Reflecting

Can a mirror reflect more than your image? What about your thoughts? Here's a fascinating experiment one bride-to-be has taken on. She is going mirror-free fro an entire year, including the 6 months leading up to and INCLUDING her wedding day! Check out her journey at Mirror Mirror Off the Wall.

When I Don't Feel Beautiful

I'm not just talking about a "bad hair day" here. I'm talking about that deep dark frustration that I don't measure up. Have you ever been there?

The author of this article knows what I'm saying:

I recently watched the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Although I enjoyed the pomp and majesty of the surroundings, what struck me most was the couple themselves. They are a stunning couple – physically attractive and in seemingly excellent health. Part of me rejoiced with them and prayed for God’s blessing in their lives. Yet I must admit part of me struggled with envy, not simply for their surroundings, but for their physical health and appearance as well...

So how can I cope when my body fails my hopes and expectations for myself? Please follow the link above to read Bronlynn Spindler's great reminders!

Contentment

An article entitled Can you be chronically ill and still find contentment? may seem like a strange one to link to from a beauty blog, but I would love to invite you to visit this link and find great beauty tips such as:

• God looks at our hearts, not our material possessions and external beauty. “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b) External beauty will fade, but inner character will not.

or

• God made us beautiful and in His image. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14) We were created for a purpose and a plan,even those of us with physical limitations. How exciting!

If you know my story, you know physical struggle and disability have been a big part of my journey, along with all of the emotional issues of doubting and self-worth that come along with a body that isn't all I dreamed it would be. You can read more about my health journey at Given Me a Thorn or on my InfertilityMom blog, and you can find encouragement for your own struggles (maybe divorce, or the death of a child, or infertility, or abuse, or financial struggles?) at Harvesting Hope from Heartache™. Wherever you are in life, please know that God says you are beautiful, right here in the midst of the mess. Even if you can't see the beauty right now, God's still at work and His plan is yet unfolding in you!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV).

Weight Gain & Contentment

I've gained weight the past year and a half. A lot of weight. I was asked three times last week if I was pregnant because I'm carrying most of that weight right out front in my belly. I've dealt with many medical issues and there's no doubt that my hormones are way out of balance. I weight more than 50 pounds more today than I did when I was pregnant with our daughter eight years ago. About 40 of those pounds have been packed on the past 20 months.


I am frustrated. I don't like my body. I don't like getting dressed. I don't like getting undressed even more. I have stacks of clothes I can't get into, some now 3 or 4 sizes too small, that I've been stashing away for when I can get the pound off.


Today I'm choosing a new attitude. Yes, I would still like to shed some weight, for health, for self-esteem, for so many reasons. But the fact is, this is my body right now. The same Holy Spirit lives inside this broken temple who lived here when I was at my healthiest, most fit, most attractive days. I can make choices that will keep this body as well-conditioned as I am able, but honestly some of this is simply beyond my control.


So today I went through all my clothes, those horded away for someday and those still hanging in my closet, many ill-fitting even though I try to still squeeze into them. To my delight I found a few things I honestly didn't think would fit that still work nicely. :) I kept about 5 things that are very near to fitting, just a tiny snug right now, because if I can loose a few pounds and under-grow what I have, I still have a tiny cushion of options before I hit yard sales and consignment stores for smaller sizes.


I sorted and organized all the rest and can walk into my closet and know that absolutely anything I pull off the hanger will fit on this body and I won't have to fight through five or six outfit changes (and accompanying tears and words of self-loathing) just to get dressed in the morning. And as a bonus, I now get to bless some friends with an abundance of clothing that can be enjoyed again, no longer a source of frustration to their owner.


But godliness with contentment is great gain.

- 1 Timothy 6:6



Father, please grant me contentment in my "great gain" that I can have a heart to fully embrace the body you have given me and glorify you with it, just as I am.