a story about BEAUTY (in a BIG nutshell)

I realize now, that defining something such as 'beauty' can feel a little like a set-up. And I apologize because it wasn't really meant to be that way. But I have something to share with you all that is so exciting I'm literally busting at the seams here.

I've enjoyed reading your responses. I really have. You are SO insightful.


Last Wednesday, I took Ryan to KidZone like I do every (pretty much every) Wednesday. He loves it. It's a WONDERFUL program and so many awesome women and men volunteer their time to teach my child about Christ. I'm so, so, so grateful that Ryan is a part of KidZone.



Normally, I go to the women's bible study while Ryan is at KidZone but I have to be honest, I've been slackin'. Just before Christmas, I quit going. It wasn't the study (it was great). It wasn't the people (they were/are great). It was me (I suck sometimes and I can be a total slacker).



But on Wednesday, something was different. My plan to drop Ryan and sneak away to get some grocery shopping done with Gage, suddenly changed. I can't explain it really, except to say that I was knocked out, possibly drugged and placed in a chair in the women's bible study without a book OR a bible. There I was. Keys. Wallet. Sweats. Not prepared at all.



Do you know what it's like to be the one in a bible study without a bible? It's embarrassing!!!! It's almost as embarrassing as the time I showed up for a softball game and forgot my mitt! Ugh.


So there I was.


What now, God? Don't you know I've got eggs to buy?



The title of the study? "Being a Woman is Tough" by Beth Moore. First of all, Beth rocks. She's just amazing. She's a girl's girl and well, I'm a girl and I like her A LOT.


The study takes a look at the book of Esther, which I've read a time or two so it didn't seem like anything really new. But Beth puts a creative spin on things and well, her spin was new to me.


Esther is an orphan. An orphan- no mother, no father. And she's raised by her MALE cousin, Mordecai. Could you imagine coming into womanhood without a mother?

Esther is lovely- but she's sent away for months to become beautiful. So that brings to surface the question, if Esther was already lovely, then why was she sent away to become beautiful? Is there a difference? What is beauty if you have to be sent away to 'get' it?


This is where I agree completely with Lindsay and Halo's comments: beauty is not seen at first glance. It is something that is observed from within. It's something we learn. Learn. Learn. Learn. It's grace. It's learning to {be} content. It's learning when to help people and then...helping them. It's loving ON others WITH others.

And if I had to define beauty in one word, it would be LIGHT.


I feel beautiful when I get out of the way and let God light my life.

I feel beautiful when I let the light of God shine through me.

I see beauty when I look at my family and can find the face of God.

I see beauty in sunsets- where I feel like I can literally listen to the light of the Lord.


It's true- beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Trust me when I say that I want my husband to think that I am one hot mama. Lucky for me, on most days, he does. But today, I'm realizing that the beholder is Christ. I want to be beautiful for Him and it starts in my core and ends in my skin.



Ugh, can't I apply a miracle cream to become patient? Can I not sweat through a video to become generous? Or how's about some good old fashioned water? Won't that wash my 'not-fairs' and 'I-don't-wannas' away? Hmmm...



So today, I'm workin' on it. And for what it's worth (ironically), I'm still totally addicted to Mary Kay (baby steps, right?) and must admit that my favorite beauty tip is ... (right after you remind yourself that beauty starts in your heart)...

1. Wash your application brushes regularly with baby shampoo.

2. Eucerin Aquaphor makes the best lip balm ever :)

Cheers to beauty ladies. Cheers to beauty.


1 Samuel 16:7 - "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (NIV)

Proverbs 31:30 - "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting: but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."(NIV)

Ecclesiastes 3:11- "He has made everything beautiful in it's time" (NIV)

1Peter 3:3-4 - "Let your beauty not be external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes – but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight" (NIV)