Beauty

Beauty.... it's a weird word right?
According to the Webster Dictionary the full definition of beauty is:  the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" A quote that most of us have heard, especially if you are friends with an undiscovered artist. When I look at most famous art pieces I  honestly don't find a lot of the paintings beautiful. If I see it, and don't  like it I simply move on and think it is an unpleasant looking thing (which according to the Webster definition is not beauty) but I then again the painting wasn't made for me. It was created by the creator for the creator. S/He can create something simply because they find it beautiful and want the world to see it. Maybe the creator was going through a tough time and felt like that painting was their only way out, it sure does put some more meaning to the seemingly unpleasing picture I saw.

The creator defines the beauty of the piece.
Who or what defines your beauty?

I think as a woman I find it so hard to remember who or what should or should not define my beauty. I want to be pleasing to others and myself but how can I do that when I don't understand where my beauty came from. I grew up in the church and my parents are amazing Godly people. Both of them told me regularly that I was beautiful and I did believe them, but they were my parents after all (I hear that is kind of their job). I never thought of myself as "beautiful" in the way I thought girls should be beautiful. I was not as thin or as "cool" as many of the other girls I went to middle and high school with. I did like my personality and okay maybe I was "beautiful on the inside", but all the other girls seemed to be beautiful on the outside too. I was comparing myself to the magazines and the girls my age I saw on TV (I know what a cliche). I am 21 years old and have never had a boyfriend (well besides a brief "camp relationship" in 8th grade). Sometimes the lies of the world tell me the reason for this is because i'm missing that "outward beauty" that I see other girls have.

 So many girls I know have struggled with self-image, actually almost all girls I have met struggle with self-image. We can blame the media, or the moms, or the fashion world, but are those the issues or the symptoms. Trying to cut a plant out on the top still leaves the root and it can continue to grow. So I guess the better question is what is the root of the problem? I guess I feel that it comes when we forget who defines our beauty. Remember the creator defines the beauty of his creation (not just the temporary people who pass by). I always knew there was a greater purpose for my life growing up understanding that Jesus died for me because he loves me so much, but I guess I never thought about how much love he poured into creating me to be the woman I am now.

 We were all created with a purpose by an amazing Creator.

Ephesians 2:10
"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

So I was created by the creator and He says I am his masterpiece. If I decide to let God define my beauty would could that look like? He loves his masterpiece so much that no one else can define the beauty of the piece. That means that guys, friends, social media, and anything or anyone else can NOT change the beauty of the piece. That means that I do not have to live in fear because I was made with perfect love, and perfect love drives out fear. That means that I can live boldly in my own skin.
That means I can find myself beautiful inside and out.

You are God's beautiful masterpiece and he is so proud of you. Let the creator define the creations beauty. And lucky for us his opinion of the piece can not be changed by the haters (as T-Swift would say). You are more than just what you or anyone else sees in you.

Next Steps

Dear Diary,
Wait no-
This is not a diary, but to be honest I have had many of those in the past. From the very important year of first grade up through now. I love to journal and process my life with myself. I no longer write "dear diary"  but it is the same concept, recording my day and my thoughts as I go through life.

So why do people journal? We want to remember. It is so fun looking back on all my old diaries and laughing at myself for something that I thought could be the end of the world 10 years ago and now is a minor inconvenience. I can also look back and see how God has provided for me, which really makes trusting him now so much easier. So I guess that is why I am starting a blog, I want to know what I did and how I felt at this time in my life 10 years from now. I will be graduating college next summer and starting life in the "real world". Woah- The more I say that the less I feel like it is true. I feel no where near ready for post-college life, but I guess they don't like when you stick around too much longer than 4 years (5 or 6 max).

Thankfully I don't have to fear the future because Perfect Love Casts Out Fear. So...here we go!