No alterations needed..

I went into the local retail makeup store looking for the best mascara. I was searching for fab lashes. Length and volume after giving birth to my baby were of a thing of the past.  I was approached by an older woman asking if I needed help. Of course, I said, "yes, I want the _ and _ mascara because it works wonders." I mean I wanted to keep my wonder woman eyelashes but it takes several steps of application. I needed miracle mascara. Ok, well my lashes aren't natural by far but they are my own eyelashes. The sales clerk told me had I tried this other one that you only needed one coat. No, so of course I buy it and get it home. It doesn't work. Yet, it was the same price. 

The makeup world makes a killing on us insecure idiots. I am speaking for myself here. I knew the product I wanted. I knew it worked. Yes, it was costly and three steps but I had great results. How about that? Success takes work and a little time, right? So what is the cost? How do I achieve the results I want without going to such extremes? Then, I asked the older lady what she used. "My eyelashes aren't real she says." She is ten years older than my mom wearing a miniskirt and her eyelashes are the best I've ever seen. She looked great! I mean I want to be her one day but she didn't look happy. I think her pursed lips and frozen smile said it all. Staying young was sucking the joy out of her.  Her eyes didn't crinkle. She was beautiful and fragile at the same time. She was one botox injection away from a breakdown. Then, I noticed her sad eyes behind those luscious lashes. My heart broke. She sits in that makeup chair every week and spends four times what I do to achieve that look.  What is it getting her but a few compliments? Now, if this was the only thing she altered it might not be that big of deal but she was fake through and through. She had lost herself. I wonder if she looks anything at all like her younger pictures. I wonder if her children would recognize her if they didn't talk to her daily? If you have gotten fake eyelashes recently I am not speaking to you. I am just speaking to the woman whose whole existence is achieving a better body, a greater look. Splurging is fine every now and then. So, I left that retail store with my handy dandy mascara and I felt sad. Sad, for the older sales clerk trying to look twenty. Sad for myself that I take such an interest in something as mundane as eyelashes. Sad for our world that we have become so obsessed with our looks. Sad for my daughter that she will witness this often and feel the need to keep up appearances. 

It doesn't stop and end with makeup. We are consumed in this country with the hoarding of designer clothes, whiter teeth, tanner skin, and harder bodies. I am always hearing discussions of the latest diet, newest fashion trend, and most exclusive place to travel. Well, little old me can't keep up and I am the workout guru. Unfortunately, I am a fashion disaster and I am lost in this world. I think I'm gonna stick with being me. I'm gonna stick with regular mascara. I may wear a bikini but I may not conceal the stretch marks.  

I want to smile more than I want beauty. I want to laugh more than have attention. I want joy more than a superficial existence. 

Take that hollywood! I am not advocating giving up on being healthy people. I like being thin but the drive to be best has to stop somewhere. I happen to like that my parents got me braces but I don't need veneers. The other alternative takes too much time and effort. I don't want to be the old lady at the makeup counter with the sad eyes or the woman at the doctor's office getting injections on the regular, either. I want my little girl to see her mom that feels loved, happy, and whole. I want my daughter to see there is more value in being beautiful within. I am all for achieving the best look but what if God's way for me to be successful is just to be me? 

What if God says, "I love you just as you are, no alterations needed." Oh, how that would shape everything I do to get ready in the morning. My, how that would change the whole course of my actions daily. 

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him (her). The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

I need to forget appearance and think person. 

Yep, that is how I want to spend my day with the person that gives me joy, Jesus! I no longer want to spend my day analyzing how many pounds I've lost or how many weights I've lifted. I want to be seen for me, my heart and mind. I think maybe the lady at the counter hadn't felt seen in a long time. She is probably lacking in love and self-worth. Someone crushed her spirit along the way. I could be wrong but her dignity was completely stripped for someone so dolled up. 

What is the cost for beauty? Just my heart. 

He wants a relationship with you so that He can tell you daily how beautifully and wonderfully He created you. He wants you to know Him so that you can know ultimate love. He wants you to walk with Him so that you never have to feel alone. He wants to remove your sin so that you can hold your head high and not in shame. When I focus on Him instead of me I am so much happier. I feel beautiful today because I live in total acceptance.  He paid it all so that I wouldn't have to search for a thing. With Jesus there is no more striving for better.  

Self-worth then is channeled into worship of the only one who is worthy. 

So, think worship of Jesus instead of self-worth and spending time in His presence instead of focusing on appearance. Since, life with Jesus my life went from being mediocre to blessed. Jesus does the work for me. He pushes me to greatness. He changes me far better than I could ever alter myself. Every bit of blood poured out of him on the cross so I would never ever have to walk through this life unloved or unwanted. He wants me for me and you for you. He desires you more than you desire to be young again, or thin again. His body was broken and bruised so that you wouldn't have to change yours so drastically. 

What is the cost for joy? A heart in love with Him. 

