Day 15 of Beauty
Beauty of accepting what you have to work with.
These past few years I have put on aprox 30 pounds. This weight came gradually after finishing my MA in counseling and as I took on some emotionally difficult cases. Honestly what happened was I was so stressed and tired by the time I came home I didn't have much energy for physical activity...and might have waited all day to eat just before bed..
All this to say, I keep on not having much to wear and that I feel comfortable wearing. I'm an equal opportunity weight gainer (I distributed the weight fairly evenly)..yet I have always been super self conscious of my stomach, even when I was considered a healthy/trim size. I keep feeling like I look frumpy and not very stylish because I go to buy clothes and I don't feel good in them and I don't feel like they look good because I'm comparing myself to my old self. I keep telling myself and others that 1: I don't want to waste money if I'm just going to look fat and 2: I don't know how to dress this body now that I'm bigger.
I woke up this morning thinking about this again and God started to talk to me about this. Just like in our spiritual life we need to be content and comfortable enough where we are to fully operate and perform to the best of our ability. Accepting where we are. I need to not focus on where I was or want to be but dress for today, as difficult as it may be, because the sooner I can find my confidence I can focus on more important things.
Honestly, I have always been one to look forward to growth and change, it's not always easy but God has put that in my heart even before I was a believer. So initially, I was a little put off by the notion of being comfortable in the now. But now I'm seeing that it would make sense to accept it first before I can fully move on from it.
Challenge: What about your present self are you avoiding or grudgingly waiting to change? Can I challenge you to accept where you presently are (acknowledge and stand in it)? Ask God for peace about your current condition/situation and within that peace we can let go of the control and let him take over.
Prayer: Lord I pray for you to cover me with peace from top to bottom, I pray that you fill me acceptance for myself and for others, and you strengthen my faith that no matter what you have me and if I'm walking with you-you will make it all out for my good and your glory.
These past few years I have put on aprox 30 pounds. This weight came gradually after finishing my MA in counseling and as I took on some emotionally difficult cases. Honestly what happened was I was so stressed and tired by the time I came home I didn't have much energy for physical activity...and might have waited all day to eat just before bed..
All this to say, I keep on not having much to wear and that I feel comfortable wearing. I'm an equal opportunity weight gainer (I distributed the weight fairly evenly)..yet I have always been super self conscious of my stomach, even when I was considered a healthy/trim size. I keep feeling like I look frumpy and not very stylish because I go to buy clothes and I don't feel good in them and I don't feel like they look good because I'm comparing myself to my old self. I keep telling myself and others that 1: I don't want to waste money if I'm just going to look fat and 2: I don't know how to dress this body now that I'm bigger.
I woke up this morning thinking about this again and God started to talk to me about this. Just like in our spiritual life we need to be content and comfortable enough where we are to fully operate and perform to the best of our ability. Accepting where we are. I need to not focus on where I was or want to be but dress for today, as difficult as it may be, because the sooner I can find my confidence I can focus on more important things.
Honestly, I have always been one to look forward to growth and change, it's not always easy but God has put that in my heart even before I was a believer. So initially, I was a little put off by the notion of being comfortable in the now. But now I'm seeing that it would make sense to accept it first before I can fully move on from it.
Matthew 6:25-32New Living Translation (NLT)
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
Challenge: What about your present self are you avoiding or grudgingly waiting to change? Can I challenge you to accept where you presently are (acknowledge and stand in it)? Ask God for peace about your current condition/situation and within that peace we can let go of the control and let him take over.
Prayer: Lord I pray for you to cover me with peace from top to bottom, I pray that you fill me acceptance for myself and for others, and you strengthen my faith that no matter what you have me and if I'm walking with you-you will make it all out for my good and your glory.
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