Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I hear that all you in Kansas were snowed in for Christmas. It was in the seventies here. *super-sweet-smile* Merry Christmas to you. :)
So I just finished this book I got yesterday for Christmas. It's by Max Lucado's daughter, Jenna. It's called Redefining Beauty. I loved it! I highly recommend it for all my gals out there. I couldn't put it down last night in bed; I ended up staying up past two in the morning until I couldn't keep my eyes open. It was about seeing ourselves (us girls) the way God sees us.
Anyway, a part of it reminded me about this one time that I was sitting next to this girl a couple years ago at youth group. I didn't look great or anything, but she would glance over and me and then at herself. She would glance, fix her shirt to make it hide extra "stuff", glance again, look at her nails (mine had a pattern on them), glance again and look very disappointed with herself. I'm not being vain at all; she was just clearly self-conscious which broke my heart because I wanted to tell her that she was beautiful the way she was.
I thought, "How ironic? She is comparing herself to me and she doesn't know that I compare myself with the girl next to me, who probably does the same to the next girl."
It's so interesting isn't it?
I'll see my friends who want to be like me and I think they're crazy.
All my life, I've compared myself to other people. I've hated my brown eyes and the shape of my face and the freckles that only dwell under one eye and all these other things which is ridiculous because that's how God made me! He made me with only one dimple on my face, He made me with freckles under one eye, He made me with hair that can't decide if it's curly or straight. He made me with so many quirks, but that's ok, because that's what makes me unique and odd and different from you on the other side of my screen.
We do this on the inside too, don't we? We compare personalities almost more than appearance.
I know that for me, it's usually, Why can't I keep my mouth shut? Why did those words fly out of my mouth like a flock of doves? Why can't I be more graceful like so-and-so? Why can't I be more calm and less chatty?
I know you do the same thing. Maybe it's, Why can't I break out of my shell? Why can't I be patient like so-and-so?
But we were made like this! God made me to be lively and spirited, He made me to draw people out and to be funny, He made me to love odd things like crazy socks and chap-stick and colored pens. He made me like this. Which is ok, because that makes you and I different.
My personality quirks, my appearance quirks make Him laugh and bring joy to others.
Does that mean I'll never compare myself to other people? No! It may be ridiculous to do so, but I do a lot of ridiculous things that make no sense. But we can at least help each other see us like God sees us more of the time. So, let's do this together.
If we're together and you see me comparing myself to someone else, call me out on it. And I'll do the same; if I catch you comparing yourself, I'll pinch you and knock some sense through you. :)
Well, I always try to make these relatively short, but it never works. Sorry. :p
I'll let you go now! xoxo
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