He'll do the metamorphosis of your heart and you'll do the giving of your time. He is working wonders on me. Truly the best miracle, ever. No cosmetic work needed. 

Want to feel beautiful again? Say this prayer aloud to Jesus,

Dear Jesus,
I am tired of striving to be pretty and meet the worlds standards. I am hurting and just want to be loved. Thank you for dying on the cross for me so that I wouldn't have struggle with keeping up with the world's demands. Jesus, I ask that you take my sin and wash me clean. I ask that you take make my heart pure and beautiful in your sight. I thank you for dying on the cross for me so that I can be your child and live with you eternally. I thank you that I am forgiven and my sin is cast as far as the east is from the west because of your dying for me on the cross. Teach me Jesus how to live for you and to how to serve you daily.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

That's it. You belong to him and you are beautiful in His sight. Now, go get involved in a church to learn more about him. Open your bible and read what our creator has to say to you.

God Bless!

When there is more...

Have you ever asked for the wrong thing?

I have many times. I've asked for a boyfriend I didn't need, a dog I couldn't keep, a friend that didn't care, and a car that I couldn't afford. Loved having them all while they were not good for me. I did not find joy in people, places, and things.  

In life I was looking for passion and He gave me love. I was searching for pleasure and He gave me peace. I was looking everywhere else but at Him. I never got all that I wanted. Oh, but I was given so much more. I didn't see Him at first. I'm so glad He saw me.

I hurt all over. I was in pain. I couldn't walk. I couldn't stand. My legs had atrophied and I laid prostrate on the ground.  I was lying on my face scratching at the dirt as others would pass me by. I stopped desiring to feel better. This was my lot in life. I didn't question why I was born this way. I didn't care anymore. I just needed to survive. The more I tried to get out of the mire the more I was sucked in. I had nowhere to go in this illness because I was on the lowest rung. As if I was in quicksand I was stuck in this cycle. I tried climbing out many times but my arms didn't have the strength to get me over the edge. My legs wouldn't move. I was paralyzed by sin. So, I would fall right back into the mud. I was covered in it. I had hit the bottom and then, I wallowed in it. The mud was strangling me and little by little I was losing air. I decided this is all there is for me. Its a dangerous place to be when you lose all hope. You stop fighting for yourself. I had stopped wanting to be helped. I stopped wanting more for my life. My mind was numb...

And my heart was as paralyzed. It didn't move though it beat in rhythm. 

 That is until one day through others God whispered to me that there was more. I couldn't stand the stabbing pain everywhere else in my body. I had ignored my heart but my body was feeling the disease, my all encompassing sin had eroded me to the bone. This ache had become too great and things of this world never satisfied me long enough to get through the pain. Praise God! He heard my cry and this is my story:

There is healing POWER in His name. His name is Jesus "Yeshua" and his name means salvation.

There once was this beggar....
"Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service. As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, 'Look at us!' The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting a gift. But Peter said, 'I don't have any money for you. But I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!' Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man's feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened. He jumped up,  stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them." Act 3:1-8

The beggar asked everyday for money and He just needed Jesus. He was content to just lay there but God wanted more for Him. Day in and day out the beggar had the pattern of asking for and wanting the wrong thing. He didn't know any better because he was born this way. He was stuck in a rut literally. He couldn't move on to bigger and better things. He couldn't move at all. Faith in Jesus' name alone healed this cripple man. What strength must have surged in the lame man's boy! What power must have reformed his bones! How beautiful that our God didn't let him stay this way. How compassionate is our Savior that He reached out through his servants to give the man a restored body so that he wouldn't have to beg anymore. I'm sure he was tired of lying in the dirt. I bet he was sick of being ignored. I could imagine the beggar stomach rumbling thinking when will I eat again. In the time before being politically correct people would not willingly associate with someone who had paralysis. It must have been lonely on the ground while everyone was above him and passing him by. This puts a whole other spin to being talked down to. I ache for this man because he was me. All alone, dirty, hungry, and tired. Begging for something and getting healed in the process. Thank God for the apostles that saw him that day. Thank God for Jesus who set the man free. Thank God He saw me. He healed my body and my heart. There is transforming power in His name. 

"The name of Jesus has healed this man--and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus' name has caused this healing before your very eyes." Act 3:16

Faith in Jesus' name healed me too. I just had to know who to ask for: Jesus. I had to set my pride aside and say, "Jesus, the way I am living my life isn't working for me anymore. In fact, I am dying inside. I need you to forgive me and to help me to live a new life for you. I accept your death on the cross as a remission of my sins. Please have your blood wash them away and radically change my heart. Amen" 

What are you looking for? With Jesus there is more. He is everything you ever want or need. Don't settle for less.  People, places, and things won't fill you up. The lame man kept having to beg for money until his needs were finally satisfied from the only one who has the power to change his life. I decided I wanted to be healed more than this other thing. I let God be my all. He created you to walk daily with Him instead of lying down broken. So, have faith in His name and you too can stand and move healed with Him.