Where the Searching Ends

It was just a whisper blown against my heart. An idea. More like a thought. It was about a month ago. God told me while I was meeting with another friend that He thought I would enjoy it if I read through Song of Solomon and wrote down everything that He claimed about me. My friend and I had been meeting and discussing Jesus' love for us, and growing in our ability to make Him feel our love towards Him. His love enables me to love, most importantly to love Him; so I wanted more.
Last week, I sat down in a gardened courtyard at school and listened to Him speak.
(I didn't even finish my list! And I only shared a few.) As women our searching for love ends here.

He is sick with love for me (2:5)
I am His love, His beautiful one, His beloved (2:10)
I am His (2;16)
I am altogether beautiful (4:7)
I captivate His heart at the glance of my eyes (4:9)
I am a locked garden (4:12)
We're friends (5:16)
I am as awesome as an army (6:4)
I am as beautiful as the moon and as bright as the sun (6:10)
His desire is for me (7:10)

There is so much more to unveil than the mere 10 verses I shared. We are declared beautiful and loved and treasured over and over and over. It's repetitive, He wants us to know it.

My Bible verse is probably different from yours. Flip to Song of Solomon and let Him reveal to your heart who you are, and how He loves you. Use my list as a template and fill in the lines with what He tells you. Hold on to your hearts, ladies, it's a deep, sensitive, romantic time with the Man who loves you perfectly.

The Essence of Beauty

It has been revealed to me that the beauty which this world seems to love is false, not only so, but fake. I've always hated it, because I could never amount to it, and I knew that I never would. My generation has grown up in a world where books, movies, TV shows, even people and their quick-to-judge hearts that we need to look a certain way, and if we didn't... well, then we are not beautiful. It's as simple as that. I'm sure mine isn't the first generation to suffer, and I only see it getting worse.

I have also always known that everything from God's hand is beautiful. It is His craft, His handiwork which has made the world and the bodies which we live in. It makes no sense to believe that He would not put His full talent and artistic touch to each child He makes.

And yet the constant reminder of “you're not good enough” infects the minds of my sisters, as well my own. Women, young and old, are tired. They are exhausted from trying to reach the impossible bar of pleasing the world and feeling dissatisfied in their own skin. Somewhere along the way, we were told that things like fat, cellulite, zits, wrinkles, pale skin, “imperfect” teeth make us without a doubt ugly. If we were just a little taller, or if that stretch mark wasn't there, then we would love ourselves, right? Wrong.

We see our imperfections as a pen mark on a white page and stare at it and hate it, ultimately in time hating ourselves. What I would be touched to see, is women embracing their bodies, loving themselves – because they were made by a God who loves madly, who weaved in an essence of beauty during their creation. I wish that this would give women a reason to dance and be glad. I firmly believe that at the center of every woman, there is beauty. It is alluring, it is powerful, it is captivating.

I was asked by my best friend the other day what I thought about the way I looked. I simply had no answer, because I didn't know! Not being allowed to factor the whole world into my opinion made the question hard to answer. The world had made me feel ugly for as long as I can remember, and it effected my life and relationships immensely.

After being so upset for years about my outer appearance, it is surreal for me to say that now I don't think that I look that bad. I do not think that I'm ugly. Not everyone in the world is going to think that I'm beautiful, therefore, to weight my own opinion of myself on that doesn't make sense, it's ridiculous really. But I'll admit that I've done it. I no longer have to be afraid of someone thinking that I'm ugly, because I know now that the only one who can say if I am beautiful or not is me. I am the only one with that power.

I promise that it is the same for you! Honestly, I wouldn't be sharing this vulnerable part of my heart with you all if beauty wasn't something that we all have in common. The only one who can tell you that you are not beautiful is you. You were wonderfully made by a God who looks at you and is proud of what He sees, a beautiful creature that He is honored to call His own and His accomplishment.

It is my challenge for you today, that if you are a women, not matter your age, who believes that you have imperfections on your outer appearance, to make a list of the things which you dislike about yourself. Look at each item on the list and ask yourself “does this part of me really out way my irreplaceable beauty?”.

Little brings me greater joy to see a woman embrace the unique beauty that she was bestowed by her Maker. I'm asking you to join me in showing this world what true beauty is. In doing so we are not only kicking Satan back in His place for tampering with our hearts, but we are displaying that image of God in which we were made, the image of beauty.

I believe...

...that my life is a fairy tale.

Does that mean my life is always "sunshine, lollipops and rainbows"? No. But what is a fairy tale without hard expeditions, villains, and dragons? I know every life has at least one of these in some form, otherwise you're probably not living. Do you think Belle loved her life when the Beast locked her father in a dungeon? I don't remember Cinderella singing songs when her step-mother and step-sisters tore her beautiful gown.

What makes a fairy tale, a fairy tale?

I am a feminine heart searching for myself through the happenings of everyday. I have battles to fight, hurtles to overcome, and dragons to slay. Although, like all the other princesses, like all the other humans, I can't do it alone. I don't have any dwarves or talking home decor to assist me, but I have loved ones who help me defeat the Evil One. I have forever dreamt of true love and a knight coming to save me. I have my castle, my treasures, great Love, and green open fields to run through. It is hard for me to see sometimes.. but all of it is there.

