you are beautiful

My dear friends,

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:39:26 -0400

I hope that you all have friends you can fellowship with. Friends that you can laugh and eat food with. where you can gather anywhere at any time and feel love. feel love without anything being said, because you know that their love is unconditional.

if you don’t have these friends, I encourage you to find at least one. One person who you can be vulnerable with and trust. Because when you are vulnerable, you are able to feel so much more.

And I know this is rough. You say “I can’t trust anyone” or “I’ve been hurt too many times by friends” or “I don’t know anyone who would be a ‘good’ friend”. And it is. It’s unfortunate that humans are so broken and have hurt us so much, but in the end being vulnerable with someone is fantastic. And finding this friend probably will not happen over night. It might take a couple months or a couple of years. But it is worth the investment.

If you have any questions, just ask me. good luck on this friendship journey.

youarebeautiful.

As the lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the daughters. -song of solomon 2:2 “He...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:08:00 -0500

As the lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the daughters.

-song of solomon 2:2

“He can make a lily grow among thorns till the thorns grow into lilies. Remember how it is written, “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.” He can set a Christian in a godless family till first one and then another shall feel the divine power, and shall say, “We will go with you, for we perceive that God is with you.” It cannot happen in nature, but it does happen in grace perpetually, that the sweet perfume of the lily believer, shed abroad upon the thorn-bush of the ungodly, turns it into a lily-garden. Such holy work among ungodly people is the truest and best “FLOWER MISSION.” They do well who give flowers to cheer the poor in their dreary habitations, but they do better still who are themselves flowers in the places where they live.

Be lilies, my dear brethren, preach by your actions, preach by your kindness, and by your love; and I feel quite sure that your influence will be a power for good. If the Holy Spirit helps all of you to stand among your associates as lilies among the thorns, the day will come when thorns will die out, and lilies will spring up on every side: sin will be banished, and grace will abound.”

-c. h. spurgeon

my sisters [and brothers]. we are lillies. spurgeon gives a different twist to what i have always seen the meaning of this verse to be

"So this was God in relationship? It was beautiful and so appealing. He knew that it didn’t..."

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:01:00 -0500

“So this was God in relationship? It was beautiful and so appealing. He knew that it didn’t matter whose fault it was- the mess from some bowl that had been broken, the planned dish would not be shared. Obviously, what was truly important here was the love they had for one another and the fullness it brought them.”

- The Shack, Page 107.

sometimes we stray from the path. sometimes we disobey. but God still loves us and keeps moving forward. He loves us so much.

youarebeautiful.

you are beautiful. you are loved. you are so incredibly...

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:43:25 -0500

you are beautiful. you are loved. you are so incredibly precious. this post says it all.

youarebeautiful

you’re beautiful.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:47:00 -0500

you’re beautiful.

do you know as many ways to please God as do your significant other?

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:01:46 -0400

worth.

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:49:44 -0400

A well-known speaker started his seminar by holding up a $20 bill in a room of 200 people.

He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this”, and he proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well”, he replied, “What if I do this?” and he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the
floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

“Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

“How come you still want it?” he asked.

“It’s still worth $20”, came the answer.

“Then, my friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson”, said the speaker, “No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It’s still worth $20.”

“Many times in our lives” he continued, “We are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.”

“But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless.”

you have worth.

youarebeautiful

i want to hear your thoughts about life and what is going on in yours. and what you want to read...

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:58:56 -0400

i want to hear your thoughts about life and what is going on in yours. and what you want to read about on here.

youarebeautiful.

http://createdperfectly.tumblr.com/ask

"soulmate: there is no such thing as a soulmate aka. someone who will fulfill all your needs and..."

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:23:00 -0400

“soulmate: there is no such thing as a soulmate aka. someone who will fulfill all your needs and match your hearts needs. you know what. if there is one, God would use all of his power to keep him as far away as possible. because god wants you for his own and he is a jealous god :)”

love.

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:14:02 -0400

in today’s society and culture we say “i love ____” in a very nonchalant kind of way. lately i’ve been thinking about love. what it means to love, what it means to be loved, and what love means. in the english language we really only have one word for love, with different levels of meaning. but other lanuages, especially the biblical languages of greek and hebrew have several “different levels”.

phillia [greek]- friendship or brotherly love. having a loyalty to family or friends. this is the way we love our friends. our companions. when we enjoy having a friendship and we love our friends.

ryha [hebrew]- friendship. some people say this is like the love of a best friend or a soulmate. someone who you feel comfortable disclosing to. in order to love someone with this kind of love, a trust must be developed in this friendship.both ryha and phillia love are strongly connected with emotions.

storge [greek]- affection, as in parental or familial. when a parent feels love toward their offspring. when someone says something like “it is out of love.” this is the kind of love they are speaking of.

ahava [hebrew]- love of commitment, dedicating oneself to someone. this is a life commitment kind of love, found at a wedding and through marriage.

dod/eros [both]- sexual love. it’s not called making love for no reason.

agape [greek]- unconditional love. selfless love to serve one another. this is the kind of love described in the “love chapter” in first corinthians. this is the way God loves us. no strings attatched. “for God so loved (agape) the world, that He gave his only begotten son.” this is the way i want to love. as God loves.

but we need to have all these kind of loves. we have the capacity to love in all these ways and be loved in all these ways. learn to love. we have been convicted to love.

how do you love? who do you love? and why do you love?

youarebeautiful.

beauty.

