Beautiful

Wow! I can not believe it has been three months since I posted anything! It sure isn't like me to not have anything to say, but life has been relatively "quiet". Summer flew by while we roasted and continue to roast in the ridiculous heat. The kids are back in school and fall sports are well underway. We spend our evenings doing homework and driving to and from various practices. It is exhausting at times, but I know this will pass all too quickly and I will find myself looking for a hobby to do in the evenings because the kids are grown. Sigh.


As the kids are back in school the friendship dynamics are back in full swing. I have one child in elementary school where usually the biggest drama involves who sat with whom at lunch or who played with whom on the playground. Usually a few words of encouragement and a hug will mend those minor wounds. But, as the older two grow I find that the wounds inflicted are not so easily bandaged. I remember being a pre-teen/teen. These are the years when the opinion of someone your own age matters so much more that the adults that love you. Why is it so much easier to believe the hurtful words rather than the compliments? Why are words from a person of very little character and integrity so hard to forget? Why do we let them wound us so? I know all of us can still as adults recite word for word hurtful comments made to us by others growing up. We often carry them around and recite them to ourselves when we have "messed up" or feel down. That is so contrary to what God has intended for us to hear and say to ourselves. It says in the bible we are created in HIS image. We are wonderfully and fearfully made-the extra 30 pounds, zits, stretch marks, droopy eyelids, etc. included!


I was watching a television show this weekend on extraordinary courage. The entire show documented the life of a beauty queen that was savagely attacked with acid and left scarred and disfigured. At the first of the show I could not keep from staring at her scars and feeling so much anguish for this girl. But, by the end of the show watching her live her life despite the scars, I seriously did not see them anymore. What she has done as a result of her disfigurement is absolutely amazing. She actually said at the end of the show that she was glad that things had turned out this way. She said that before the attack she felt something was missing in her life. Her life had a void that no job, no compliment, no beauty pageant win could fill. As a result of her journey after her attack she came to know God and she said for the first time ever she feels complete. She has purpose like never before and she knows that she is truly beautiful. I was just really inspired by her story and her courage to share it. I don't think the timing of me seeing this documentary was an accident. Last week someone sent me a very hurtful text attacking my character and accusing me of not being a loyal friend. Now, this person is struggling terribly in her life right now and she is very angry at her situation, which, unfortunately I have come to be a part of through my job. Her words hurt. I felt a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to respond and defend myself; Set the record straight, tell her my side. However, I listened to that still small voice in my heart that said, "don't respond, her opinion does not matter. You are still the same person this minute that you were before you read that text. Let it go. Pray for her pain and for her life to change course." I felt a peace that I truly can not explain. I know that I am not perfect, but I am not the person she described in her message. It made me think of Jesus and the lies that were told about his character and life.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces; he was despised and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3

Even the son of God experienced hurtful words and attacks on his character. So as I go forward today I am trying to live the following verse:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29