bible verse

Let them see YOU in me.

Life is not a competition. It’s not a board game, where the person who collects the most money and property wins. It’s not about who is the prettiest, the smartest or who has the most followers on social media. Your looks don’t determine your worth and neither does your career, your relationship status or how many upcoming coffee dates are on your calendar. Your worth and beauty are found in Christ. You will find that you are most satisfied in life, and will feel the most beautiful when you are glorifying God by letting HIM shine through you. Not shining so that others can see you.

There are so many movements now telling us to “love our bodies,” to be “who you are,” and to show ourselves “self care.” People are eating this stuff up all while forgetting that the truth of most people’s unhappiness about themselves lies in the fact that they are only working on making their outsides beautiful. So why aren’t we trying to live and love like Jesus and not like the “Influencers” on social media? Why aren’t we trying to make our HEARTS beautiful?

Answer me honestly….Don’t worry, I can’t hear your answer. Are you spending more time making sure that your outside is beautiful, rather than your inside? Read that again and be honest. When was the last time, you spent honest to goodness quality time in the Word? When was the last time you prayed a heart felt prayer of THANKSGIVING not just a prayer listing your requests to God. What is your heart’s desire? Do you want people to know YOU? Or are you shining a light so that others can see God through you?

We spend so much time and money working on our outwards appearance. We do our hair, nails, makeup. We go to the esthetician and get a facial. We color our hair to hid our grays hoping to erase a few years off our age. BUT imagine if we just spent half that time working on our hearts. Digging deeper in the Word. Spending quiet time with God. Working on making our inner beauty more beautiful than our outer beauty.

A super simple prayer that I have said for as long as I can remember is, “Lord, let my inner beauty shine through my face.” You see. I have struggled with pretty bad acne since I was a teenager and there were many days I didn’t want people to see MY face. I instead wanted them to see my heart, because I knew it was beautiful because Jesus rules it. It’s funny how hard most people work on making sure they look good all while forgetting that looks fade, but a beautiful heart of someone who loves the Lord will never fade.

Friends, I encourage you to spend more time focusing on making your inner beauty more beautiful. And if you want, pray that simple prayer I shared with you. “Lord, let my inner beauty shine through my face.” I promise that if you wholeheartedly work on your inner beauty and seek the Lord and His will for your life, people will notice. Your inner beauty will shine through your face and no one can ever dull that sparkle.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Psalm 31:30

xoxo, Elizabeth

Comparison is a Jerk

Comparison. Plain and simple, is a jerk. Sometimes we get so caught up in “creating the perfect life” that we forget to just LIVE our life. We try to create a life that is pleasing to look at from an outsider’s view. But ask yourself, are you making the view for all involved on the inside as pleasing? Think about that for a minute. It is way too easy to start comparing our lives to other people’s. (strangers on the internet, people you pass on the street or see on tv, without truly knowing anything about them.) We get ideas in our head of what our lives (and ourselves) “should look like” and then we forget what living a good life truly means.    Continue reading →

Living for a Purpose. On Purpose.

 
It is so easy to look back on life and think about all the things you could have done (better, faster or just done period.) Asking yourself, “What is my purpose?” TODAY I urge you to look back at things with a different perspective. I want you to look back and see your life through God’s eyes. See all the good. See all the small victories and accomplishments and CELEBRATE them! Don’t get caught up in the “what ifs” and the “should haves.” That will only weigh you down.

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Am I Beautiful?

As women we often find ourselves asking the question, “Am I beautiful?” We may not be directly asking someone, but I am sure at one point or another you have asked yourself that very question.  Which then leads me to ask you this question. Do you think you are beautiful? More importantly, what do you think “being beautiful” truly means? Continue reading →

Joyful in Hope

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase , “Choose Joy.” a hundred times before. Maybe you’ve even said it yourself. But what does “choosing joy” really look like? We have a choice every day to either have a positive or a negative attitude. Both take effort, but they each have drastically different outcomes. Perhaps you are like myself, and you struggle with fear and anxiety so you think choosing joy may seem harder. Tough times will still come, but joy will make it easier to deal with whatever comes your way. One of my favorite Bible verses says, “Be joyful in hope. Patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12. Let’s dig into that a little more and see what “choosing joy” really means.  Continue reading →

The Power of a Prayer Warrior {Parent}

 
 
Being called a prayer warrior, to me is better than being called; pretty, funny or amazing.  When people come to me and ask me to pray for them, it makes my heart smile. I have always had a strong relationship with the Lord. That isn’t something that just happens. It is something you need to constantly work at and I have. Now don’t get me wrong. Yes, I have ALWAYS loved the Lord, but I have not always acted like I love Him. I have made my share of mistakes along the way. But I know that we serve a loving God who wants to have a relationship with us. We have prayer to communicate with the One who created us. What could be better than calling on our Heavenly Father. So how exactly can we call upon Him? By praying and becoming prayer warriors. Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil’s schemes.” Curious about strengthening your prayer life? Keep reading then!     

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What God Allows….For His Glory! {part 1}

I caught myself looking up towards the ceiling again, asking “Why, God?!” when another day began with another headache. I think it is probably safe to assume that at one time or another, you too have asked, “Why?” to God. It’s sadly almost second nature to us, when something goes awry, to call out to Him in frustration asking, “WHY?!” “Why did He let________happen.” Maybe you asked Him why your loved one passed away. Or why He let your relationship fall apart, or why the test results came back positive for an incurable disease. One thing I have learned through out the years of my pain and trials, is that sometimes, God allows us to experience the deep, dark, worldly pain because He wants us to be able to experience and understand His unconditional, heavenly love and strength.   Continue reading →

Comfort in the Storm

“Sometimes God calms the storms and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child….” Life has thrown me a curveball the last few years regarding my health. Up until about five years ago I was living with very minimal pain. I got the occasional migraine which would knock me down shortly, but I was able to go the majority of the month pain free. Most days lately however, I find it hard to keep my head above water. To say I get overwhelmed with the constant pain would be quite the understatement. There are days where I am completely taken over with anxiety and depression from my daily pain. The past several months have been a whirlwind of different physical health issues ranging from migraines that last days at a time, to my back going out and not being able to walk. Even though I spend most days in very heart felt prayer, I have not been really working on strengthening my relationship with the Lord. Most days if I am being honest, my prayers are very specific to my pain and sometimes, all I ask for a healing from it.    Continue reading →

His Plans are Perfect

Happily Ever After….The best ending to a book or movie in my opinion but is Happily Ever After really how they portray it?….Imagine for a minute that everything in your life was “perfect.” What are you imagining? Money? New car? More toned body? Baby that sleeps through the night? Were you thinking about any of these? Maybe all of them? Now let me ask you this; when I asked you to imagine a “perfect life” did you imagine having a stronger, more meaningful relationship with God? Truth be told, most of us probably don’t think of that at first when we stomp our feet and whine about our daily struggles and how life isn’t “fair.” We sit and think about how our life isn’t the way we had always dreamed of and imagined but perhaps, this is the moment for which you were created. {Esther 4:14} Perhaps this very life you are living is exactly what God wants for you.       Continue reading →

Live Your BEST Year

Another year has come and gone. I am so thankful for each day that God blessed me with as Alexander’s mom and Adam’s wife. But if we are being honest I cant say that I am sad to see 2016 go. It was a hard year to say the least. Starting out the year with emergency gallbladder surgery was rough, but God walked me through it and brought me to the other side of a long struggle with worry and anxiety. Though every day was not always sunshine and rainbows, life is a beautiful gift that we get to unwrap each and every day!       Continue reading →