I forget very easily. I need reminders. Whether it be some profound truth I've learned, or an appointment I've made, I just don't remember on my own. So you better believe that my google calendar is stuffed to the gills and that my reminders app is constantly being updated. But what about those things that are deeper, that need to take root? How can I be reminding myself about those?
One way that I've found helpful is through visual reminders throughout my house—whether it be through sticky notes or index cards or pretty prints. I have a sticky note on my mirror that simply says "us>me" to remind me every morning that my marriage and the unity and team-ness of it is more important than my desires or opinions. I have a framed print in the sunroom that reads "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" (from The Nesting Place) to remind me that our home is a place of imperfection and grace, but can still hold beauty and meaning.
These reminders of truth, they help me. They keep me centered on what is important and give me a framework for how I can be living my life. And while sticky notes and pretty prints are wonderful, one of the strongest visual reminders that I can give myself is my phone lock screen. I might see the sticky note 2 or 3 times in a day, whereas I'm looking at my phone all throughout the day. So I decided to make a little something pretty to remind myself of one of the most important truths in my life. One that I want to go deeper than anything else.
Jesus loves me, this I know. In my heart, my bones, my soul.
I want this truth, that Jesus loves me, to truly be something that I know... deep down in my heart, my bones, my soul. I want it to inform everything that I do, say, think. I want it to drive my prayers, my decisions, my life. I want it to be what people know about me—that I know that I am deeply loved by my savior, my love, Jesus.
And this truth before me, it will help sink that Jesus loves me just a little bit deeper. It will give me little reminders throughout the day that what I want, what I long for, is to know this truth deeper than I know or depend on anything else. So if you want to join me in this... this truth set constantly before me, download the background here.
It's Friday ya'll! Bring on the weekend! Tonight and tomorrow morning we have a membership class for our church [no, it's not a slumber party, but how awesome (and weird) would that be?!]. Then tomorrow afternoon and evening we're hittin' up Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA with a couple friends! I am super psyched since my love for amusement parks is up there on the list with my love for my husband, sleep, and food. [in that order].
Sundays around here are automatically football afternoons during the fall, which means I get a couple hours to spend time with my hubby, nap, and eat [hey! see how that works out with my favorite things?? No rollercoasters though...bummer].
So that's what I've got planned for the weekend... along with a couple things we need to do like set up our new printer and get going on the name change process as well as order thank yous for our wedding. Cheers to the weekend! Here's some inspiration for you!
I love these little stumps turned candle holders... especially with the added gold touch. We had similar candle holders at a our wedding... thanks to a wonderful friend! :)
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend... resting in the truth that God sustains you, and maybe even trying out the recipe or DIY if you're weekend isn't looking quite as busy as mine [but let's be real... life is NEVER too busy for delicious slow clooker recipes!].
I've been thinking a lot lately about how selfish I am [thanks a great deal in part to a hard, but loving conversation with a dear lady in my life this last week]. And I've been thinking about how that's not what I want to be, but it feels so much like who I am. It feels like a part of me, something that's ingrained deep down. It doesn't feel like something I can just turn off, or decide one day to not be.
And I think we all have that, to some extent, something that feels like it's who we are, like it defines us, although it's the last thing we want to be. We grow used to it and so we don't notice it for awhile. We live in it and it's comfy. But then we're confronted with it. Whether it be in a conversation, an interaction, a nudge from the Holy Spirit, or just some good ol' self-reflection.
It comes like a train. It takes our breath away how sinful we are. How utterly unlike Jesus. We realize maybe we don't have things together as much as we had hoped. We cry. We get mad, maybe even defensive. We are disappointed in ourselves. We feel hopeless. But then we grow used to it again. We allow that thing that feels so much like who we are to define us again, to be comfortable.
But how I pray that I don't grow used to it this time. How I pray that I wage war on this sin that encompasses my relationships, my thoughts, and at times, it feels like my very being.
How inadequate and underprepared I feel to be marrying a man that is so very unselfish, so serving, so kind. But how very loving of God that he paired us together for the rest of our lives so that I can learn. So that I can be hit with the train that is my selfishness time and time again and not grow used to it and let it be. So that I can rip it from my life and then rip it again the next week when I see it start to inch in again.
And I know that the truth is that my selfishness, my sin—it does not define me. I know that Jesus defines me. He says I am a saint, now that I am in Him. And His voice should be the loudest when it comes to who I am. But it doesn't make the reality of my sin any less painful, any less hard.