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 01:26:47 -0400

my cousin is gorgeous. she is stunning. she is beautiful.

a friend of mine was describing her, and said that my cousin was the epitimy of beautiful: tall (5’8), super skinny, blonde hair, blue eyes, could be a holister model.

now, my cousin is beautiful, but do those things make her beautiful? are those the things that define beauty?

apparently so. our society is so skewed in its thinking. but those things do not define beauty. every human being is beautiful.

i challenge you to find beauty. every person you come in contact with, tell them what you find beautiful about them. it makes you a hundred times more beautiful. and it will bring them joy, let them radiate for a bit it will make them feel more beautiful. because they are so incredibly beautiful. people are beautiful.

youarebeautiful.

we are a product of our environment.

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:35:00 -0400

do not EVER tell your eight year old daughter that she needs to watch her intake of carbohydrates and sugar. i would like to punch all those controlling mothers who “encourage” lessening intake of food and counting calorie. it screams eating disorders.

i have seen girls as young as eight years old with eating disorders.
they say 1 out of 10 girls has an eating disorder.
but at least 7 out of 26 girls on my dorm floor freshman year at a christian university had an eating disorder

this is my passion. this is my heart. all girls need to know that THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL.

actually, don’t tell anyone that their beauty is dependent on how much they eat or how much they weigh.

instead, administer compliments.

compliments are becoming of a person. affirming another person makes you human. makes you beautiful. your beauty from within shines out.

remember every human being is beautiful. always.

youarebeautiful.

Every girl wants to be a princess. (True, some may deny this, but we all know deep down, it’s true)....

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:04:55 -0400

Every girl wants to be a princess. (True, some may deny this, but we all know deep down, it’s true). Girls, whether they recognize it or not, possess this desire in themselves to be beautiful, admired and loved. We crave to be desired, needed, to be useful and special. We may not always express this desire in the best way, but it is present in each of us. This is why I think one of the best ways to describe what a girl’s relationship should be like with God, is to say that she is His princess.

Unfortunately, we don’t always feel like a true ‘princess of the Lord.’ We make mistakes, stumble over our temptations and sins, and can do things that are far from princess-like. This often leaves us with a low self-esteem, a feeling of unworthiness – too wretched to be a daughter of the King. Worst of all, though, we develop fears because of these failings, which only lead us to fall even more. We fear others’ judgments about us, we fear rejection, we fear failure, and many girls find themselves even being afraid of God Himself. We become too afraid to allow Him to love us as His daughter; His princess.

I recently read a seminarian’s homily that truly inspired me on this topic. Incorporating the idea that we are royalty of the Lord, this seminarian, Eric Mah, tied in the new movie, Tangled, to explain his point. (And if you haven’t seen Tangled yet, you must! – Anyhow, here is an excerpt from the homily that I most enjoyed:

“In the movie Tangled, the main character, Rapunzel, is abducted as a baby from her parents – the king and queen of the land – by an evil witch who puts her in a tower where she is to be kept for the rest of her life. Interestingly, Rapunzel is kept in the tower not by physical means (e.g. chains or ropes), but by being kept in an on-going state of fear. She is told that the world is unsafe and that the world will hurt her, such that she must stay in the tower, which is said to be the only thing that can keep her safe. And so, while she appears to be living a good and orderly life, she is actually not living at all: she is trapped in a tower built upon her own fear.

And yet, God intervenes and Rapunzel feels a secret longing for something more – which focuses on a series of lanterns which are released into the air every year on her birthday, which she can see in the distance from her window. She doesn’t immediately understand why she feels this connection, but she does. Eventually, she discovers that the lanterns are released every year by the king and queen in the hope that their daughter – the lost princess – will one day return. Part way through the movie, there is a very dramatic scene when Rapunzel realizes that she is the lost princess, that the lanterns were always for her – they were always for her – and that she has wasted the majority of her life being afraid, with no real basis for her fear.

