How do you measure up?

"Get a body you'll love"
"Tone your trouble zones"
"The Girl's guide to pretty hair"
"Bikini ready in 4 weeks"

These are just some of the headlines in a recent magazine.

I used to look at these magazines quite often thinking it was fun to find out what was in and what was out. What I found was that I was "out" more often than not. I never measured up to the standards that these magazines were telling me to live up to. I didn't feel good about myself after leafing through colored pages of half naked, perfectly beautiful women who apparently never ate a bite.

Have you ever felt this way? I'm in my 30's now and I still struggle with self image. I think it is a battle that women face each day especially because what we see in movies, magazine and on billboards tells us that there is NO WAY for us to measure up to this image.

When we were little girls we'd dress up in princess costumes and twirl around the room just waiting for someone to say how lovely we were. When my daughter was only 3 years old she'd dress up and say to her daddy, " Am I beautiful Daddy?" Don't I look lovely?"
She wanted to be admired by the only man in her life. She desired to feel lovely.

So the question is...do you feel lovely? Are you wondering if someone will ever notice you?

Check this out..."You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Everday of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. " Psalm 139:13-16

God thinks your lovely. He created you. He notices you.

In Proverbs 31 it talks about this amazing women of beauty. She "extends her hand to the needy, she is clothed with strength and dignity, her words are wise...charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised..."

you see, true beauty is within you heart.Your beauty overflows when you focus on your INward beauty. Your heart has been created as a reflection of God's own heart.
So girls, what are you doing to your hearts by looking at these types of magazines? Do they help or hurt the way you feel about yourself? Read something that empowers you and lifts you up! And above all else guard your heart. "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." Prov. 4:23
Ask God what He thinks of you. Read Psalm 139:13-16 over and over again.

You are beautiful...

Purity is Important After All...

Have you ever seen this video? It's a little cheesy but it says so much. Would you drink from a bottle of used water that someone else drank from? Would you share it with a stranger? How about multiple strangers? I think I would prefer to choose the unopened untouched bottle that still has the safety cap on it. Why you ask? I dunno, maybe it's just gross. Strangers drank from it, there are a gazillion germs that could be floating in there...you name it. I'm going for the clean, unused water.

So, does purity really mater? Good question. Yes, of course it does! Even in this case. It's just plain better to be unopened, untouched, ungermified(yes, I know that is not really a word)...do you get what I mean?

So what happens now? What if it was already opened, what if it was already used, what if it is no longer pure? Are you ever going to have a chance at pure water again? Tell me what you think?