Worth More Than Gold.

We live in a culture today that defines women as objects. We are seen only on a superficial level. We only have value when we have a certain look. When we sexualize our attire, when we skip a meal to lose another pound, when we have a flawless complexion, when all of our cellulite is gone-then and only then are we beautiful and valuable. If only we dumb ourselves down and play stupid they will want me. Maybe if my skirt is a bit shorter or my shirt a bit lower. Maybe then men will look my way. But the real thing is, we don't have the problem. It's our society, it's the standards, it's how our culture defines beauty. This is incorrect. We need to stand up to the lie. When did this problem start exactly? Well let's think.. 

Do you remember the first day you felt you had to wear makeup to get the boys to notice you? Do you remember the first time you started to notice you didn't have a "thigh gap"? Do you remember the day you started to care about pant sizes? Or even the day you started altering who you really were to get the attention of a guy? Unfortunately, it starts at a young age. I have seen so many little girls trying to act like the "big girls." The change starts with you and it starts with me. Whether we like it or not, we are the women the next generation is looking at. We are the examples of what they should do and how they should dress and how they should behave. We are the leaders. We have sweet little eyes on us all the time. Every time you leave your place to go somewhere you represent Christ. So, how are we going to further His kingdom? What things are we going to showcase as important and where do our values lie? 

The thing society hasn't told you is the less you wear, the less he will respect you. 
Let's transform this....

patterned jean underwear and bra

bra and underwear..

this long shirt...

Into this.......

cute on piece swimsuit

gorgeous quarter length sleeved shirt with a belted skirt

Wonderful summer outfit

I am not saying stop wearing makeup altogether or never dress pretty or never go to the gym. We should most certainly take care of our bodies because they are a temple and we owe it to our Creator to place value on ourselves. But, we need to showcase what really matters. Take care of ourselves, further our interests and hobbies, get involved in things that actually matter. Let the right guy fall for you because you rock at singing loud in the car karaoke style, because you have a passion for serving others, because you have learned modest is hottest, because you like to read, and because sometimes you are okay with eating icecream all night and talking until 3 a.m. Let the emphasis be on who you are and who you were created to be. You are beautiful and you are worth it. 

A Great Pursuit

Psalm 23:6 says, "Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Isn't it exciting to know that the God of the universe wants to have a relationship with us? He longs for us to know Him personally. All we have to do is open up to Him and pour out our hearts. He wants to know what is going on in our lives and the ways He can help. He wants to come into our lives and change us for the better. He wants us to see others through His eyes and be His hands to help heal the brokenness in our world. All it takes is us choosing to be humble and choosing to surrender to His will and His ways, trusting that God knows exactly what He is doing. Because God does know exactly what He is doing. He has plans for us to do great things through his great strength. Trust in that today and be encouraged that the God of this universe wants to have a relationship with you-despite imperfections, mistakes, and failures. He loves you unconditionally. Run into His open arms. 

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Dear Daughter, 

Today is a new day. Lift your head because today is where it all begins. Today is filled with promise and with hope. No, not because today is set apart. It is because today you will walk with me. You will see the world through my eyes. You will be my hands to those in need. I have a plan to make your life beautiful and a plan for you to bring beauty to those around you. Today you are going to be guided by my presence. Today you will know there is hope for tomorrow regardless of circumstance. Today you will know your worth is found in me. You are the daughter of a King. Own it. Today you will place the devil and his lies under your feet. You will be grounded. You will love and be loved. Today is going to be grand. Just follow me.

                                            With unconditional love,

                                                                              Your Heavenly Father

This is what God is speaking to us daily! He loves us unconditionally, regardless of mistakes. He made us in his image and He has great plans!! Believe it today. Below is a video that my friend Taylour posted to my wall a bit ago and it is too great not to post. Love you all and have a joy filled weekend. 

Letting Go and Looking Forward

When life shatters our hearts, we want to run. We want to run far and fast from those who love us and from the ever present reality of life. We go into fight or flight mode. Some of our heartache may be caused by others doing us wrong or it may stem from our own wrong decisions. But no matter what the reason may be for our brokenness, we must learn to forgive.

