My little rant on women of the church

First off... I love you! But I have noticed a SERIOUS problem lately. EVERY time I walk into a group of women (this is mostly about the women I interact with everyday, the ones in my church but I am 100% sure that this holds true to all the women of America) they are always talking about how fat they are. It doesn't matter if they are 300 or 92 pounds, it's always the same. I swear that between every woman in the church, EVERY fad diet has been tried. And it's just a little aggrivating.

Now I am not against being healthy. If you feel run down, tired, and you think that eating a little better or excercising would help that than PLEASE do that. But honestly you guys are so obsessed about numbers and pants sizes that no one can ever feel happy.

I mean I am four times bigger than all of you and I am fairly sure I have a healthier body image. I love the way that God made me. And do I want to be healthier, yes. But my goal is not to lose 20 pounds or something, it is to be able to go on the hikes up that I love to do without getting short of breath or sick. I want to be able to enjoy God's creation.

In short, I am saying that we as christian women are called to a higher calling than this world. There are SO many young women out there who stuggle with anorexia or bullemia, infact I bet many of you have as well. But worse off than weight or health is the poor self image that America is feeding people. The idea that you'll never be good enough can lead to depression, self harm, and thoughts of suicide.

I say this becaue I have been there. I have had to find my identity in Christ no matter what I look like. Being healthy and taking care of what God has given you is one thing but being dissatisfied with it is another.

Look at it this way, when you walk into an old run down house do you think "This house is HIDEOUS! I can't believe that it looks like this!" Then do you run out and get new paint and get angry while you fix it up? When you're finished do you say, "Finally! This looks presentable." Or do you look at that run down house and see potential?

If you were to take in a foster child would you be mad at them and punish them until they behaved how they should? Or would you love and nurture them as God made them in to who they should be? How you treat yourself should be no different.

God made you and he knows every part of you head to toe. He knew that your hairline was going to be too far back, your toes too long, your thumbs not symetrical, ect. But He loves you just the same.

What message are you sending to your daughters, or the girls who look up to you? And I am the biggest hypocrite too, going on a fad diet that my mother is convinced is not healthy just because eveyone else at church is doing it. But what i'm saying isn't don't diet or something like that, I'm saying.... Infact I am daring you:
Don't say ANYTHING bad about your body for one week. Don't even entertain a thought about it. It's a dangerous road. One that I know too well.

Happy Birthday to Me :)

What God taught me:
To put it basically God taught me that there are people who love and care about me, that HE cares about me, that sometimes people let you down, that you could never plan it as well as God could, and that in the end; all the Glory goes to GOD.

So today was my 18th birthday. When you think birthday you think cake, presents, ect.... but let's start this story the day before. I was up north visiting my cousin Desi (introduced in the last post). We had spent the whole day hanging out and dress shopping. That night she invited me to college group with her. So I went.

I got there and everyone was so nice. I felt at home and by the end I couldn't have asked for a better night. But the night was about to get better. Matt (the leader/intern) got up and started singing Happy Birthday to me. Then all of a sudden Desi was in the back with a huge cake and ice cream for me. I was so surprised. Everyone ate and had fun. This probally wasn't a huge deal to most people but I have never had a birthday surprise...EVER. Plus I haven't even known Desi for that long and she already did that for me. It was amazing.

After that we all went to Denny's and I partied for my birthday. I technically turned 18 at midnight on the ride home.

Tonight on my birthday we had a small party for family and friends. This time it was the presents I did and didn't get that God used to teach me. Let's start with the good. I recieved way more than I should have from both family friends that came. One of my best friend's Stormy gave me a beautiful purse and journal. Each gift had a gorgeous letter with it that almost made me cry. And that was when I realized that the one friend I was counting on a gift from, the one who had promised me a gift, simply bailed. Not blaming, not being negative... It was just hard for me to wrap my head around a broken promise because it's somethign I have been blessed enough not to ever really have to experience. But before I could get unrightfully bummed I recieved the cutest gift ever.

Kaleb (3) and Tiffy (5) made thier own present for me. They worked very hard (their mother said that they had been working for two days on the present) at coloring three large peices of wood for me. They are so cute. They even made a hat for one of the blocks of wood and Tiffy took her time to write out her best ABCs on a card for me (which is an accomplishment considering she just started Kindergarten) It totally blessed my heart to see them so excited and put in so much effort. It truly proved to me... It's the thought that counts.

So basically I learned that people love me. God loves me so much that He let's me feel amazing joy even in simple things like colored blocks of wood.

It's funny how the people you count on always disapoint you but the people you never expect to do anything make your life amazing. And it's all so God get's the glory. So grieve the loss of the ones you love, enjoy your time with the ones you would never expect, and just praise God.

What God taught me through a Study Bible, a Worship CD, and a Tounge Ring.

(This post is actually from events of last Wednesday, I just didn't have computor access until now. )

I have a cousin named Desi. I have known her for about 8 days total. But she has taught me some amazing lessons.

1) The Study Bible
This girl was so excited to show me the Bible that her college group had bought for her. She is a new believer and seeing her face light up as she showed me all of the cool features of the study Bible and the joy she had of having a Bible of her own showed me just how much I take for granted.

2) The Worship CD
Desi also loved listening to worship music. She till likes the basic radio music like all teenagers do but she spent like twenty minutes trying to find the song "Here I am To Worship" in her CDs. The song and the words ment so much to her. For those of us who have always been to church we have never really experienced anything like that. We take the "classics" for granted and they lose meaning after awhile. We forget the beauty and the grace of God.

3) The Tounge Ring
Desi also has a tounge ring (which I personally think looks good on her) and a rough past. But she is 100% transparent about it. She is so excited to share about what God has saved her from. She knows that God loves and accepts her for who she is, and she isn't trying to pretend to be anything different.

Moral of the story: Remember your first Love.