Actually, a lot of what makes our lives fairy tales is invisible.."for our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).

Does that sound "normal"? What about Heaven and Hell?

Those fairy tale books have nothing on the Bible! For those of you who thought that your life is boring, I don't see how you could continue believing such a lie. Because that's what it is: a lie whispered into your heart by the Enemy. (An enemy, another element of a fairy tale.) He wants us to forget that Jesus has called us to live a life of adventure with Him.

The Bible speaks of matter of the heart, of battles, of adventures all the time! But today expressing our hearts and lovey dovey ballads are taboo. Hardships have become simply life's crap -- rather than opportunities to be the feminine Warrior or the brave-heart of a Knight. How often in everyday conversation do you hear of someone giving their son away to die and save the population of the world from their evilness so that they can someday live in a world of gold? Jesus even calls Himself a Prince, multiple times! God is a King! There is something that we have lost... And from it, God's people are overwhelmed by their troubles, or worse... they're bored.

In the deep wakes of overpowering, overwhelming life, I grow bored, I become frustrated, and my heart breaks. But it's in that time where I turn to the ultimate Book of fairy tales, to the most amazing King. I see in my life a fairy tale that becomes real. Everything I go through now is to get to my happy ending, my happily ever after. We all have adventures to live, and we're being called to live then with our Savior King, with our Prince of Peace, and with our Rescuer. We all have a happily ever after. Fighting the battle, slaying the dragons, weathering the adventure -- it's only half the fun.

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." ~C.S. Lewis

(photos from weheartit.com)

An Awaiting Lover

I'm a girl who loves romance. I have been for as long as I can remember. The princesses in movies were who I aspired to be when I was a little girl -- their happy endings made me smile and left me daydreaming. I love sweet southern nicknames, and getting a new bridal magazine at the grocery store check-out line leaves me giddy for days. I know it's something my parents aren't fond of about me, but it is me. After years of trying to shake it, I've decided there's no reason to.

A few weeks ago, Mom, Brother, and I were driving through a neighboring town...

Mom: "Oh, they have a Home-Goods!!'

Brother: "We need to check out their PETCO!"

Me: "Look, a David's Bridal! Let's go play!"

Romance is a part of every human being -- some to a higher degree than others, but it's always there. A need to love and to be loved. It was put there on complete purpose by a Being who loves like no other and wants love like never before.

Why do we flirt, "play hard to get," and want to spend time with those we love? Because we are made in God's image, and He does the same with us. Finding this romance in my life with God was a heartrending road that almost severed my relationship with Him as well as other relationships. Sure, I've loved Him and have been in love with Him for years, but finding this romance was something so much more. Why was this dangerous? He lead me into the desert...

"14 Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. ¹⁵ There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ¹⁶ "In that day," declares the LORD, "you will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call me 'my master.' Hosea 2:14~16

It's splendid seeing how he 'flirts' with me -- in personal ways through creation and through the words of others. Knowing that He wants me to chase after Him, and that when I do He'll always be there with loving arms, wanting to spend time with me.

The sad part is that many don't realize they have a Lover waiting for them in the shadows of their sadness, depression, and loneliness. He is always there, for men as well as women. He died a brutal murder for you, to win your heart. You are in the middle of a war-zone, an invisible battle that He is fighting for you and your love. Don't stand there as the damsel in distress. Fall into the arms of the ultimate Giver of Love.

(photos from weheartit.com)

"Captivating"

For a while now a bunch of girls from church and I have been going through "Captivating" by Stasi and John Eldregde ~ I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it. I loved it from its first words. It was love at first sight.

This art of a book unveils perfectly a woman's heart by bringing us back to when we were little girls with precious dreams and special desires. There is something within us that has been there all a long, something that is the reason why we do everything we do, something that makes us who we are. "She longs to be swept up into a romance, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to be the beauty to be unveiled. These are the secrets to the feminine heart." ~ Stasi

In this book, not only is the feminine heart unveiled as women see and feel, but as God has seen it from the beginning: as the "crown of creation," as the Stasi puts it. I know that personally, I hardly feel like I could be the crown of anything! But as this book unfolds, we see that feeling this way, as many women do, is from attacks of Satan. In scripture, in truth, we are told that woman was the last to be created. This is not because females are the least of these, but because this world was not fit, not complete without us. We are all made in God's image, women exhibiting to the world the parts of God which only women can, completing those features of God which are displayed by only men.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the lovely, comforting, and nurturing truths on these pages, but I want YOU to read it. I recommend it wholeheartedly for any female that can read. In fact, I'd even suggest men read it, for the sake of their sanity with women (which I'm sure they lose every now and then). I know I want to read the book John Eldredge wrote for males, Wild at Heart. It's grand seeing how wonderfully designed we all are to complete each other fully.

Dear Feminine Hearts, this is a book that your soul needs to one degree or another. You should read it, I have no doubt that you'll love it. It has changed my life, and continues to. Yes, I'm aware that sounds corny, but there's no other way to put it. I'm sure many of my future posts will come from lessons I receive from this book.

Your sister.