Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, November 6, 2009
Oh How He Loves Us...
The time change has really thrown my week for a loop, how about you? Its been wonderful being able to drive to work in the daylight again--makes it feel like summer. Not so wonderful driving home in pitch black darkness, as that brings up a lot of yucky stuff for me, but I'm dealing with it. For some reason its also made me really sleepy at night, so going to bed has been easier. We have also been having some incredible weather where I live-- you couldn't ask for more perfect fall days.
I am often in bumprer-to-bumper traffic and I have the opportunity to take in my surroundings. Thankfully, much of the highways are surrounded by woods, large patches of grass, and flowers. The morning sun has been shining bright. I can watch streams of sunshine pour through the trees, where it lands upon manicured lawns and fountains. Right now the leaves are just beginning to change color, and I'm enjoying firey red and orange foliage that is hit gracefully by the sun's rays.
And the other day something struck me:
GOD DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE THE WORLD THIS WAY.
When God created the world, and the seasons, and the trees, and the sun, and water, and EVERYTHING...
He didn't have to make the air have a sweet scent to it. He didn't have to make grass have that certain smell after it rains. The water doesn't HAVE to sparkle in the sun. God didn't have to make flowers in thousands of varieties and colors. The suns rays didn't have to flow through trees. No one MADE God fill the world with hundreds of variations of colors, or leaves that change... as well as thousands of types of people, animals, trees, even frogs, ants, and insects we may never see.
God COULD have made the world grey, flat, and dull.
Maybe that would have been quicker, easier, and.... it really would have been all we deserve, because... honestly, I know that I,personally as a sinner, don't DESERVE this beautiful world God gave me.
So WHY did God make the world like this? Why is the world SO.Incredibly. Breathtakingly.BEAUTIFUL? Why mountains, glaciers, caterpillars, no 2 snowflakes alike,babies smiling, a thousand shades of skin color... why so much when He didn't have to?
I believe it is because He loves us.
That's all.
He did it because He wanted to.
He loves us, His children. And He wanted to give us a glorious place to live.
Out of love, pure & simple.
Because He is Good, and Holy, and Righteous, and Wonderful.
Oh, how He loves us. Oh, How He loves us so.
I am often in bumprer-to-bumper traffic and I have the opportunity to take in my surroundings. Thankfully, much of the highways are surrounded by woods, large patches of grass, and flowers. The morning sun has been shining bright. I can watch streams of sunshine pour through the trees, where it lands upon manicured lawns and fountains. Right now the leaves are just beginning to change color, and I'm enjoying firey red and orange foliage that is hit gracefully by the sun's rays.
And the other day something struck me:
GOD DIDN'T HAVE TO MAKE THE WORLD THIS WAY.
When God created the world, and the seasons, and the trees, and the sun, and water, and EVERYTHING...
He didn't have to make the air have a sweet scent to it. He didn't have to make grass have that certain smell after it rains. The water doesn't HAVE to sparkle in the sun. God didn't have to make flowers in thousands of varieties and colors. The suns rays didn't have to flow through trees. No one MADE God fill the world with hundreds of variations of colors, or leaves that change... as well as thousands of types of people, animals, trees, even frogs, ants, and insects we may never see.
God COULD have made the world grey, flat, and dull.
Maybe that would have been quicker, easier, and.... it really would have been all we deserve, because... honestly, I know that I,personally as a sinner, don't DESERVE this beautiful world God gave me.
So WHY did God make the world like this? Why is the world SO.Incredibly. Breathtakingly.BEAUTIFUL? Why mountains, glaciers, caterpillars, no 2 snowflakes alike,babies smiling, a thousand shades of skin color... why so much when He didn't have to?
I believe it is because He loves us.
That's all.
He did it because He wanted to.
He loves us, His children. And He wanted to give us a glorious place to live.
Out of love, pure & simple.
Because He is Good, and Holy, and Righteous, and Wonderful.
Oh, how He loves us. Oh, How He loves us so.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
"Do You Still Like Me?" [Insecurity Insanity]
I used to be horribly insecure. To the point that I would break out in a cold sweat if I thought that I had offended someone or done something wrong. "Do you still like me?" "Do you still care about me?" "Do you still love me?" were questions I asked people ALL THE TIME. My insecurity was enormous, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was one of the things that ended some of my relationships. It probably drained the life out of people-- always having to remind me that I was still "okay" in their eyes. I'm sure it drove other people nuts, because it drove ME nuts-- and I was the one asking the questions.
Its a lousy thing to feel insecure all the time. You always wonder if you're measuring up to everyone else's standards (which are endlessly changing) and if everyone in the world approves of you. You have to constantly change yourself to measure up to a line that is never in the same place. Its exhausting.
But guess what? I have discovered that there is only One Person that I really have to get the approval of (the world will tell you that you only have to have your own approval, but that's only half true)--and that's God.
I no longer have to wonder or worry what people think of me because I know that God fully approves of me. He MADE me (read Psalm 139 for a real waker-upper!). God thinks about me all the time.
