words to live by.

such a powerful thought. this is my heart’s desire.

happy thursday!

psalm 45:11

enthralled:

to hold spellbound; captivate.

to be filled with wonder & delight.

to think that God...

the almighty...

the only perfect being, the One who created me...

is enthralled with MY beauty?

wow.

have you ever taken a moment to really just sit & marvel at that?

it's a beautiful thing.

happy weekend y'all!

a new perspective.

meet hillary.
would you ever in a million years tell this precious angel that she is anything less than God's perfect creation?..... me neither.

i am someone who, for as long as i can remember, has struggled with body issues. maybe it's because i grew faster than all the other kids when i was young, so i was always taller/bigger than them. or maybe it was because i danced, and started seeing beauty with a "hollywood mentality" from a young age. for whatever reason, body issues have always been a struggle of mine.

there have been good periods & bad ones. days when i find myself completely and totally beautiful and no one could talk me out of it. and also days where all of my "flaws" seem to be screaming at me to notice them.

i always tend to be harder on myself than i am on other people. not just with appearance, but also with forgiveness, judgements, etc. if i meet someone who has a less than "perfect" body, i don't think about how horrible they look or dwell on their cellulite, or decide they aren't beautiful. when a loved one falls short of my expectations, i forgive them. so why when it comes to myself, am i harsh & judgemental & at times unloving??

while talking with my friend jessica today, she said something to me that gave me a brand new perspective. she told me to think of myself not as the 23 year old Hillary, but as the little girl Hillary. the precious little 5 year old Hillary from the picture above. So if I'm supposed to think of myself as that... i think of how gentle I'd would be toward her. if she made a mistake I'd help her, if she was feeling down, I'd sweetly encourage her, and I would NEVER ever tell her anything other than how beautiful she is. because she is COMPLETELY BEAUTIFUL.

"it's easier to be kind to little Hillary than it is to be gentle with tall Hillary. to God you are a baby girl so He is extra gentle with you. let yourself be His baby. He can handle weaknesses."

too true. in one simple text from a friend, my perspective was completely changed.

God created me knowing that one day, that little girl would grow into a beautiful woman. A beautiful woman with a dancer's body that He designed specifically for her. A beautiful woman with a huge heart. A beautiful woman who continually trys to be the best she can be. A creative woman. A loving woman. An encouraging woman. A faithful woman. A friend. A sister. A wife. A Daughter. A woman who creates for HIS glory. A leader. ... among so many other things.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:13-16

  

it could not be put more beautifully or perfectly than that!

 i will forever remember what my dear friend said to me & i will think of little Hillary when i start to be unloving towards myself. i will remember the way God loves her, the way i love her, and the lesson that she taught me. :))

what a beautiful lesson.

my heart is full & i am filled with joy. i love myself. i love my God. i am thankful for encouraging friends! please check out my friend Jessica's blog. she is an amazing leader & woman of God. You can visit her HERE or find her button on the side bar, "Beauty is radiant."

love yourself. YOU too are fearfully & wonderfully made!

pray.

wonderful quote.

"People may refuse our love or reject our message, but they are defenseless against our prayers."

words to live by.

perfectly put.

I LOVE quotes & LOVE being given new perspective. love language... words of affirmation, who knew :) this one that i found below, applies so perfectly right now, and was SO encouraging. I hope you are encouraged by it as well.

Over the past few years i have struggled with the thought of lost time, and too late. Excuse after excuse & fear and more fear. NOT ideal. Don't get me wrong, I have been loving life all at the same time, but in one specific area, one that is SO important to my heart, these thoughts have not changed & were really discouraging. Over the past few weeks though, I felt my heart changing. I still had the same desires as before, but I was starting to feel free of the negative energy that was associated. Fear is not of the LORD. Why have I been afraid? Get out of your head!

I met a new friend that God used, BIG TIME, to affirm even more the desires of my heart. Since then, after much prayer, God has given me affirmations here and there that have only inspired me more & shown me that this IS of the LORD. Do I still have fear? Yes. I am human. But another GREAT quote I found was this:

"To me, Fearless is not the absense of fear. It's not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death." — Taylor Swift

I believe this to be truer than true, and was EXACTLY how my new friend was living. Why would I not apply it to myself as well? Hopefully this all makes sense, as I am not revealing too much right now. In time. I feel excited & encouraged. Inspired & faithful. The LORD is good. I trust in HIM to make my paths clear & am thankful that He will love me along the way, every time I stumble & try retreating to the comfort zone of fear & excuses. Isn't He just the best ever :)

loveLOVElove.

love.

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning doesn't lie in things. Meaning lies in us. When we attach value to things that aren't love - the money, the car, the house, the prestige - we are loving things that can't love us back. We are searching for meaning in the meaningless. Money, of itself, means nothing. Material things, of themselves, mean nothing. It's not that they're bad. It's that they're nothing. -Marianne Williamson♥

Happy Wednesday :)