• We should forgive ourselves, because God already has. That is why His son was hung on the cross and why we have grace. We are already forgiven so we must live that way. God takes our inadequacies and shines through them. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." He shines through the cracks in our jars. There is no pain so deep or pervasive that God cannot heal it. In a book I have been reading lately called Wounded Woman there is a quote that states, "Too often we scold ourselves for not being perfect or not being able to make those around us happy. But, nobody's perfect, so it's time to stop beating ourselves up."   Shame says, " I am dirty." God says, "I will wash you whiter than snow." Shame says, "I am damaged." God says, "I will heal you." Don't exchange God's truth for satan's lies. Forgive yourself and move forward. 
• We also need to forgive the inexcusable in others because Christ forgave the inexcusable in us. Romans 12:19" Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay; says the Lord.'" We must leave it to God to settle our battles for us. You have to decide: Am I going to hang on to my anger and violence to myself, or am I going to forgive those who have wounded me? Am I going to allow bitterness to poison and putrefy my soul, or am I going to invite  God to empower me to let the anger go? The choice is ours. And we should choose to allow God to heal us. Forgiveness gives God access to our wound, and He heals, restores, and redeems what has been stolen from us. 

I am working on letting God show me the way he views me and those who have hurt me. When we do this it allows our hearts to be softened and the beauty of forgiveness to take place. So, forgive and move forward. He has great plans and a beautiful life planned. Don't let your past mistakes or your past wounds dictate your future. Allow God to pour peace, joy, forgiveness, and love into your heart. That is all you can do. But, you will overcome with His help. Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past."

The song above is beautiful and so so fitting. Love you all and have a wonderful week!!

Life is Valuable

Life is valuable. It is sacred and beautiful. There have been many famous and well known quotes about the topic. For example, Albert Einstein once said, "Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." And in all of this concern about the tremendous sanctity and meaning of life-we seem to have left some people out of this equation. They are the people not yet in this world. They are the people who stir in their mothers tummy when they hear their daddy's voice. They don't have a voice yet. They are still developing in the beautiful process we call life. However, I would dare say they are very much alive. They are alive to all the mommies and daddies who long to have a baby of their own. They are alive to those who have lost their own children. They are alive to God, he has tremendous plans for each and every life. They are alive to me-and I am hoping they are alive to you too. I saw a video posted today about late term abortion. I cannot believe that as people ourselves we would be okay with harming another person. And for that matter-not just late term, but any abortions. It is legal to get an abortion in most places for any pregnancy up to 12 weeks. (Pregnant as in you are with CHILD, like there is a BABY-healthy and developing-inside of you.) At this stage in your pregnancy, your baby is 5.4 cm long. His/her brain synapses are forming rapidly. He/she has eyelids and can move his/her sweet fingers and toes. His/her's organs are performing more complex operations and his/her ears are in their final position. And the most important thing-his/her heart is beating. So, you are trying to tell me that is just tissue? I think not. It is a sweet little prince or princess of the one true King. He loves all of us-the born and the unborn.  Below I will post the video on late term abortion-it was truly heart-wrenching. Pray, pray, and pray. Pray that these women see the truth to their actions and that they realize even if they can't properly care for these sweet babies-a loving mommy and daddy will. That is the beauty of adoption. Adoption gives wonderful and loving couples who can't have kids of their own a chance to love and raise them as their own. Where will you stand? Be a voice.

This song is beautiful and oh so perfect.  Kings and Queens by Audio Adrenaline

"Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me

Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won’t let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved

Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty 
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout your name in victory
When we love when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these

Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to ope

If not us who will be like Jesus
To the least of these
If not us tell me who will be like Jesus
Like Jesus to the least of these

Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free shout your name in victory
We will love we will love the least of these
We will love the least of these"

Want to help? There is a wonderful organization I found this past summer at alive festival. They are called Save the Storks. Here is a link to their webpage: http://savethestorks.com/ 

And if you want to see the late term abortion video it can be found here: 

He Loves Me..He Loves Me Not.