When the evil witch realizes that her old tricks no longer work, she tries to physically drag Rapunzel to a new type of prison. But Rapunzel recalls the many years she lost needlessly because of her fear, and refuses to give in. As so, the witch says: “Really, Rapunzel! Enough already! Stop fighting me!” But Rapunzel responds: “No, I will not stop! For every minute for the rest of my life, I will fight. And I will never stop fighting until I get away from you!”

At the end of the movie, Rapunzel is finally reunited with her parents in a scene that is beautiful for a variety of reasons, but particularly because of the look of pure joy on the faces of the king and queen, which makes us realize that, despite seemingly impossible odds, they have never stopped hoping – and praying – that their daughter would one day return.

They say that an important task of ministry is to remind the royal people of God who they are. And I guess that’s the point of this homily: to remind each of us that, in each of our lives, God sends us a series of lanterns to remind us that He is thinking of us, He loves us, and that we are the royal children of Christ the King. And so, if you feel a secret longing to renew your commitment to Christ, do not hesitate and do not be afraid. But realize that, to the extent that we can rediscover our identity in Christ, we can seek to live the fullness of life and acquire a new freedom that breaks us away from our fear because our self-worth is no longer based on our ability to produce, but on our unconditional acceptance by God – which no one can take away from us.”

God send us a series of lanterns to remind us that He is thinking of us, He loves us, and that we are the royal children of Christ the King!” That thought is so beautiful to me. Even when we fall, feel stupid, clumsy, messy and unfit to be a princess, God is always longing for us to come back to His castle, if we just take His open hand. We have nothing to fear when we accept that Christ is our Father and our King. But so long as we are trapped in sin, these fears are almost impossible to overcome. We are so fortunate, though, to have a Father who loves us so much to send us lanterns, in the form of grace, to beckon us back to His safety. All we have to do is follow the “lanterns” – and accept His loving grace.

-Kathleen Dunn

now i wish that i wrote this, but this woman and the man are speaking my heart. even for you guys. God is always there. waiting for us, waiting for us to come back into his protection.

youarebeautiful.

spiders.

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:30:37 -0400

you all know those girls, the ones who collect guys. the ones that have a spell over every single guy they come in contact with. the ones who every guy is in love with. yeah, those are the girls who i call spiders. and we all have friends like that.

THIS IS NOT A POST BASHING THEM. some of my best friends are “spiders”.

stop for a second and think about those girls, think about how she makes you feel. for me, i feel: resentment. a little jealous. a bit bitter. i look at those girls and think how can they do that to all those guys. how can they lead them on. they know they don’t want to have a long term relationship, but they are still vying for attention.

In Matthew 7:5 Jesus says to take the log out of your own eye before removing the speck from your brother’s eye. This is convicting. I am not a spider, and you may not be a “spider” (or maybe you are), but as a girl, we are guilty of leading guys on.

I think it is mostly for the attention. If a guy starts talking to me, flirting with me, and saying nice things, i am going to talk him. i feel wanted, special, needed. Even if i don’t think he’s that cute or i have no intention of ever doing anything more than flirting with him, i still continue to talk to him. in a way. i USE him.

Girls, even if sometimes it may not seem like it, guys have feelings too. Their hearts are not something to play with. It may seem like all fun and games, but in the end someone (he) will get hurt. we want guys to respect us, there are way too many rants about males being the enemy and heartless, but sometimes, we don’t respect them. Males are a beautiful creature created by God. They have hearts, feelings, quirks, personalities; each one of them is different. But each one of them is special. Every one deserves to be treated right. We are all created equally. women often want to be treated as equals to men, but we also need to treat men as equals to women. Their feelings and the state of their hearts matter just as much as ours do.

and plus, you don’t need the attention of men to be amazing. you are no matter what. you are wonderful and beautiful and wanted, just the way you are.

youarebeautiful.

feminist submission?

Tue, 17 May 2011 23:00:00 -0400

I’ve always had a negative view of womans rights. But I have been realizing lately that God made me (and you) with a purpose and for a purpose. I have been reading the book Sex God by Rob Bell, which has completely changed my view on feminism and anti-feminism.

In the book Sex God, Rob Bell illustrates the juxtaposition between societies view of what submission is in relation to Ephesians 5:22 (“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also should wives submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”) and what God’s example of what submission is. Bell analyzes the paradox of fully giving everything you have and receiving the same in return.

First, Bell defines what submission is, as the Greek word hupotasso, meaning: “to place yourself under, to give allegiance to, to tend to the needs of, to be responsive to” (Bell, 2007, p.113). The word hupotasso comes from two words: upo, meaning under, and tasso, meaning to place in order. It infersthat submission is placing oneself under one another out of “reverence or respect” (Bell, 2007, p.113). Further on in the chapter, Bell simplifies the definition of submission to: “Placing the needs of others ahead of her [or his] own” (Bell, 2007, p.115).

