I couldn’t believe it the other day.  I was watching tv, and all of a sudden I see Brooke Shields in a commercial promoting a kind of prescription cream or gel that you could get to make your eyelashes fuller and thicker.  I couldn’t believe it?  What?  I wondered, “Are my eyelashes to short and thin?”  I had just gotten past the fact that I didn’t need to spend time whitening my teeth, and that they weren’t really that yellow.  Now I had to wonder what to do with my lashes.  Was mascara not enough anymore? 

Everywhere we look, we women, are told what we need to do to be beautiful.  We definitely need Botox for our wrinkles, eyelash medicine for our dull eyelashes, collagen for our lips, and liposcuction for our hips.  The list goes on and on.  Even if we feel okay with how we look, the world media makes us question ourselves.  Isn’t it bad enough that as women, we are already comparing ourselves to one another?  The truth is, we could spend all of our time trying to improve our looks, or to try to look like the most beautiful woman we have ever seen.  I’m sure that there are some that do.  I know that there are some that do…there are those women who get plastic surgery over and over again, only to still not be content with how they look.  I think that we could interview women all over the world, and not find one woman who wouldn’t want to change at least one thing about themselves, physically.  We all have to accept “what we get, and not throw a fit”…sorry, this is something said at our house a lot!  Besides, God created us exactly the way He wanted us.  He doesn’t make mistakes!  At times, I am very frusterated about how I look.  I have to ask myself why I am thinking about myself so much.  It is usually because I don’t feel like I measure up to the world’s standards of what “beautiful” is.  But, what is the world’s definition of “beautiful?”  I believe it is only the outer appearance that counts.  A lot of gals buy into this, and are found wanting more botox.  I have told my daughters for awhile that it is not the outside that counts.  It’s your insides that count…your guts!  I ask them it their guts are looking beautiful from time to time.  They know that they are beautiful on the outside, simply because God created them.  They believe it.  They know it.  What we have to work on is their insides being beautiful.  We do that by working on the Fruits of the Spirit.  We all know that even the most beautiful woman in the world is not beautiful if she treats people poorly.  She’s not so beautiful anymore if she goes around yelling at people!  We also know that a gal who isn’t “beautiful” according to the world’s standards can be absolutely gorgeous when we see her shine for Jesus, showing the Fruits of the Spirit.

You, sister, are beautiful because God created you that way.  You don’t need to cut yourself up, rearrange your face, or even worry about how you look.  Try working on joy, patience, and kindness.  The time spent working on our insides will be much more well spent that working on our outsides.  And, it’s free!  Not easy, but free!  I’m not saying to not take care of yourselves, our bodies our God’s temples, I’m just encouraging us to not forget about our beautiful guts.  Well, mine aren’t so beautiful at this point, but I am working on it!  What about you?

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things is no law.

