so very desired and longed for by this Great God that He was willing to shed His own Perfect Blood on our behalf. We were owned by sin, by darkness, by death, and we were not free. There was a high price on our lives that we ourselves could never pay off. Only Blood could redeem us from our hopelessness. So, we were bought by the precious Blood of the Lamb. How glorious and beautiful and humbling, that a perfect God would die in my place to redeem me to Himself!

If you find yourself feeling hopeless, or weary, or insecure, just remember this: that He adores you so much more than you and I can even begin to imagine. He is Holy and Righteous, and through the Blood of Jesus He has made us holy and righteous. We are justified to be in His presence because we are now in the image of Christ!

If you find that you are still struggling with past failures, do not be afraid! God does not expect that you all of a sudden have everything perfectly accomplished and taken care of. He knows that you will struggle, and He wants to help you. Just rely on His grace and the Holy Spirit, and do not ever accept the lie that says you are not worthy of Him because you messed up. Jesus has made you worthy. It is not by anything that you have or have not done that you are made righteous. You can never earn righteousness either by what you do or do not do. And there is no condemnation in Christ. None! SO if you mess up, get it right with God and move on.

And finally, if you struggle with insecurity (and I speak to myself here too), here is a passage of Scripture that helps me tremendously every time I read it:

¹³If you set your heart aright and stretch out your hands to [God],

¹⁴If you put sin out of your hand and far away from you and let not evil dwell in your tents;

¹⁵Then can you lift up your face to Him without stain [of sin, and unashamed]; yes, you shall be steadfast and secure; you shall not fear.

¹⁶For you shall forget your misery; you shall remember it as waters that pass away.

¹⁷And [your] life shall be clearer than the noonday and rise above it; though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.

¹⁸And you shall be secure and feel confident because there is hope; yes, you shall search about you, and you shall take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; yes, many shall sue for your favor.

Line your heart up with God's, and everything else will fall into place. It may not be easy, but He promises security. He wants you to rest in Him alone!

Ladies, He has crowned you with beauty! DO not measure your beauty by worldly standards, but by heavenly ones. I know, believe me, that it gets really hard when all the magazines and movies say you have to look a certain way for a guy to love you, but that is not true! Only set your eyes upon His face and desire to please Him, and that will shine through you and make your countenance lovely. My prayer now, instead of for God to change the outside of me, is that God would make me beautiful from the inside out. Above all I deisre to be beautiful in His eyes. And at the right time, he'll open up the eyes of a man who is after His heart, and that man will see me through the eyes of God. An He will do the same for you, if you only trust Him and rely on Him alone for your source of security and not your outer appearance.

I know I got very wordy tonight and seemed to be all over the place. Had a lot on my heart I guess! I hope you didn't get bored reading this. If you did read all the way through, I pray that you are blessed by this post. It's definitely not for me, but all for His glory! Have a very blessed week! :)

What does love look like?

What if our definition of love is so flawed and corrupted that we don't understand how to love God? Love is more than sentiment. Love is more than just feeling His embrace and cherishing His presence. Jesus said if I love Him I obey Him. Love is active. It is not passive. It is not a "Dead Sea" which only receives and never gives out. If I'm only receiving God's love and not acting in it, love is not complete. Oh God, teach us how to love You!!

I love the song "Arms Wide Open" by Misty Edwards..

"What does love look like? is the question I've been pondering

What does love look like? is the question I've been asking of You

I once believed that love was romance, just a chance

I even thought that love was for the lucky and the beautiful

I once believed that love was a momentary bliss but love is more than this

All You ever wanted was my attention

All You ever wanted was love from me

All You ever wanted was my affection, to sit here at Your feet....

Then tell me, What does love look like?...

Then I sat down, a little frustrated and confused

If all of life comes down to love then love has to be more than sentiment

More than selfishness an selfish gain

Then I saw Him there hanging on a tree looking at me....

He was looking at me, looking at Him, staring through me

I could not escape those beautiful eyes

And I began to weep and weep

He had arms wide open, heart exposed

Arms wide open

He was bleeding...

Love's definition was looking at me

Looking at Him hanging on a tree

And I began to weep and weep and weep

This is how I know what love is"

Just thinking

So I'm sitting here in my dorm putting off writing the paper that is due for my English Comp class in the morning. Procrastination is so much fun. Keeps me on my toes! Haha jk :)

I just wanted to write a little update on my college life so far. I'm absolutely loving it here! The people are awesome, classes are great. It really couldn't have been a better experience. God's direction is always perfect, and I'm so thankful that He has lead me here for this season of my life. I feel myself growing, which is something I haven't felt in a while. I'm being challenged, and I'm finding it's absolutely necessary to know what I believe and why. God has opened so many doors for me, and all I can do is praise Him. His goodness astounds me.

Now to end with a thought.. Do we appreciate God? Or have we grown so accustomed to His love that we no longer remember what it was like before Him? I grew up in a Christian home and have been in church my entire life, but there was a time that while I may have been saved, I didn't know what it meant to be in a relationship with Jesus. He saved me from a life of religion and ritual and taught me what it means to be in love with Him. Don't forget what God brought you out of. Don't fall into an attitude of pride and start to believe you deserve all that you receive from Him. He has made you righteous, but it is only through His blood that you have any standing with God. SO, all of this to say, just praise Him today. Praise Him for Who He is. Praise Him just because He is GOD. And be mindful of His goodness. Don't take Him for granted.

Have a blessed week!

I'll try to keep this one short :)

You know those moments when you're in the presence of God, singing a worship song, or maybe even just going on about your day... and all of a sudden you're just HIT with the overwhelming power of God's love? I think that all too often we take His love for granted. I mean, we say it all the time: "God loves me. And He loves you too." Do we understand what this means?? Yeah, He saved us from sin and hell.. but DO we REALLY understand what it means to be loved by God? Will we ever comprehend the desire and passion that was so great that it drove Him to a sinner's death? He Who was perfect in every sense.. gave ALL... sacrificed ALL, everything glorious.. to be with me. To be with you. To gain a bunch of filthy, dirty, sinful humans. But no... not filthy, dirty, sinful humans. He saw the bigger picture. He saw the end. He saw His bride. Pure. Holy. Set apart for only Him. Set apart BY Him from the foundations of the earth. How beautiful! How glorious!! Why would we ever even consider holding back from Him? I am convinced that if this is the case, we have not truly encountered the love of God. How can one who has seen and tasted of something so beautiful ever desire anything less?? Because all else is less. I am also convinced that if we ever truly encounter the love of God in it's fullness, it will change our lives forever. We not only do not but we CANNOT live the same complacent, compromising lives. So if you are finding yourself falling back into old sins that you thought you had let go of at some altar call at youth group on a Wednesday night, don't just assume it didn't work. Ask yourself if you really know what it means to encounter the amazing love of God. And seek Him. Never stop seeking Him.