Life is beautiful. Life is good. But, life is not always glamourous.

There are some days where you are reminded that life is not innately glamourous. Yes, life is beautiful. Yes, life is good.  Yes, life is exciting. Yes, life is worthwhile. But life is not always "glamourous." In fact, if life was always glamourous, we would live in a perfect world that is free from such things as  bad hair days, temper tantrums, rush hour traffic and every other mundane and terrible part of adulthood. Let's face it, as young children most (if not all) of us dreamed, at some point, of being a superstar at something. We dreamed of private jets, amazingly exotic adventures and the exciting opportunity to chase dreams that made us look forward to growing up.  For most, however, those tightly held dreams of glamour, fame and splendor were never fully realized and we actually ended up slipping into routines where we doubt our importance, where we doubt our impact in the world and where we doubt if we will ever make good on the dreams that we traded adulthood in for. When this happens, we grow to expect the bad hair days, temper tantrums, rush hour traffic and the mundane parts of life. It's in these moments we wish Peter Pan were real and that he would bring us to a magical place where we never have to grow up but subsequently, we realize that Peter Pan is simply a character that we will never meet or fly away with.  Life is not a Disney movie and it is not perfect!

It's in those moments were we are looking in the rear view mirror of our life and we are attempting with all our might to make it so we don't look like "that" person whose life is a spiraling tornado of unglamorousness. We so desperately want others to believe we have it all figured out and we so strongly want others to feel we are living a life of perfection, that we in return compromise our ability to just trust and believe that God has better things planned for us than our pride could ever accomplish on its own. We forget time and time again that we are so wonderfully and beautifully made that we don't have to bear the weight of cross such as social comparison, pride and selfishness. We forget that our worth does not come from statuses, accolades, people wishing that they have what we have and looking like we just rolled off a red carpet. Those worldly things are nice and they make us feel good for an amount of time that has a very short shelf life but they don't last. Ultimately, if you spend your days on Earth chasing recognition and worldly things you will get just that... the world and it will hit you like a semi! It may be glamourous for a short amount of time and everyone may love you for a little while but eventually the things of this world will be gone and people will move on to the next best thing because what ever worldly things life can throw your way... it's temporary and not eternal.

In the end, the thing that will matter the most in your life is not your ability to live a life of worldly glamour and perfection but rather your willingness to trust, believe and follow Jesus. Its not about each of us having it all figured out on our own; rather it is about learning to accept who were were created to become, while being where we were meant to be and fulfilling the roles we were called to satisfy. When we fully hand our lives over to God and when we decide to accept the endless grace upon grace and boundless mercy upon mercy that has been promised to each of us; we surrender to a God that can turn all of our shortcomings into strengths. When we surrender to such an amazingly mighty and capable God, we are provided for, set apart and loved even when the world doesn't think we are worthy of much. So often, we rob ourselves of authentic happiness and fulfillment by thinking glamour and a pre-packaged perception of perfection are the ultimate key to happiness. But that is not factual. Actually, happiness is living in unity with God, walking side by side with him and fulfilling the "impossible" sized plans that only he can fulfill. Happiness is about handing over control to a beyond capable God in order to be led to greater possibilities than you could have ever completed on your own.  We can acquire happiness through knowing that we are God's and that God is ours.

So today, I'm choosing to completely embrace where I am and what I have been called to do rather than wishing that I were living life as someone else, somewhere else. Today, I am choosing to banish the social comparison and pride that has so often clouded my ability to trust God and his perfect timing. Won't you, dear friend, join me in embracing the what ifs that only God can orchestrate. Let each of us attune our hearts to what God wants  us to accomplish during our "unglamorous" days here on Earth. Let us be steadfast in praying for authentic God led direction for our lives and let us create a community through which women can come to know that whatever the world tries to sell us will eventually fade but that God is eternal and worthy of being the center of our souls, hearts and minds. Let us choose to focus on God and the uniquely beautiful moments that he blesses us with. I pray that we never fail to realize that God creates such beauty in our day to day experiences we will choose to look beyond the unglamorous moments to discover that God is so very much for us and he is fulfilling beautiful and amazing promises in our lives. What we look for we will find and what treasures we store in our hearts will dictate our decisions and thoughts. Therefore, let us always look to God so that we may find him so deeply our lives are radiantly changed from the inside out and let us store his promises deeply within our hearts so our decisions become more and more like his with every breath we take. Let us create within this broken world, a community of women who are so on fire for God and let us not allow a quest for worldly glamour and worldly things deter from our ability to spread the message of God's love and salvation with others.  Until next time friends, let us strive to be "those" women. Let us collectively be the ones whose lives were a total mess but through the acceptance of grace and salvation were radically changed from a mess into a message and who's trials turned them into testimonies that reflect that awesomeness of God, his love and his plans for our lives. 

