Mirrors...

I have a confession to make. I HATE mirrors. I tend to avoid them as much as possible. I believe every fitting room in America has fun house mirrors that make my skin pale, my eyes saggy and my body...well let's just say it's not pretty! Trying on clothes means having to look in a mirror...perhaps that's why I tend to do mostly online shopping, at least then I have the home mirror advantage. Of course, I still don't like what I see even in my own mirror. I see every flaw, every grey hair, every pound, plus about 20 more that don't even exist. Women tell me I'm not alone.

I am my worst critic, not just in the physical of what I see in the mirror. I see through my outer looks and see all the way inside. Some days that just isn't pretty, some days I am just plain ugly in there. That is when my insecurities surface, that is when I start feeling inadequate, unworthy, unloved and alone.


Before you start worrying that I am just one big basket case, let me assure you that God is awesome and over the course of the last 7 years or so, He has been working on me. He has been showing me that I am not exactly as I appear to myself. He has been showing me that I am His princess, His priceless treasure, that I am beautiful, that I am special, that I am not inadequate, that I am worthy, and that I have a purpose!

When I turned 41, many things in my life feel apart, and it was through that trial that God helped me see my identity in Him. It has been a journey for me, with some setbacks, some melt downs, but overall I would say I have more joy, more peace, and a much closer walk with the Lord these days. 

Are you struggling with the person you see in the mirror? God wrote you a love letter and in it He tells you how special you are!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

 Psalm 139:13-14a

... even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. 

Ephesians 1:4 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 

There are many more verses...take a look and find some more! 

And just to prove to you that not only can I look in the mirror these days, I can even take a selfie and not want to delete right away...here is a picture of myself. I love taking them once in awhile to freak out my kids, to them I am the lady who runs from cameras!

Three things...

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 

 Romans 8:5

 So, how do we do it? How do we set our minds on the Spirit and not on the flesh? Daily we are bombarded with things of the flesh. We are constantly told what will make us happy...losing weight, buying this, buying that, this man, that woman, money, vacations, and so much more. We live in a fast food culture, we can get what we want, when we want it, now! So how does a Christian live in this culture and not allow themselves to live in the flesh?

Last fall I attended a prayer retreat and one of the things I wanted God and I to work on that weekend was my time with Him. I had gotten into a rut and I didn't want my relationship with God to become something I just checked off at the end of the day. I needed a fresh way to look at things, God gave me a word picture one morning, three simple actions I need to take each day, not part of a checklist, more a way to show my love. Each day at some point I need to KNEEL, SIT, and STAND.


Kneel- Each day I need time to fall on my knees and worship God, a time when I praise Him, when I stand in awe of Him. I will crank the praise music and get lost in worshiping Him. I also LOVE sunsets, I try everyday to catch a glimpse of the sun going down, it almost always takes my breath away and for a moment I worship the One who painted that sunset. There are more ways to kneel before God, those are two ways that work for me. 

Sit- Each day I need to find time to sit in God's presence, to soak in His word. Sometimes it is only one simple verse that God gives me, other days I get lost in the Scripture. It is just my time to spend alone with God. I realize this may not be as easy for some of you, I happen to be an empty-nester and interruptions are not as issue. If your house has more activity, you need to be creative to find the time to steal some precious minutes to read the love letter God wrote to you. I am sure if your husband gave you a sweet note, you would eagerly read it...that is all God wants us to do, read what He wrote.

Stand- I need to stand in the gap for others and for myself. This represents my prayer life. To keep myself from being consumed by the flesh, I need to pray, I need consider the needs of others and lift them up to the Lord. It is also ok to pray for myself, so I do that, I ask God to strengthen me, to show me how I can grow, to convict me of issues I need to work on. 

Do, I remember to Kneel, Sit and Stand each day? No, I do not, there are days when I am defeated from the beginning. These are days I allow myself to be consumed by the things of the world, days I am selfish, more set on the things of the flesh. Those days don't go so well. The days I do remember to do these three things, I find myself more content, more joyful, more set on the things of the Spirit. 

Five Minute Friday...Glue

Today is Five Minute Friday. Today's word is GLUE....


GO...

 GLUE, verb transitive 1. To unite; to hold together.

