If you didn't read yesterday's post, read it now. http://beautifulp31.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-personally-do-not-believe-that-we-can.html
Can you relate to the despair I spoke of in the last post? Have you felt that way regarding your weight, appearance, confidence, size, flaws, or image? When I get down over my body or my failures of the day, I just want crawl up in my husbands arms and hear him reassure me that he loves me. Many times he does that. As much as I love Jeff though, he cannot be there for me all the time. He also cannot meet my needs for love completely. First of all, he's not always here. Second, sometimes he doesn't feel like it! (imagine that!) Plus it takes a lot more than a man to complete me.
Despair is a like a hopelessness that leads to anxiety and panic. It's very stressful to feel despair. Just knowing that someone loves me, or even likes me, helps to take away the desperate feelings I have when I feel defeated and ugly. Last night I went to dinner with 2 of my good friends, Amy and Donna. We talked and laughed and just hung out. We watched American Idol. We ate Nachos and pizza. We told funny stories. We shared life ... the good and bad. We could be ourselves. After a few hours with my friends, I felt so rejuvenated. I felt beautiful. I knew they liked me just for me. I knew they were on my side. I felt safe and loved. They help to lift me up, but just like my husband, they aren't always there and sometimes they don't feel like it. It's just the way it is with people. They aren't capable of being there for us all the time.
"Maybe you have a hard time believing that God likes you; maybe you
don't even like yourself. But it's true. God not only loves you;
He likes you." (Donna Partow)
That's right, God loves you, God likes you. He knows everything about you. He's all-knowing. He's all-powerful. He's present everywhere. That means that no matter what ... no
matter where we are ... no matter how we feel ... no matter who we are with or not with ... God is there, always. Because He wants to be. And He cares. We are never alone. We can feel safe and secure knowing that the Maker of this Universe has a personal interest in us. He wants to wrap His arms around us and take away the hurt, pain, despair, and insecurity.
God?
If you feel comfortable sharing with others, please do. If not, that's okay too. Just post your name (I'll still enter you in the give away), but at the very least, share your heart and answers to the questions above with God. Just talk it out with Him. He already knows because He's all- knowing. He can help because He's all-powerful. He's available because He's present everywhere. And He's waiting to make you feel beautiful!
Blessings Beautiful Sistas!
Melissa
Portions of this post were from the book I'm giving away, I'm Beautiful, Why Can't I See It? by Kimberly Davidson. To enter, post a comment on this blog. The more you comment, the better your chances to win. You can be entered once a day and the drawing will take place March 21st.
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5 comments:
I am so glad that God knows all about me even when I try so hard to hide the "ugly" things about me that I may not want others to see. And by "ugly" I mean the not-so-nice thoughts I may have about myself.
There are times that I just need to sit at His feet and say,
"Daddy, you know how I am feeling right now and I just don't want to talk about it, but I need You to help me not feel so negative and wrap Your arms around me." And because He already knows all things He just snuggles me and makes it all ok again!
Thanks SO much for this post Melissa and for your comment on my blog, hearing someone other than my hubby say that I am beautiful came at just the right time! You are such a blessing!
Michelle
(Oh and I wanted to say isn't it great that we can still feel beautiful after eating nachos and pizza, that girlfriend time is great medicine!)
Hey ya’ll,
I did a book study a while back that was titled “Intimate Issues”. It was a very difficult book to get into if you struggle with your self worth (especially in the bedroom). There was one part of the book that challenged you to stand in front of the mirror with nothing on. Yep, nothing on! Now that is a challenging thing if you don’t think much of your body. It took me a while but I didn’t it, fat rolls and all. I made sure no one was home when I did it. Tee hee
As I stood naked before the Lord I couldn’t help notice that my breast and my shape were not like they were when I was 20. But then I thanked God for allowing me to be blessed to carry four beautiful children. Three of them sustained live by my now not so perky breast. (One is in heaven waiting for me.) I looked at the scar from three c-sections and thanked God for allowing live to pass through the scar. I looked at the MANY surgeries I have had and realized that God allowed nothing but good to come from them. It hit me that maybe I have these reminders to show how mighty God is and that he cares about the littlest things that matter to us.
My body will never be that of a 20 year old again. I don’t think I want it to. My husband thinks I am beautiful just the way I am, so does the Lord. God sees my heart, my body is just an outward shell of my inside heart. These bodies of ours will not matter when we leave this earth. I know that God wants us to take care of the bodies he made for us. But to me it is the care of my heart that he wants more.
Thanks to all who share,
Diane
Melissa - you are just the sweetest and most creative! I look in the mirror and see everything that is WRONG. If I take off my jeans I see the lumps and bumps. If I look in my bathroom mirror I see everything on my face that is microscopic to others and mess with it until it's the size of Mars. Why is it so much easier to see what's wrong than what is right? I read something today that made me think of this self-esteem issue that we woman have. I thought I would share it.
Holiness created me holy.
Kindness created me kind.
Helpfulness created me helpful.
Perfection created me perfect.
Maybe we can think about this when we are down on ourselves. By the way - you ARE beautiful! Rock On!!
Love you - Amy G.
My friend, I can so relate to despair. I shared on a comment in Renee's blog today the same thought. You expressed it so well when you said, "Despair is like a hopelessness that leads to anxiety and panic." In short...God brought me out of my darkness by revealing His love to me in such an overwhelming way. I will NEVER forget that day. It's what I hold on to on days when the enemy tries to lure me back to despair.
I've spent too many years at the masquerade. (I share some of my most recent "unvieling" in my post http://princessjoyful.blogspot.com/2008/02/unmasked.html)
Holding on to the truth that God is love and He never changes. Thanking Him for His love to me today!
You are a treasure,
Joy
Praise God that He loves us and understands even when we don't.
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