Hello all of you wonderful people!! I hope all of you are having a wonderful week as I am. It has come to my attention that Single Awareness Day..err.. I mean Valentine's Day is on the horizon. It is something girls either anticipate and look forward to or a time where Giant Eagle can't keep all of the Ben and Jerry's and tissues on the shelves. So, whether you are single or in a relationship-this article can be for you! I want to remind you about a few things during these next few weeks-some food for thought.
1.) Boys will not, nor have they ever defined your value or worth. You are a beautiful woman of God and you have an awesome purpose here on earth. So, whether you are single or in a relationship remember that you are awesome all on your own. A guy can never complete you, but can be a compliment to your God given mission in life.
2.) Celebrate being the woman God has called you to be and focus on the attributes you should be trying to achieve in your own life. Take a closer look at Proverbs 31:10-31 ladies. It is spelled out for us-our wonder identity as women of Christ. One of my favorites is Proverbs 31:25-26 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." It is such an empowering verse. It's saying we are so secure in who we are in Christ that we have no concerns or worry about what our future may hold. We know that with God, it is going to be something beautiful.
3.) Most importantly don't forget who the number one man is in your life-our Abba Father. And while you are at it, spread his love with everyone you encounter this holiday. Make everyone you know, maybe even strangers know that people care and that God cares. I challenge you guys to make it an outreach day for you to spread a little bit of love and cheer. Let me know what you guys do to impact the world around you.

And a random video of the week- I am stuck on this song. Love it (:

Hey Ladies

http://childrenareablessing.org/2013/10/01/rethinking-modesty-and-skirts/
You all really need to check out the above website. It is a really awesome website that challenges the norms of society and the decision to only wear skirts. It may be considered extremist, but I think this woman writes a beautiful picture of what modesty should look like in todays culture. Love it!!

Wisdom

You Need Him More Than You Know

Nowadays culture tells us we don't need "religion" to tell us what to do. They are just control freaks who can't face their own imperfections so they center themselves in telling others how to behave. They cram ideas of some Almighty God down the throats of everyone they know and they are the most judgmental people you have ever met. Right? Well, you may want to rethink your decision for Christ not for religion. You need Him for than you know. I know that I do. I need Jesus everyday to heal me when I am broken. I need to know that he is for me. I need to know that he finds me beautiful and worth it every time I try to my put my value in the guys that come my way. I need to know that He thinks I am worth the wait, that I am His princess and I should be treated with respect. I need to know that I must forgive others just as He forgives me each and every time I fall short. I need to know what real love looks like-it starts with a baby boy and ends with one man on the cross. Sacrificing himself for you. For me. Jesus cares deeply for all of us-just as a parent does. A parent only puts rules in your life to keep you from harms way and to make you into the person you need to be. That is the same with Jesus. He wants to see us live up to the potential He has in store for each and every life. All of our stories are different, but somehow the same with God. We are called to something better and everlasting. We don't have to settle for the attempts the world has made to outbid and outshine the love of Christ. Because at the end of the day-those who don't REALLY know Christ still feel empty when they lay in bed at night. They still come down after the high, so they buy more. They buy more vodka and live weekend to weekend. They still wear long sleeves to hide the pain. They still feel incomplete, even when their whole lives are the best they have ever been. And that is because even our best days without Jesus are no comparison to all the days we could be having with him. I have tried to life without Him-and let me tell you it was a HOT MESS. I couldn't imagine living my whole life feeling dependent on finding my self worth through the approvable of others. I couldn't imagine my depression returning and filling my thoughts with lies. We must not exchange the truth of God for a lie of the enemy. You are worth it. Tomorrow is a new day and I promise you, You need him more than you know.

Something Has To Change..

Hello my sweet and beautiful people. It has been quite some time since I have written on this blog. However, with my new life endeavors it appears that I will be spending a lot more time writing in my following days. My walk with God in the previous months has been nothing but a hot mess. I have allowed myself to become distracted as so many of us have and so I am finding myself needing to simplify my life. I really feel God is calling me to take some radical measures, but ones that I am able to do. I am going to delete my facebook and twitter. Also, I am no longer going to be listening to any secular music, wearing makeup, and I'm really considering only wearing skirts. I really want to encounter God in a real way. And to me it feels not fair that some of God's children are starving and yet I have so much. I have over 200 dollars in jeans alone, not taking into account my coach purse, my coach shoes, and sperry shoes. Plus my macbook air laptop, my smartphone, my heated dorm room, my hair and makeup products, my keurig, and the list goes on. And someone overseas or even people here in the U.S. have one outfit, no house, and no food. How is this fair and what are we going to do about it? Those are our brothers and sisters. What if that was someone you knew? Would that change how you feel? So as for me, be praying that God takes a grip on my heart and my walk in him is strengthened as I take this endeavor. Anyone want to join? 


Much love,
Sierra Marie