The sun, the moon, the stars....all held together by Him!

The oceans, the seas, the rivers....all held together by Him!

The air we breath...held together by Him!

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:16-17


...in Him all things hold together. He is the glue of not only the universe, the visible and the invisible. He is the glue of my life. When things seem to be coming undone around me, He is there. He is there holding me not only together, but holding me. Without Him I would have no peace, no hope, no joy.

Today is Good Friday, the day they crucified my Lord. The day He was beaten, ridiculed and crucified. A day filled with despair and sadness. I am sure His followers were wondering why? I am sure they felt a lack of peace, hope and joy in those dark hours. I know if Jesus had left me I would feel that same despair.

But....Sunday came. The day peace, hope and joy would appear with an exclamation point. He had risen, just as He promised. He's alive. Because of that event I will never know the pain of Jesus leaving, He is living inside of me. I'm alive!! He is my glue...holding all things together. AMEN!

Five Minute Friday...Paint

Today is Five Minute Friday. Five Minutes...one word...no editing.  Today's word is PAINT.


Go:

God is a beautiful artist. He not only paints beautiful sunsets, He also is making a beautiful masterpiece in you. That's right, you are God's masterpiece. You are His creation.

I believe when you were born God looked down and said "just wait until you see what I'm going to do with this one. I have saved some of my most vibrant colors for her life."

Are you unhappy with some of the colors God is painting in your life? Do you wish you could pick up the brush and paint a different picture? I know there are time when I feel that way. Times I wish I could see the whole picture, times I wonder just what is God doing. But you know when I leave the brush in His hand, He will eventually use a brilliant brush stroke to take what I felt was a blemish and He will turn it into something beautiful. Trust God to paint your life, He sees you as a beautiful masterpiece, His creation; He is the artist and Picasso has nothing on Him!!

 

sometimes you just have to flirt (with your hubby)...

 I was just feeling irritated. The more he did it, the more it annoyed me. I told him he was bugging me; this seemed to make him do it more. Why oh why was this man doing this? What possible reason could he have for driving me crazy? When I questioned him later, his answer was simple...I was flirting with you. Nope, I didn't even have a clue! After 25 years of marriage, had we forgotten the fine art of flirting? Was it him...was it me...was it both of us?

Sometimes we are just out of sync, life gets crazy and before we realize it we aren't doing the best at communicating. When this happens something as simple as flirting becomes difficult. It's during those times that we need to get creative and figure out new ways to both communicate and flirt (because seriously every married couple needs to keep the flirting alive).

Notes seem to be one of the most successful things for us. Our dating was a long distance relationship; so notes, cards and letters were vital to us. Now keep in mind this was before cell phones, texting and Facebook. We either had to pay for every minute we talked on the phone or write letters. I remember going to my college mailbox and hoping there was a letter from my man, when on the days there was a letter I am sure I skipped back to my room to soak in every word in private. Letters became our way of communicating so many things. I think that is why we still enjoy writing notes to each other.

Today we have a fun way to not only write those notes, but keep them organized so we can read them anytime. What we use is a notebook that looks like this...

Mr. & Mrs. - Two in One Inspirational Journal
from: DaySpring Cards Inc

 Brian writes to me in the mr. half and I write to him in the mrs. half. We leave it on our pillow when we want to give each other a fun little note. I can tell you when I walk into our room and see that book on my pillow my heart jumps for joy. I feel like I did when I was back in college checking my mailbox. Our notes aren't always long or profound, but they always communicate love! How amazing to read after 25 years that I am still loved and cherished. Even when we are in one of those phases where our flirting isn't going so well, it is a way to say I'm still here and I still do!!

Our new flirting method is working out quite well for us too. We are combining our love of notes and our love of word games into something fun. Years ago we bought some shower crayons...so we could leave notes in our shower. Here is our new game...

That's right...hangman in the shower. Gives me a good reason to get up and going in the morning...wondering what his note will say and did I guess a good letter the day before.

The key to communicating and flirting is to find what works for you and do it! These two ways work for us at the moment. If you have any fun ways that work for you leave me a comment and share.

If you are at a loss for what to say in a note...go to Song of Solomon, 

there is some good stuff in that book!