This Time Is Limited, But You Are Limitless

     I've been in thought recently about how growing up has changed me both physically and mentally. I have come up with so many reasons to put myself down over things that simply aren't meaningful in reality. I think that a lot of girls my age tend to do that as well. We push ourselves to be this perfect image of put togetherness that we end up struggling more than striving. But where are we looking for this sense of appreciation? Who are we seeking out to get approval that we are good enough to keep on going?
   
     Getting older means so many changes that you don't expect and honestly wish weren't happening. The reality of it is, unless you are blessed with that insanely unreasonable high metabolism that every girl envies over, you're going to let your body go. But this is what you need to remember; it is SO NORMAL as you age to see changes in your body and yourself that you never would have known were even possible to occur before. That is also a clear example of someone who is living and discovering things about themselves that they never would have known were buried beneath their outer surface. You just have to be patient with yourself and with your body and give yourself some grace to understand that you are 19, 20, 21 and you're not going to be the same person you were when you were living at home and you're not gonna look the same as you did three years ago when life was easy and handed to you and predictable.

     "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2

     It is also important to start to understand that things are beginning to get real and changes will arise from that. The main point is that you have to be proud of who you've become or you will never be fully satisfied with yourself. Embrace it. Realize that it's not going to come easy but you know yourself and that it is ultimately going to be incredible and worth it. You need to remember that you're not stuck being 19 and 20 forever. You're not stuck being that girl who doesn't know what she's doing. You're not stuck in the situations that you think there is no solution out of. You WILL grow, and figure out who you want to be.You WILL figure out what you want to be like and actual goals you are willing to put the effort in for and strive to accomplish. These are facts that I didn't come up with but He speaks them to be true.

     Remember this; whether you believe in yourself or not, you have someone who believes in you and understands you even when you don't understand yourself at times. You have someone who watches over you when you feel like no one is watching. You have someone who wants the best for you even when you feel like the whole world is against you.

     "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" Hebrews 13:8

     You have someone who is always with you, always rooting for you, and loving you unconditionally. Someone that, no matter what, never changes His mind about you. That, I believe, is the beauty of a relationship with God.
   
   

His

     Tonight I look at my hand and see a black stamp that reads "HIS". The word His is a complex yet simple statement that we tend to disregard in our lives. Having this on my hand tonight really made me think about what it truly means to be His, or Gods.

     I sit in raider church and hear about our worth in God. This triggers me to think back to my previous blog about women and their worth in Christ. Some times I need to read my own blog back and realize that these words apply to me too. His, it says. But what does it really mean to be His? I think that tonight it was put upon my heart to explain what being His means to me and maybe even to you.

     Being His isn't the easy thing to be; just like being a Christian you will experience more tribulation leading to triumph than anyone else. Being His isn't the hip thing either. People don't understand the relationship and what it takes to uphold. Being His also means being imperfect. You are never going to make every right decision in every wrong situation. You're going to encounter faults and pain and wrongs that make you believe that maybe you shouldn't be His at all. But these mishaps don't make you any less His own. He knows you and everything you will do in your life. Whether the joys or the sorrows He still thinks of you as His own. Even hearing that myself makes me stop and remember that I am truly a child of God, made in His image, sent here by Him with a purpose that He has planned for ME. Yes, you. You are His.

    Being His means realizing that in whatever you do, you were designed to preform like Him. Realizing this is discovering that God touched you with a stamp of himself onto you just like the stamp I got on my hand tonight. With a purpose and meaning. It is remembering Him. It is believing that you are His own. It is trusting that He has it all figured out even when you don't. It is being grateful and merciful and every single quality that He posses and pursues for you to be.

    It is wisdom of the fact that you can't go through this life without Him.

     As I write tonight I glance at my hand every so often and get an overwhelming feeling of peace. I feel all of the joy God has planned for me and so many blessings to come. While looking at the word "His" placed on my hand I recognize that God is both mine just as I am His, and what better realization than that.

Worth

     I felt compelled today to write to girls and women about just how worthy they are. We tend to forget how beautiful we are and I feel that women, now more than ever, feel that they need reassurance to remember just how beautiful they really are. This is your reassurance ladies.

     Remember back to when you were a child and people were in awe over you. Everyone wanted to hold you because you were delicate and precious and new. People gathered to cherish your life and admire what a wonderful new being you were. But, as you grew that infatuation started to fade and you became aware of this fact. You started to feel as if you weren't new anymore and weren't wanted anymore because of the lack of attention you brought to yourself. It was an involuntary action to be wanted back then. But now you're stuck thinking, what if no one ever thinks I am as worthy as I was back then?

     The good news is that you are so wrong. The good news is that there is a God so loving and so infatuated with you and who you are becoming. He knew this was going to happen to you. He knew you would start to feel insecure and hopeless and lonely. But he also knew that you would come back and turn to Him and say God I know that you made me with a PURPOSE and with that in mind I know that I am WORTHY of greater things in life. He knew you would question your beauty but He also knew that you would read His word and realize that He created YOU in HIS image and that there is no higher compliment than that. He knew that someday when you were looking in the mirror and contemplating why God made you with wider hips than others or a bigger nose or red hair that you would wonder if anyone would ever think you were good enough for them. But, He also knew that you would read this and realize that YOU are GOOD enough for GOD and GOD is GREATER than all. You will read this and realize that His truth is all that really matters; not the media, not what some boy tells you, not what society wants to portray you as, only the facts of the gospel that are God breathed into our lives.

     Girls please memorize the truths of the gospel when they tell you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God had no fear when He made you. He was positively certain in every curve and edge of your body and personality. He never doubted you. He was never anxious about you. He was fearless, and now you are wonderful. All you have to do is believe it.

     Love you all.