Mother’s Day.  I had hoped that it would be a fabulous day.  I wanted to look my best, so I even took time to color my hair that morning.  I was thinking about how wonderful my three little girls and I would look with our blonde hair in our traditional “Mom’s Day” pics, as I was drying my newly blonde locks.  As my hair was almost dry, I glanced in the mirror to give it a good brushing.  My eyes must have bugged out of their sockets as I realized that my hair was not the gorgeous blonde color I was used to seeing.  It was purple…no, more lavendar with a hint of green and gray.  I couldn’t believe it!  Here, I had my hopes up of being honored and looking beautiful.  But, once again, my plans got interrupted.  I had a choice to make.  I could cry and be upset, upsetting my kids after they had been so excited to shower me with cards and presents, or I could buck up and put my hair in a ponytail.  I decided to buck up, and put my hair up.  I even laughed.  It would be a Mother’s Day to remember, that’s for sure.  What happened?  I’m not sure.  It may have been a bad boxof hair color that had expired, or maybe my body chemistry had changed since my gallbladder surgery.  Anyway, as I went about my day with my newly colored hair, or “rock star” hair as I called it, I realized maybe I had something to learn.  Was I worrying too much about how I looked?  Was I worrying about what others thought of me and my “rock star” hair?  Was not having the pictures I wanted with my girls going to ruin the day?  I realized that God was leading me to focus on what was really important through my hair!  Worry is a big problem for me.  I didn’t need to worry about my hair that day, or the next day.  God knew what was going on.  There is a great passage in Matthew 6:25-34 about worrying.   It’s one that I have to read over and over again.  It may be a familiar passage to you, but I would encourage you to read it!  God was going to take care of me, and my “rock star” hair.  After all, I knew that He had helped me in much more desperate situations than a bad hair day.  Hair and appearances are important, but not that important.  They are not enough for me to dwell on, and get upset over.  There is always something- hence, “Can I Just Shave My Legs?”-but I needed to be reminded of all of the blessings I had to count that day, including being a mom to three healthy, amazing , beautiful little girls.  Eventually, God even helped me with my hair.  After the purple-lavendar color it did turn gray, and then green, and then finally back to a yellowish color.  It kind of reminded me of a bruise- the hurt and the coloring.  My hair incident hurt at first, and then the pain went away, and the hair color went back to normal!  God takes care of us, in any situation!  Is there a situation in your life that has happened unexpectedly that has caused you to worry?  I want to encourage you to not waste your time thinking or fretting over it.  Simply ask God for help, no matter how “hairy” the situation is and He will help!

Matthew 6:27

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Gallbladder surgery.  I was faced with it two weeks ago.  I was in pain, got to the hospital, and they fixed me and sent me home in 36 hours.  Amazing, yes…life changing?  YES!  Through my recovery, I realized how much more fixing I needed than just having my gallbladder removed.  I needed to make changes, and do some more surgery removal from my life.  I found myself at a fork in the road.  Do I continue down the same path, continually fighting my desires that brought me down into depression?  Do I continue down the road of remembering regrets and hanging onto bitterness?  I knew if I continued down the same path, I was going to fall deep, and spiral downward quickly.  I would continue to repeat doing what only brought me misery.  This would lead to many pity-parties (don’t worry, I wouldn’t invite you!), time in bed, eating too much and blaming myself.  This would then bring me to guilt, and looking at all of my past failures and regrets.  This, essentially, would lead me to death in only living a life of misery, without joy.  I had been down that road more than I could count on all of my fingers and toes.  Laying in bed, recovering, and sleeping, I was tempted to skip down it again.  I KNOW how to find joy in living this life God gave me.  I have to do what He wants me to do, not what I want to do.  But, it’s soo hard!  Did I have the GALL to do it?  After all, my surgery took my gallbladder!  Did I have anything left to take the road that was filled with branches to walk through, and mud to step over?  The other road bare, and easy to walk down.  The road I knew I needed to take was overwhelming.  I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own.  I had to have God walk me through it, moving the branches for me, and drying the mud so I could put my foot on a firm piece of ground.  I had no choice.  God had called me to change.  God said, “Go!”  God said, “Do!”  I didn’t know how it would all work, and I still don’t.  But I am going, and I am doing, because I know that living the way God wants me to live, and doing what He has created me for willfree me from all of the misery.  It doesn’t make sense, and it seems backwards, but I know that as I have made baby steps, I am less tempted to go down the easy road.  Did I mention that I asked for this?  I prayed for God to help me change, and to lose weight…Who knew His answer would come through gallbladder surgery!  Do you have the gall?  Are you willing to make the changes God is asking you to make?  Do you have the gall to GO and DO what God wants you to do, even if it sounds crazy!  Don’t think for a minute that starting this website was MY idea…I’ve been dragging my feet since February!  I realized I do have the gall, the gall to live the joyfilled, peaceful  life God wants me to, and doing what He asks me to do.  And, so do you my, friend!  Go, Live, and Do!  You have the gall…just ask God for strenghth and courage.  He’s waiting, hoping today will be the day!

Isaiah 55:12

“You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”