Taking Back Beauty

Hello world.

Its been a while.

I am down 34 pounds.  THIRTY FOUR POUNDS ARE GONE.

[When I reach my goal then I want to share how much I weighed.  I'm not quite ready for that.]

I've been thinking a lot about how much better I feel.  My clothes are falling off of me.  I can wear jeans I haven't worn in two years.  I can bend over without feeling like I'll pass out.

I can cross my legs.  [Do you know how embarassing, as a woman, it is to NOT be able to cross your legs?]

I have many more pounds to lose.
But this has given me some serious confidence to take on the world. [At least the small, crazy world I am blessed to live in.]

I started this post about a week ago but haven't made the time to finish it. [I've been doing other things like turning 42, getting sick, and taking on the world.] Just a few days ago, after I began to really think about what I wanted to say in this post, a teacher friend posted this on Facebook:

I really feel led to start a group here on Facebook for women who have struggled with negative body image and/or negative feelings dealing with food. If you or someone you know would be interested in being a part of my closed fb group, please message me so I can see if there is enough interest. It would be a place for encouragement and support, NOT a substitute for professional help or judgement of any kind. 

Really?  Could God be any more amazing because this would have to be a God thing for my thoughts to be right in tune with what my friend is being led to do.


The Bible says this about women and beauty:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:30

Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 
I Peter 3:3-4

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:7

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:14

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works.
I Timothy 2:9-10

The world says this about women:

• It is necessary for you to be skinny to be considered beautiful. [I HATE to hear a boy or a man describe a girl as thick or heavy.  What. Is. That? I HATE it even more when a girl describes another girl with these terms.] 
• The more skin you show, the prettier you will be. [Found this one on Pinterest: Dressing immodestly is liking rolling around in manure. Yes. You'll get attention but mostly from pigs. #BOOM] 
• Get attention any way you can - endless selfies, posing like you're on the cover of Cosmo, and make sure you are tanned, waxed, bronzed, and buffed. [Are you a girl or on the menu at the Waffle House? Scattered, smothered, covered, and chunked.]
• If someone compliments you then make sure you come back with some ridiculous statement on Instagram like, "Who me?  No. You are the one who is perf."  or "You must be looking in the mirror gorgeous!" or "I literally cannot compete with you. #goals"  [Seriously. Is this necessary? No. It is ATTENTION SEEKING.]

There isn't a whole lot that parallels with what the good book says and what the world says when it comes to beauty.

Beauty isn't about what someone else thinks about the woman staring back at us from the mirror. 
Beauty isn't the number of likes and comments on Instagram.
Beauty isn't defined by the number on the scale.
Beauty isn't a shorter hemline or a more revealing dress.

Trip Lee sings a song, Sweet Victory, and these lyrics are on repeat in my head:

The crown of thorns declares you're King

A scarlet robe can't cloak your majesty

Yeah they nailed your hands, you nailed our death

From the cross you reigned

Your kingdom knows no end.

God didn't send a savior to conquer death only to have us waste time worrying about who is more gorgeous and how can we get that too.

As women in God's kingdom we should be about taking back beauty from the world!

Beauty is....
a woman who is fiercely determined to follow God's calling for her life.

Beauty is....
women who deny themselves to provide for those around them.

Beauty is...
a woman who prays for her husband. And her children. And her children's future [or current] spouses and families.

Beauty is...
women who lift up each other with encouragement, prayer, and service.

Beauty is all around us. In every soul we meet. There are no chance meetings or encounters - only a life that is orchestrated by God.  

I don't want to miss a chance to be beautiful.