I really am convinced that one of the most difficult things in a Christian's life is seeing what they could be and then facing their current reality. Knowing the life that Jesus calls them to live and then seeing how absolutely short they fall of that. The great chasm between what could be and what is. But it's a really good thing that, as C.S. Lewis says, "The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” God, please make me good. //via
Editor's Note: I know Caitlin Elmore from EDGE Corps... we met out in Colorado at training back in May and have definitely been "social media" friends since- inspired by each others blogs, instagrams, etc! She serves at the University of Akron. (That's in Ohio... don't worry, I had to google it too) and has something like a bajillion siblings. Caitlin blogs over at Engraved. Her blog is deep, silly, snarky, and filled with DIY, music, and life. She recently asked me to do a "10 Things I am Loving Right Now" post for her... make sure and check it out (after reading her post of course)! Without further ado, I am SO excited for you all to read this... it's a real gem! - HB
CREATED BY THE CREATOR OF BEAUTY
So when I was asked to write this I panicked a little bit. In a
good way. I just could not figure out what to write on...a lot of things make
me tick! Gold glitter, Beyonce, knitting, kittens, infinity scarves...
But in all seriousness, I feel pretty passionate about a lot of
things and I was having trouble deciding what to write this precious guest post
on. And then, I was scrolling through Hellogiggles this morning and one of the
headlines stuck out: Creating the “Perfect” Man. What? This seemed out of character
for their site. I had to know.
So I click on it and there is this hilarious picture of Viggo
Mortensen with all these photoshopped body parts and such. Ah, I’ll just show
you: here.The picture was in response to an article from Men’s Health magazine. Based on the passion stirring up in my
heart, I knew I had to write about this.
I am about to tell you a dumb story about high school. It’s 2005 and I am 15 years old. Every
year in marching band we would have silly awards for our class. That year I won
“Best Butt”... which some of the guys in my class took as an open door to make
comments. They never said anything
mean... they were honestly trying to flatter me. But I was 15, growing into a
new body, and very uncomfortable with the attention my body was getting. I was
born into a family of women with child-bearing hips. I am what magazines called
“Pear shaped.” When puberty hit and things started changing, I noticed, but now
I knew that other people did too.
I was also a dancer at the time which meant that I was in a
leotard and tights three to four days a week. Standing in front of a giant
mirror. With ten other girls and their unique body types. It was then that I became an active
player of what I like to call “The Comparison Game.” And now, with the comments
the guys were making at school, all I could look at during ballet class was my
giant butt (I wore a 4...) and how wrong my body was.
This is not the first time I struggled with body image. And this
was definitely not the first thing to put the idea in my head that I had to
look a certain way, but it’s a very vivid, awkward, and sometimes painful
reminder that like most women, this is a deep issue in my heart that goes way
back.
Honestly, I can’t handle that Men’s Health article. And I really
can’t handle the picture that accompanied it. But I will say, I was encouraged
to see comments from men saying the article was inappropriate, offensive to
women, and offensive to MEN. So kudos guys. You rock.
Who has seen the Dove beauty campaign ads? While the campaign
itself could be controversial based on conflicting messages from Dove and their
media team, I do really enjoy the ads. This one in particular:
Ok so the “he” in the video is this young man who apparently has
a crush on Amy. But what if Amy is us (because she is, isn’t she? Quick: name
twelve things wrong with your appearance.) and “he” is God.
So, I’m not going to talk about how we need to show more “average
girls” on tv or how “curvy is beautiful.” Yeah those things are true, BUT if I
am going to claim to be a daughter of the King, then I am not going to tell you
that you are beautiful because you have “real” curves, but because YOU ARE ALSO
A DAUGHTER (or son) OF THE KING. We are beautiful because we were created,
beautifully and wonderfully, by the creator
of beauty.
To our Father’s sorrow, we chose to redefine beauty. And we’ve
kind of gotten to a point where those redrawn definitions of beauty and
perfection are just accepted, even among Christian women.
I would look better if I
lost 10 pounds. My skin is too white. I have cellulite on my thighs. My hair
doesn’t ever look right.These are all lies. And they aren’t limited to appearance. I am too loud. I am too quiet. No one thinks
I’m funny. No one wants to be around me. If I were just more gentle. If I were
just more bold.
Stop. Breathe.
What does God say?