Notes on Life: Keeping Our Eyes Focused on the "One Day"

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."
(Psalm 143:8)

                  

I believe that when God speaks in your heart, you listen and when God says to change something, you haul it out of the cargo storage that you have been packing around with you for WAY too long.  Likewise, I hope what God placed on my heart today will change your perspective in some way and that it will be able to accomplish what God intends, all for his glory! You see, I'm at a really unique season of my life.  With loads and loads of homework for grad school each week, a job at a pediatric clinic that I love and the general day-to-day demands that come with being a 20-something adult; I find myself time after time declaring "I am way too BUSY."  When I try to make plans with my friends (sadly one of my best friends and I have have had a standing dinner date for months now), I try to carve out time with my family or I try to take time out of my schedule just to relax and recharge; I immediately feel guilty because I am "way too busy" to have a life that is lived outside of the parameters of "work" and "busyness.

In this season of my life; my perfectionistic and control craving tendencies are rampant. Each night as I lay my head down to go to sleep, I worry that I forgot a deadline, I am concerned that I didn't produce "spectacular work" that day, I harp on my mistakes and I am anxious when I am not the leader of everything.  For so long, I viewed the feelings as they were, just unfortunate aspects of life and perhaps personality traits that can't be changed but now I understand these basic truths:

God never created, nor intended for us to feel defeated, anxious or inadequate...

We cannot control the situations that arise in our lives, only God can...

Perfectionism is a lie; nothing in our lives if "perfect." If perfectionism were discussed on Myth Busters, it would be proven to be a HUGE myth...

"Busyness" is NOT a virtue. It is a vice...

Life was meant to be lived in a loving and trusting relationship with God; not us doubting God's capability to do the impossible or lacking the braveness that comes with knowing that God is moving in amazing ways throughout our lives.  Faith involves trust and it involves giving the steering wheel to God so that he can take us down amazing and beautiful life paths that he has planned for us...

My God, the Creator of the Universe and King of Kings, is capable of fulfilling amazing and remarkable plans for my life (and he wants to accomplish that for you too!)...

The seasons of our lives are unique opportunities for us to embrace change, to believe in the goodness of life, to understand the power of God's timing and to grow in our understanding of what we are truly capable of. WIthout the changing seasons of life (good or bad) we are the same and we never grow into beautiful creations.  Without life seasons we fail to become what we were destined to be...

Each day, I have to remind myself that I can't do it all.  Each day, I have to realize that God doesn't applaud my busyness but that he does applaud my willingness to trust him even when I don't really understand what he is doing.  Each day, I have to believe that my fears, my doubts and my shortcomings are covered by the power, grace and mercy of God. Each day, I have to understand that I am NOTHING on my own but with God going before me (in every moment and season) I am protected, chosen, set apart, redeemed and made new simply because I am a child of the one who holds everything in his powerful hand. Each day, I get to start with a clean slate (the past is wiped clean) and each day, I have a choice regarding the attitude and foundation to which I cling.  Each day, when I choose to live in a spirit of defeat, when I buy into the myth of perfectionism, when I lack faith, when I try to follow my own plans rather than God's and when I remain the same old stubborn person I was the day before; ultimately, I choose to make detrimental decisions.  The bottom line is... if you want to live a life of faith, boldness, bravery, and fulfillment; you have to learn to let go and give your heart and need for control, perfection or busyness wholly to God.  

So take heart, dear soul.  Journey forward with a desire to believe that your life is worth something and that the God of everything, loves you so much that he wants to guide your path into a beautiful and glorious unfolding.  Let your paths of perfectionism, busyness, need for control, anxiety, doubt and insecurities be straightened and aligned with the goodness that comes with a new slate and new opportunities to live a life of purpose.  Trust me, there will be trials and there will be tests.  Every season and life change will not always feel "fantastic" or "amazing."  You will be pushed (often to your limits) and you will be challenged to reach new limits that you didn't know were possible.  You may even want to give up and throw in the towel before your race is completed.  BUT, when you give up on your plans and wipe clean your slate through a dynamic and life-changing relationships with God, you will learn that his plans are always better than your own.  You will understand that you have to keep going even when your spirit downright hurts from the journey. You will realize that something far better than you could ever imagine is waiting for you at the end of each new chapter and page turn.  Life really is made of gold, but so often we focus so heavily on the rust and tarnish, we can't see the beauty and worth of our golden lives.  But one day, it will all make perfect sense and the beauty and goodness of life will be shown to you.  Life and your experiences will make sense one day and all of the reasons behind everything that you have or ever will face in your life will be so clear.  We have to keep going for the 'one day." We have to trust God completely for the view of the "one day."  We have to hold steadfast for the glory of the "one day." Entrust your one precious life and your beautiful soul to the Lord.  He is capable and his love is unfailing morning after morning.  My prayer for each of us (myself included) is this:

Lord, help us to place our lives, our plans and our eyes completely on and within you. Help us to believe and trust that you have a better plan for our lives than what we could ever create on our own. Rid us of our fears, doubts and shortcomings.  Make us into new creations that are fulfilled by you alone. Help us to sustain a trust that if you are for us then nothing can be prevail against us. In the If's of life, help us to cling to you and in the storms of life, help us to keep our eyes focus on the glory of the "one day" that will has been promised to us. Forgive us where we have failed you and strengthen in us in our spirits of bravery and steadfastness.  In your mighty  and unfailing love we pray. Amen.

Until next time friends, keep your eyes focus on the "one day" and join with me in letting each morning bring you a new freshness of God's unfailing love.