My latest sister-friend. Thank God for friends who introduce an introvert to new friends to call their own. Because I am beginning to realize my friends are always given to me. The best kind of gifts. Joelle is one of these gifts. We are in the midst of setting our first coffee date so we can be friends face to face, & let me tell you, the little talks we've made thus far have already given me the promise she's a keeper. Even through her words, I am consumed by the sweetness of a heart in heavenly pursuit.
So meet Joelle. She is our woman of truth.
& quite possibly your new friend, too.
"Beautiful with a letter F"
“FAIL.”
The only word that echoed through my mind as I sat in the Doctors office in silent shock. You would think with my reaction that I had found out some devastating, life altering news about my health. But in reality all that had happened was I stepped on the scale and saw a number I was NOT happy with.
Why was I letting this define me? Here I was a 23 year old woman, about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime attending Harvest School of Missions in Mozambique, Africa under the amazing leadership of Rolland and Heidi Baker, to lay myself down in the dirt for the sake of the greatest love of all and yet, at this moment the only thing I could see was three red numbers on a little screen.
I honestly wanted to cry. For years I had obsessed over my weight, wanting to get “skinnier” so that I would be “prettier” and be happy with myself. I power walked, did Pilates and counted every single weight watchers point I could. However, that summer after dealing with the emotions of a break up and the emotions of trying to grow up and truly learn who God had called me to be, I unfortunately turned to food for comfort.
One month later it was off to Africa I went! What a glorious 3 months it was serving the poorest of the poor and loving the one God had placed in front of me. My Spirit came ALIVE with the compassion, hope and love of God. As I laid myself down the Lord also began to deal with me about my own broken view of myself. Slowly but surely the letter F that I had placed on myself as the word fail began to change.
“YOU ARE ENOUGH.”
I wish I could say it was an overnight process and that I magically woke up and felt confident and beautiful, but that just isn’t the truth. Nor is it reality. J When I returned home the Lord began to speak to me about taking care of the temple He had given me, which began with another F word – fitness.
I know, I know… most of us cringe when we think about working out. I was the same way – but my heart was set. How could I talk about going to climb mountains, stomping through jungles or walking long distances to share the love of Jesus if I wasn’t willing to take care of my body in a healthy way to do so?
This time however, it was not about just getting “skinnier.” I began to focus on becoming the healthiest ME I could be. My heart was complete in Jesus and my body was His temple, therefore I wanted to live my life to the FULLEST.
You see, beauty isn’t just an outward appearance, and it isn’t just an inward characteristic. True beauty flows from living in the fullness of who Jesus has called you to be.
Stop writing the wrong verision of the letter F over your life. You are not a failure. You are a beautiful creation!
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