A Sweet Day:)

Tuesdays are becoming one of my favorite days. Tuesdays we have chapel and I get to hear 100+ children sing their hearts out for God and get excited about it!

I mean some may say they are just shouting and jumping because they can and what kid doesn't like to jump and scream with all of their friends. But I bet if you asked most of these students why we sing and shout and jump and dance in chapel, they would tell you that is for God (and it's fun:)).

Today I almost fell apart in front of my students when I witnessed the sweetest shouts of praise to God that I have heard in a long time. In chapel today our principal asked the students why God is awesome, and as he called on them one by one, I was amazed at their precious answers. Their answers were so genuine, and they said them with the biggest smile on their faces.

It was simply beautiful! I cannot say it enough...I am blessed to have such a great job!

A girls greatest desire and greatest struggle.

We don't talk about it much, and we pretend like it doesn't matter. We do our best to find comfort and strength in the phrase "True beauty is what is found on the inside." But the truth is one of a girl's greatest desires is to feel and believe and know that they are BEAUTIFUL on the outside.

Most girls you can tell all day they are beautiful in as many unique and sincere ways as you can possibly think to tell them, you can do all that you can to try to let them see their beauty, but they are still going to see only their flaws. Sure they may be grateful for the compliments and may take them to heart for a moment, but as soon as another girl walks in the room they will begin to fall into the trap that Satan has so carefully put in place. They will begin to compare themselves to the newest image they feel they have to live up to.

I know first hand because well I am a girl:) and I have heard the subtle cries of girls and ladies (unfortunately even marriage doesn't fix this insecurity) who feel as though they will never be what they see as beautiful or try crazy things to try to attain their idea of beauty. We can blame it on our culture, which has a part in it, but I believe it has always been around because as people created in the image of God we have a desire to be beautiful. God is beautiful and He loves beautiful things, and that is a part of the image of God that we reflect as women is beauty. As someone who struggles with this and knowing it will be a daily battle with self and Satan that I will wake up and face daily, my heart goes out to those girls who struggle with it (probably 98% of ladies at least!).

So please know that you are not alone and when you look at the mirror and begin to see your faults remember this: you were created in the image of God Himself, you were created by God! He only makes beautiful:) Don't compare yourself to things of this world, but instead remember the God and the hands that created you. (This is much easier said than done I realize more than I can express) Satan wants nothing more than to destroy you in this way because it affects so much of who you are and greatly puts a halt on us ladies becoming who God desires and created us to be.

SO boys and girls alike know that you can never tell someone enough that they are loved and that they are beautiful and pray that they will believe it, that Satan's lies will not have a foothold! Of course you might not want to use the word beautiful for the guys:) I encourage you to begin to look for ways to remind girls in your life that they are beautiful on the inside AND the outside, even just friends, even if it's just a simple message to let them know that you were thinking about them. I say this not for myself PLEASE know that but for the precious girls that I have heard hear lately. Though the words may be subtle the insecurities are loud and clear. Girls you are BEAUTIFUL and you are LOVED and I MEAN IT !!

Love...

Oh my how quick I am to say every season that I will NOT be watching the Bachelor or Bachelorette and how easily I fall into the trap when I see the commercials. They of course lure you in with the drama of it all, and I can't resist seeing what it is all about. DUMB is how I would describe the show, but it is also quite a sad show. My heartbreaks for girls who are so driven by finding love that they will go on this show and compete for it. I could talk for hours about how sad this show is, but I will stop there. The Bachelor is of course an extreme picture of this but it is everywhere I look. Girls and boys living their lives driven by the fact that they are looking for their significant other. I am no exception. I mean in the sense that I long to marry and have a family, to be loved and to love someone that adores me and that I adore, but how thankful I am that that is not what drives me. Sure I have crummy days where I ask God "When will it be my turn" or "Ugh I would really at least like to know that there is someone out there." I cannot express to you how thankful I am for a God who is quick to remind me that He has great things in store. Great things for me as I live for Him single and great things when He brings me a husband to serve alongside. My heart breaks for these girls because they may never know the ultimate satisfaction that comes in being in love with the God who is LOVE and because even after they find that special someone, they will still be heartbroken because that special someone will never be able to love them the way they were created to be loved, by a Holy God whose love will leave them in awe. So my encouragement to my single friends is that it is not because you are unlovable because you are unconditionally loved! or because you aren't good looking because created you and that makes you BEAUTIFUL! but because God has something great in store for you now as you are single and for your future with that lucky special someone:) So let God work in His wonderful way, pursue Christ and seek after Him, and He will take care of you more than you can ever imagine.

Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourselves also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."