Am I Beautiful?

            "Am I beautiful or are they just being nice?"   Is a question that most women are asking during their life.   Am I as beautiful as that lady on TV or as beautiful as my friends?
The sad thing is that people think they have to be skinny or have perfect features to be know as "beautiful".  American eyes have been tampered with. Instead of looking at the true beauty of someone, they look to the outward beauty when really the inside is lacking something which isn't quite as wonderful as true beauty.

           I want you to imagine something with me real quick.   If I were to draw a picture of a beautiful happy woman what would it look like?  For one thing I probably wouldn't make my women in the picture as skinny as the magazine girls because then she would look like she was dying of starvation. But I would draw my girl as being happy with a smile on her face and maybe a flower in her hand.  It is not what the girl looks like but how the girl shows her happiness.

            I once thought beautiful meant skinny with a perfect face and I often would go without meals trying to get that perfect body shape, trying to lose weight and working out trying to get that look  of beauty that everyone looked up to so much.  I kept telling myself that I am fat and that fat people are never happy or loved, when the truth was that I wasn't happy and that its hard for someone to love someone that is always thinking negative about herself.  I still struggle with thinking I'm not beautiful but what I have learned is that beauty is not what is on the outside but what is determined in the heart and if we put God in our heart and let him reflect through us we will be happy, loved and BEAUTIFUL women for God.   If I let God use me for His work I know he will make me beautiful because I will have His beauty shining through me and there is no greater beauty than the one of my Savior.  
         
          So girls when you look at yourself in the mirror don't say "I need to lose weight" or "I'm ugly and fat" but ask yourself, "Am I doing enough for God. Is God's beauty shinning through me in everything I do."


Worlds meaning of Beautiful:  Outwardly perfect
Gods meaning of Beautiful:  Inside beauty, priceless treasure


-1 Peter 3:3-4

From Camp Life to Home Life

              How do you keep doing morning devotion and keep building your relationship with Christ after Camp?  Sad questions that I experienced my first year at camp.   After being spiritually revived and dedicating my life to Christ how could I stop doing devotions.  Sad fact is that at Camp you are made to have morning devotions but at home it seems like the tiredness takes over and all you can do is basically get up get dressed and maybe just maybe have a prayer and continue with your everyday activity's not even thinking about how much spiritually you are lacking that time with Christ every morning.  

           My first year at Camp I was blessed immensely and I said that I would keep up my devotions at home but for some reason or another the time in the morning for devotions always got shorter and shorter and the time that I had once dedicated to having devotions was being used for checking emails, texting friends and sleeping in.  I kept telling myself that tomorrow would be different and that I would read a chapter in the bible but what the sad reality was that I was slipping farther and farther from the One who had dedicated His whole life for my salvation and thankfully He wasn't too busy checking His email or texting His buddy's instead of coming to save me.

           Now that I have you wondering the easy way to have a relationship with Christ that I have found, I'll tell you.  There is no easy way it takes discipline and it takes time but in that time that you spend every morning with God you will be blessed and His blessings are always the best for our lives. 

My goals on how to keep up my devotions after camp are easy because I have learned to enjoy that little time out of my day to spend with God.   

My ideas on how......

1.  Set my alarm to get up early enough to have time to spend in devotions.

2.  Put all electronics out of reach and not check them until after breakfast so I won't have a temptation before devotions or right after devotions 

3.  Give my time to God every morning and pray for His leading in my devotions before devotions

4.  Find something that I can apply to my life 

5.  Reflect on what I learned that morning during the day

6.  Pray deeply for Gods leading in everything I do

By doing these six simple things I plan to keep growing in my relationship with Christ.  God isn't asking you to do something impossible by waking up early and spending a little time out of your 24 hour day with Him.  Won't you right now dedicate your time in the morning to the One that has dedicated everything for you? 

-Matthew 6:6