In the little town of Lake Placid, there lived many beautiful princesses, who were all invited to celebrate the joy of life and the beauty of uniquness with a breakfast, storytime, dancing, and even Prince Charming! Of course, it wasn't a royal affair without proper attire- from sparkly tiaras and crowns to fancy dresses, the girls were ready for a morning to remember! Each of the lovely princesses was introduced by a trumpeting sound, with Prince Charming announcing their name, favorite royal color, and favorite activity. Looking cute as usual, they posed for a quick picture then headed to their table to mingle with other royalty. The best part of the morning was listening to Queen Norris : ) read Gigi, God's Little Princess. It reminded us all that no matter how many bad hair days or bad attitude days we have, God loves us just the way we are.
Even for a "big girl" princess, I was reminded a lot that day. Getting ready for appearances, I normally get frustrated with my hair or makeup or outfit- or all three together. It is such an incredible promise that God loves us no matter what. So next time you pick on yourself for those freckles, or that body, or your frizzy, curly hair (that one's for me), remember that you are God's masterpiece! Just like a famous artist who turns a blank canvas into something incredible, God is shaping you each day into the beautiful creation you were intended to be. And I don't know how happy an artist would be if his canvas said, "Hey- don't you think I look a little ridiculous? I mean, come on, I need more color here. And that curve is just yuk! Totally wrong. Plus, this isn't how I'm supposed to look- I need to look like all the other famous paintings." Hmm...who do you think knows more, the canvas or the artist? Let's stop stressin' over the little stuff and embrace our uniquenesses, each and every one. True beauty radiates in the face of one who is passionately in love with her Savior, for being a daughter of the King is the greatest joy of all.
"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
Thursday, March 26
Daughters of the King
Wednesday, March 25
Photo Competition
With one of the photographers and her picture on the left.
Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to serve as a judge for a digital photography competition, held at the Admiral's Boys and Girls Club right down the street from my college. Figuring it wouldn't be too hard to do, I headed down in between classes with a good hour and a half to knock it out. Little did I know how difficult of a competition this would be to judge! After walking through the gallery several times and scoring many of the pieces, I still had many more to go and it was already 5:40...my class was at 6:00. Walking in heels across campus to make it there in time was definitely a work-out in and of itself : ) I talked with the director, Jill, and she said I could head back after class and finish up the scoring. The pictures were amazing- and the creativity of the photographers was unbelievable! It was so great to see how kids, at even five years old, learned how to capture a great picture. I wish I would have taken pictures of the pictures to show you all, but that might have been considered plagarism...so, you'll just have to trust me on this one! I always love to see how a simple object or landscape can be transformed into an artistic piece of work. Needless to say, I left truly inspired and encouraged, to really consider the beauty of the world around me instead of just passing it by at a glance.
Gone.
"Enjoy prosperity while you can. But when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. That way, you will realize that nothing is certain in this life." Ecclesiastes 7:14 "I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your laws. I cling to your decrees. Lord, don't let me be put to shame! If you will help me, I will run to follow your commands. Teach me, O Lord, to follow every one of your principles. Give me understanding and I will obey your law; I will put it into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. Give me an eagerness for your decrees; do not inflict me with love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word." Psalm 119:30-37
What if tomorrow you woke up and everything you had was gone? I don't know why this keeps crossing my mind lately, maybe because of the economic crisis. But, seriously, if you woke up and all that was there was you? Would it be enough…would you relying on Jesus be enough? All too often I think it's easy to say that we trust God with our life, but do we? I am preachin' to the choir, because I know for sure I am definitely guilty of this. I give lip service to God, telling Him that I trust Him and His grace is enough, but I feel that my life doesn't demonstrate the very thing I'm saying to God. Sure, it's easy to tell God you trust Him (and maybe you do), but do you trust Him with EVERYTHING IN YOU? For shelter, for income, for love? For better, for worse? Richer or poorer? Yes, this is starting to sound like marriage vows, because it is. The church is the Bride of Christ, the body of believers that is supposed to be faithful to the very end, persevering no matter what comes our way. The Bridegroom wants to know that we depend upon Him- he wants us to remember that if everything else falls apart and if the material things of this world shatter to pieces, that we won't crumble with them. We will stand strong, remembering that the very God who "knit us together in our mother's womb" is more than capable of providing for our every need. Automatically, the story of Job pops up in my head when I hear about losing everything. I'm sure you've heard the story of a guy totally committed to His Savior, yet God takes everything he has away from him. The beautiful thing about this story is that Job didn't give up- he didn't crumble with the rest of his material world. He wasn't concerned with knowing the why, but the who. He recognized God's power and stood strong, praising Him to the end, saying "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21). WOW! Wow, wow. I don't know about you, but that is real- that's the kind of radical love that God wants from us. He is a jealous God, who has chosen us to be His special treasures among all things in creation. He wants us, all of us, no matter what (whoa- that was a line from The Notebook…good movie). Anyway, this is serious stuff and I can't tell you how hard this hit home for me. If everything was gone, would Jesus be enough? God doesn't want a bunch of lip service- He wants life service. And that's what I'm gonna try to give Him. He is enough- I just have to live like my life as if it depends upon that fact, because it does.
Tuesday, March 17
So You Had a Bad Day...
Today is one of those days when I woke up and just knew I would be productive. I had a to do list set out and was ready to conquer it by the end. It seems that those plans are pretty much destroyed- everytime I attempt to check an item off my list, something gets in the way. Big, little...it doesn't matter, it gets in the way of getting my stuff done. And as I sit here after lunch, about to go to class, I realized. Is that all today was meant to be? Maybe God's trying to teach me something here- is everyday at college just another day to check off a to do list and feel like I've accomplished something? I don't think that's what He had in mind. Maybe those setbacks were meant to build my character, encourage someone else, or share His love. What if those setbacks were the difference between someone knowing Jesus or not? If they are, I shouldn't be frustrated or caught up in "making a list and checking it twice." Jesus doesn't care how much I get done here on Earth if it doesn't glorify Him in the process. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the Lord." I can use even the setbacks of each day to proclaim His glory, which is exactly what I'll be doing this second half of March 17, 2009! On a lighter note...thought this comic was somewhat appropriate for a bad day- maybe you'll get a kick out of it like I did! Just when we think we have it bad...we have to remember to be thankful! : )
Sunday, March 15
Haircast?
Miss Broward County Pageant
Four new titleholders were crowned last night for Broward County right here on the Nova Southeastern campus! Lucky for me, I just walked to the pageant. I was excited about seeing the show, but didn't really want to go alone. The funny thing I discovered is that not many people enjoy going to pageants, so I was forced to go all by my lonesome. I was standing in the lobby waiting for the doors to open when to my great surprise, I saw my Florida sister queen (Mrs. Florida 2007) Monica Speer walk in. I screamed her name and went running for a hug- it was sooo good to see her! After settling into our seats, we immediately became busy trying to pick winners and our favorite dresses- pageants are much more fun with a good friend! I think there were around nineteen girls that competed in all, vying for the crowns- Miss Broward County, Miss Fort Lauderdale Riverwalk, Miss Florida Everglades, and Miss Broward County's Outstanding Teen. The emcee was Scott (can't remember his last name), the weatherman for the local Channel 10 station. He was HILARIOUS- we were laughing the whole pageant through- by far, one of the best emcees I have ever listened to! The pageant was pretty long and we were all very hungry, so we met at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner- what a way to end the night! Mini burgers and French fries never tasted so good- I mean, what wouldn't with the incredible company I had ; ).