I don't have to care anymore if people still like me or not. I mean, I don't go around ticking people off on purpose, but, I don't HAVE to have people approve of me anymore because God approves of me. God's love is constant and never, ever changes. He doesn't care if I have another grey hair. That dumb thing I did yesterday? After I ask for forgiveness, He's completely forgotten about it-- unlike people, who tend to hold grudges. God just forgives and forgets.
Do you know what God really, truly thinks about you and me?
Once I become a Christian, and ask God to forgive me of my sins, God accepts me and loves me unconditionally because of what Jesus did on the cross for me.
Read a bit of Psalm 45: He is enthralled by your beauty.
Did you catch that? ENTHRALLED.
The maker of the universe is entralled by you. By me. Captivated. In love. With you! With me!
Where else can you get a deal like that?
As long as I keep my mind on God and what He thinks of me, worrying about what people think of me just feels petty. Worrying what I think of me just seems petty.
That cellulite on my thighs? God knows its there. That wrinkle I've got going across my forehead? It was put there by His hands.
Do I still worry about what I look like? Do I ever wonder if a certain person likes me? Yah, sometimes. But I'm no longer a prisoner to it. It lasts a couple minutes, instead of days. I still check out the Oil of Olay line of products, just in case I need to attack some wrinkles or de-atomize my face or whatever those creams do. I still exercise every day...okay, just about every day. But if people don't like how I look without makeup, or my Eeyore t-shirt and cutoff jeans, well, tough on them. God looks at me and says, "Take a look at HER.... I made her. Isn't she precious?"
God thinks the same about YOU.
If you'd like to learn more about how God thinks YOU are fantastic, read these two AMAZING books:
Do You Think I'm Beautiful? By Angela Thomas
and
The Search for Significance by Robert McGee
Its a lousy thing to feel insecure all the time. You always wonder if you're measuring up to everyone else's standards (which are endlessly changing) and if everyone in the world approves of you. You have to constantly change yourself to measure up to a line that is never in the same place. Its exhausting.
But guess what? I have discovered that there is only One Person that I really have to get the approval of (the world will tell you that you only have to have your own approval, but that's only half true)--and that's God.
I no longer have to wonder or worry what people think of me because I know that God fully approves of me. He MADE me (read Psalm 139 for a real waker-upper!). God thinks about me all the time.
I don't have to care anymore if people still like me or not. I mean, I don't go around ticking people off on purpose, but, I don't HAVE to have people approve of me anymore because God approves of me. God's love is constant and never, ever changes. He doesn't care if I have another grey hair. That dumb thing I did yesterday? After I ask for forgiveness, He's completely forgotten about it-- unlike people, who tend to hold grudges. God just forgives and forgets.
Do you know what God really, truly thinks about you and me?
Once I become a Christian, and ask God to forgive me of my sins, God accepts me and loves me unconditionally because of what Jesus did on the cross for me.
Read a bit of Psalm 45: He is enthralled by your beauty.
Did you catch that? ENTHRALLED.
The maker of the universe is entralled by you. By me. Captivated. In love. With you! With me!
Where else can you get a deal like that?
As long as I keep my mind on God and what He thinks of me, worrying about what people think of me just feels petty. Worrying what I think of me just seems petty.
That cellulite on my thighs? God knows its there. That wrinkle I've got going across my forehead? It was put there by His hands.
Do I still worry about what I look like? Do I ever wonder if a certain person likes me? Yah, sometimes. But I'm no longer a prisoner to it. It lasts a couple minutes, instead of days. I still check out the Oil of Olay line of products, just in case I need to attack some wrinkles or de-atomize my face or whatever those creams do. I still exercise every day...okay, just about every day. But if people don't like how I look without makeup, or my Eeyore t-shirt and cutoff jeans, well, tough on them. God looks at me and says, "Take a look at HER.... I made her. Isn't she precious?"
God thinks the same about YOU.
If you'd like to learn more about how God thinks YOU are fantastic, read these two AMAZING books:
Do You Think I'm Beautiful? By Angela Thomas
and
The Search for Significance by Robert McGee
Monday, November 24, 2008
Do you ever...
Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder, "Is this as good as it gets?"Ugh... I am feeling so fat and ugly lately. I understand that being under 100 pounds and having shiny healthy hair and a completely intact body I have got a lot going for me. I could, for example, have unexplainable runaway warts or be missing a limb. And I am quite aware that I am fearfully & wonderfully made. But sometimes I wonder IS THIS ALL THERE IS? Today, I fear, I endlessly studied the Oil of Olay line of products to find some magic product that would magically soothe my skin, smooth my fine lines, make my skin radiant, and truly make my face shine like I had just looked upon the face of Jesus Himself. However, I'm on a limited budget. I had to settle for something that will merely rejuvenate what I've got left. Hmph. Will I EVER feel beautiful? I have SO many people tell me that I'm "so cute." That's great if I still want to look like I"m twelve (which, by the way, I usually do, since my hairstyle on my wild-hair days includes ponytails...) But sometimes I wonder, will I ever be beautiful? Even if I ever achieve it, will I ever feel it? With all that I have that goes on inside me, and all that has gone on in my life, would I even know I had gotten there if I ever did get to my destination?
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