Rob Bell also establishes and affirms the beautiful creatures that woman are. But not just as creatures, but as beautiful creations of the Lord. He reiterates that woman have worth and value without a man. The author of Proverbs says in the thirty-first chapter that “a [woman] of noble character… is worth far more than rubies” (New International Version). Woman are the Lord’s and were bought at a price, they are loved, unconditionally.

This idea of unconditional love of God is woven throughout the chapter as the example of what surrender is. Jesus says in John chapter fifteen that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down for his friend” (New International Version). Jesus sacrifices his life for his creation, he surrendered everything. He placed the needs of others ahead of his own, he submits. In the same way, as Christ is the head of the church, the husband is the head of the marriage. He needs to be prepared and willing whole heartedly to sacrifice his life for his wife, to love and to submit to her. Bell is saying that not only do wives need to submit to their husbands; husbands also need to submit to their wives.

But, Bell is adamant about submission not being a “one way street”. A relationship goes two ways. In order for a relationship to function healthily, each person, husband and wife, need to put forth one-hundred percent of their allegiance, effort, and love. They cannot each give fifty percent, with the intensions of meeting half way, each of them needs to be in full surrender. Just as Christ was with his life, and just as the church should be towards Christ.

So you my dear friends. Remember, you are important and wanted. And a necsesary part of society. Go. Go change the world, show Gods love to those around you. Becuase you have value.

youarebeautiful.

modesty

Tue, 17 May 2011 22:19:34 -0400

Modesty has been on my mind lately. Why it matters, why leaders in the church constantly give young women “modesty talks,” and what exactly it means.

First of all, you are beautiful, and do not need any clothing article (or lack there of) to make you beautiful.

Throughout my life I have always been told: don’t tempt boys, don’t wear short skirts, don’t show too much cleavage, don’t show your bra strap. But I have never known why, no one has ever explained why those things are bad.

I have to know the reason that I do something. And for years I have known not to wear short skirts or show too much cleavage, but have done so without asking why. But, over the past few years my hemlines have gotten shorter and my shirts have gotten lower. Because honestly,who really cares, i’m not dating anyone the boys around me aren’t getting any action from me, and honestly, does it effect them that much? Those thoughts are wrong.

Guys are visual beings. I don’t care how great your guy is, he thinks about sex a lot. By wearing little clothes, you are leading his mind to sex (even if unconciously). Yes, it is his fault for going there and losing a bit of control of his mind. But it is every bit your fault as well, for putting him in that situation. Having said that, don’t do it. Just don’t. If you love him, in any sense of the word love, show him respect. Show him respect by helping him keep his mind clean.

That being said. You are a beautiful creation. I don’t know you, but I know God made every one special and beautiful and perfect. You are a respectable young woman. Please, respect yourself. You have so much potential. You don’t need to undress to impress. Because, you my friend, are impressionable. Beauty comes from within, and you are beautiful inside and out.

youarebeautiful.

"And so, like runaway slaves, we both flee our own reality and manufacture a false self which is..."

Sun, 15 May 2011 19:13:47 -0400

“And so, like runaway slaves, we both flee our own reality and manufacture a false self which is mostly admirable, mildly attractive, and superficially happy. We hide what we know or feel ourselves to be (which we assume to be unacceptable and unlovable) behind some kind of appearances which we hope will be more pleasing. We hide behind pretty faces which we put on for the benefit of our public. And in time we may even come to forget that we are hiding, and think that our assumed pretty face is what we really look like”

- Brennan Manning’s Abbas Child

love

Thu, 12 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

God has poured out his love into our hearts. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners christ died for us. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God loved us and sent his son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope. God, who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood. GOD IS LOVE.

God loves us. More than you or I could ever imagine.

youarebeautiful.

you are beautiful.

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

yes. you are beautiful.

You are a beautiful creation of the most high king.

you are his beloved. his creation. and he loves you as you are. he has called you chosen. for his kingdom. unashamed to call you his own. you are his beloved.

beloved: adjective. dearly loved.

You are a princess. A daughter of king.

“I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags. Even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young, They’re still princesses. All of us. Didn’t your father ever tell you that?” This is a quote from one of my favorite movies, A Little Princess. As I was typing it out, the line “even if they aren’t pretty” stuck out to me. That line has an incongruency. Every one is pretty. Sometimes society tells us girls that we aren’t. They are wrong. Everyone is beautiful. God created each and everyone of you perfectly. He looks at his creation (that’s you) and says “it is good.” God did not make any mistakes. Always remember: You are God’s beautiful princess.

youarebeautiful.

list.

Tue, 10 May 2011 15:33:00 -0400

this is more for my own thought of where i am going and things i am passionate about writting about.

beauty
purity
modesty
sexuality
body image
eating disorders
boys
boundries
drinking
God
lots of other stuff that comes to mind