“All beautiful you are, my
darling; there is no flaw in you.” - Song of Songs 4:7
“The king is enthralled by
your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord.” - Psalm 45:11
“He has made everything
beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they
cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” - Ecclesiastes 3:11
“God saw all that He had
made, and it was very good.” - Genesis 1:31
Honestly, this is just scratching the surface of why we are
perfect in Christ. We are beautiful (men and women included) and we are worth
SO MUCH MORE than society has led us to believe.
Because I believe strongly in applications, I will leave you with
a list of things that you can do to start to reverse the effects lies about
beauty have had on your heart.
Stop filling your mind
with junk. You be the judge of what is “junk” and what is harmful for your
heart, but here are some quick examples. Beauty and women’s interest magazines,
music videos, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, The Bachelor, A LOT of
movies. I am not saying that you are bad for watching movies and tv shows, but
if you are really struggling and want to be really serious about focusing your
heart on truth, get rid of the junk that feeds the lies.
Fight with truth. Write down every lie
you are believing and everything that is “wrong” with you. Now get out your
Bible and do some serious reading (and some serious praying). For every lie your
wrote down, find a truth that proves it wrong.
Take care of yourself. I don’t mean
counting calories, and dieting and exercising excessively. I mean finding
clothing that is modest and makes you feel beautiful in the right way. Also, staying active in any
capacity that will give you energy, keep you healthy, and give you a more positive
outlook.
Find a network of encouragement. Are
you interacting with a group of people who tear you down or build you up in
things other than truth? Get out of there. Solid Christian community will build
you up in the right ways. Also, seek accountability. Find a woman (or if you
are a man, a man) who you can tell everything to and (this is key) who will
speak to you truthfully.
Incorporate some cheesiness into your life.
Leave a love letter from God next to your mirror. Let Scripture remind you who
you really are in Christ.
Most
importantly, spend time with your Father.
Who better to remind you of your worth than the one who deemed you worthy
enough to come into existence? Focus on your identity in Christ. Focus on what
is true and good.
You guys, we are beautiful. We are so beautiful. God calls us
lovely. He calls us his beloved. He did not intend for us to operate out of
these lies of unworthiness. “Finally,
brothers [and sisters] whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable –if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.” - Philippians 4:8
I wish I had pages and pages to talk further on this issue. This
post doesn’t even begin to go deep enough, but I hope it was at least an
encouragement to you. You are in no way alone in your struggle with body and
self image.
I will leave you with this song. What a powerful message of
truth!
Live Loved (because that’s what they say here and I think it’s
super awesome),
Last night Tenth Avenue North came to town, and although they have great music, they have even better teaching! Mike Donehey, the lead singer is basically a traveling preacher, with all his concert-goers being his church. This man speaks truth with such passion, you can't help but let it change you. He even got down into the crowd and stood on the chairs at one point [as shown below]. So naturally, at a concert, I took notes! :)
Mike challenged us to have at least one relationship in which we are getting nothing back- one relationship where we are doing all the pouring out, and there's no way the person can or will repay us. He argued that this is how others will know we are followers of Jesus... by loving with no return on our love. People will see our love and it will point them to Jesus, who first loved us. They will say 'You're not getting anything out of this exchange' and then we can say 'Yeah, I know. It's what Jesus did for me and I can't help myself.'
100% of Christian action is simply reaction.
Mike also talked a lot about the gospel- how it allows neither sniveling or swagger- "When you really believe the gospel, it robs you of your right to be miserable and it robs you of your right to think more highly of yourself than other. When we really believe God's love for us, we can't think highly of ourselves or low of ourselves... we just think of ourselves less."
Mike ended with talking about his story- how he broke his back in high school in a car accident and that's when he started to learn how to play guitar- when he was on his back for 2 months. It was so cool to hear him talk about pain and struggle and our circumstances. One line that really caught my ear was this- "the pain between the pictures." He was talking about how although he could have albums filled with hundreds of pictures of happy smiling memories, it was the events that happened between all those photographical moments that really shaped him and that he is really grateful for today- the pain between the pictures. He talked about how often we pray for the hard times to go away, for everything to be easy. But God responds- "It's not your circumstances that need to change, it's you."
I'd like to end with a few lines from their song, The Struggle:
Hallelujah We are free to struggle We're not struggling to be free Your blood bought and makes us children
So children drop your chains and sing
P.S. If you haven't read yet about how Tenth Avenue North inspired the "live loved" sign-off, you can check it out here.
