God is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. I am His child. I am His daughter. That makes me a princess! Join me in a year of discovery as I search for what it means to be a princess - how to live as an heir of the most high. Learn with me, write with me, and become part of the process as I write my next book - Livin' Like A Princess - Claiming Our Birthright as Heirs to the King!


Monday, March 28, 2011

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made!


For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  - Psalms 139:13-14

            To think that God made each of us uniquely special! 
            "Mom, I'm different," my son said to me the other day.  And it's true, he is.  God made him his own unique self.  It amazes me how different both of my sons are from each other, even, having come from the exact same gene pool!
            We are all uniquely made in the eyes of God.  He created us just as He wants us. 
            Our society teaches us from a young age to be dissatisfied with who we are.  I remember I was in a health class in middle school and the teacher gave us an assignment.  We were supposed to figure out one body part that we didn't like and tell why we didn't like it and why we'd like to change it.
            I told her I was happy with the way I was.  (And at the time, that was true!)   She got angry with me, and said that NOBODY was happy with the way they were.  Some women wanted their hips to be smaller, or their hair a different color.  There had to be something.
            But at the time, I was still young enough to believe I was okay just the way I was.
            Now, there are days (MANY days) when I wish I was different.  I wish I was in better shape.   I wish I didn't get tired so easily.  I wish I was younger. J
            What I have to remember is that I am  God's  creation, and I need to rejoice in that.  God had a plan when He created me, and He gave me this body and this mind, and my own unique talents for a reason.   I want to embrace who I am, for my children's sake if nothing else.   What a better example in self-confidence than for their kids to see their own mom loving herself for who she is? 
            I am fearfully and wonderfully made.   I am a creation uniquely made in the image of God.  He even knows the number of hairs on my head.  Wow!
            Let's go into the day rejoicing in who we are!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Inner Beauty



Do not let your adornment be merely outward; arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel; rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.   - I Peter 3:3-4

            This passage was written by Peter, who lived in a world where women wore wigs, especially blond wigs, made from hair imported from Germany.  It was a big deal at this time for women to arrange and dye their hair, or wear a wig.  In this passage, Peter is not forbidding women to do these things; instead he suggesting that while all that may be fine, our outer appearance is not our true source of beauty.
            The incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quite spirit is what is precious in the sight of God. 
            A gentle and quite spirit.
            The dictionary defines these words as:
            Gentle:  Mild in temperament or behavior; kind or tender.
            Quiet: Absence of noise or bustle; silence; calm
            As I read this, it occurs to me that most of our culture desire this exact thing.  Gentleness and quiet. 
            I had oral surgery last week.  I had a lot of pain, but I also lost a lot of blood due to a clotting problem, so I put in several days of couch time recovering.  I had some rare free time to watch TV and read.
            What I noticed was that a lot of TV ads are for anti-depressant drugs, or help with over-eating.  Stress, they said, is the culprit.  (Oprah and Regis had a few things to say about that too.)
            I also read several women’s magazines, (Woman’s Day and Ladies Home Journal…).  There were a lot of articles on how to get better sleep, how to declutter, and how to juggle it all.
            It seems that we are all looking for more gentleness and quiet.  Since God is looking for that in us too, maybe we should start inwardly. Outward things will fade.  We’ll get older and get wrinkles.  Our fancy clothes will get worn out and our jewelry may go out of style.  But inward beauty will last our whole lives.
            Some beautiful people I can think of: Mother Theresa.  Gandhi.  Jesus.  But more personally: My grandmother.  A particular nurse at the hospital.  My son’s teacher.
            These people are beautiful to me because they literally glow from the inside.  Their acts demonstrate an inner peace and a clear focus on others.  They radiate joy.
That’s my goal for March:  to gain inner beauty, so that I will possess a beauty that doesn’t fade over time, but instead grows stronger and more apparent.  I want to be radiant.  I want to be beautiful in the eyes of God.
           




Thursday, March 10, 2011

Pondering

We've had a few family crisis this past month so I  didn't get a post up on Monday.  One of my readers (and a cousin!), Jon Ventura, sent me the below write-up and asked me to post it.   I really enjoyed the content and it reminded me to appreciate the little things, even in the midst of what I have going on in my life right now.
        I also think it fits in well with our March topic:  Beauty, Inside and Outside.
Thanks, Jon!


                                                         FORTY
Forty , I have been pondering on that number for several days now. Why? Because my daughter Ann Marie is turning forty March 8th. As you ponder, several things go through your mind, did I do everything I could in the past forty years to help get through her first forty years?  Did I provide the best guidance?  Did I spend enough time with her?  

A cousin of mind recently wrote a book entitled “ Why is there a Lemon in my Fruit Salad”.  On the cover of the book she has a picture of herself (looks about 40) holding a lemon and a salad. She is wearing an apron covered with the words from Galatians 5 -  Fruits of the Spirit- “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control ”.  She ponders on these words to help her get through life’s difficult moments and struggles   

Then I  pondered in the pew at Sunday morning worship service, Transfiguration Sunday.  This is when Jesus took Peter , James and John up to a high mountain top and where he was transfigured before them. They were so frighten that he said to them “fear not” to assure them.  They were so changed by that experience that they went and literally changed the world,   even giving  their lives so that others would know about the “Fruits of the Spirit”. Paul, the author of Galatians 5,  also had a similar transforming experience for which he gave his life to uphold his beliefs. So what does that have do with forty?  It is said that life begins at forty.  What life?  Maybe a transformed life. A life that does not dwell so much on materials things but a life more in tuned to the Fruits of the Spirit. After all, after 40 years, most of our materials things are worn out and need to be replaced.

Then we have the Sunday’s hymn –( also a song sang at Ann Marie  wedding) “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up to its glowing, that’s how it is with Gods love once you experience it,  you spread his love  to everyone, you want to pass it on”. March 8th, spring time, “What wondrous time is spring when all the trees are budding, the birds begin to sings the flowers start their blooming, that’s how is with God’s love once you experience it, you want to sing (joy), its fresh like spring, you want to pass it on.   Third verse  “I wish for you my friend this happiness I’ve found, you can depend on him, it matters not where you’re bound (lemons in fruit salads),  I’ll shout from the mountain-top, I want the world to know, the Lord of love has come to me, I want to pass it on”.

When I wake every morning, I wake up to a sunny morning, a sunrise looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.  It is an original oil painting painted by my daughter Ann Marie, I ponder over all the hours she must have spend painting it (patience)and what inspired her to paint this scene of peace.
 
For year to come, each morning as I view the sun rise,  I will ponder how we will relate to such words as “mountain top, transfiguration, fear not, fruits of the spirit, it only takes a spark, and passing it on”.   

Our Sunday’s response to the benediction, “This little light of mine I going to let it shine”. I pray  my light did so shine and was it the necessary spark.