Failure & New Beginnings

Planning on blogging everyday? FAIL.

Planning on blogging frequently? FAIL.

Spring brings with it a fresh start. Everything seems new and the weather is changing. There is a need for light and lightness and all that entails. Time to focus on being who I was made to be. There is freedom in allowing yourself to embrace who you were created to be and not letting the world affect that. 

Yesterday was terrible. Why is it that as women something so trivial as a bad hair day can send us into a tailspin and ruin our day? Am I alone here? It all starts with bad hair. Suddenly nothing you put on seems to fit right. It's suddenly impossible to leave the house. I believe it took (at least) 2 hours to finally force myself walk out the door to run errands. And you know what? I was miserable the entire time I was out! I moved slowly and spent all day feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. I ask if I'm alone, but I already know I'm not. After speaking on the phone with a friend about my day a few truths were revealed. 

One: it's all just attack. Yesterday was wasted being self-focused and self-condemning. I was not walking in the righteousness of Jesus. I was allowing attack to kill my witness for the day. The witness that my focus is on Him and that I am content and joyous in that. 

Two: I was putting stock in what the world sees and cares about. Just because society puts such an emphasis on beauty and looks and fashion, does that mean it is the most important thing? Why should I care if people look at me and judge me based on my appearance? I care because I make that an idol in my life. Lord, free me from that!! I have a husband who tells me I am beautiful when I am feeling the least attractive (we're talking moments in sloppy loungewear, dirty hair, no make-up, you get the picture). He loves me and sees me as who I really am. Why do I look for validation elsewhere? WHO CARES?!? (Clearly I do, and most of the world does, too...and it's all twisted.) When you think about it, how much time do you spend dwelling on what women you pass by look like? I feel like most of the thoughts I have when I first see a stranger are positive. Something like, "I love her jacket" or "I wish I had hair like that" are what I tend to notice. Case in point? During my misery yesterday I received three random complements on a necklace I was wearing. My thoughts? I must look so miserable that they felt like they needed to say something nice. How sad! In reality I'm sure they just liked my necklace. We are always our own harshest critic. I could obviously rant about this topic for a long time. What's my point here? You are beautiful, woman! Embrace that. Beautiful for the uniqueness that is you in the physical sense, but also beautiful as a creation of the Most High! I mean, if God took the time to specifically create us as we are, let's not insult Him by belittling His work. 

So what does this mean for me? It means I will be walking forward in my life attempting to focus on who the Lord made me to be. As a confident daughter of the King. I will be mindful with my time and not waste it focusing on junk the world cares about. Spring. New start. 

What does this mean for you?