Treasuring YOU- An Indescribable Gift

Mirror Mirror

On the Wall

Who's the loveliest 

of them all?

What will I do 

With What I See?

 I must believe in myself

I must treasure Me.

-SAC

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I can admit that I didn't always feel that way. Even as a teenager who was dating randoms as Pastor Heather Lindsey would call them. I could count on the Random who broke up around Christmas and Valentine's day. I could count on the Random that had a boo on the side. And the Random that was married (to my terrified surprise!) and had to celebrate the Holidays with his 'real' family. I am so very glad that at 18, I chose to rededicate my life and stop the relationship roller coaster. I kissed dating GOOD.BYE. Yes, at the age of 18, when everyone says, "Girl, you're in college, and it's time to let loose and explore!" I did just the opposite. I came to college a buck wild freshman at 17. But a brush with death, and shortly after, an outside the 4 walls encounter with GOD the Father WRECKED ME. Completely. I knew what kind of off-the-chain- party girl I had been. And I wanted something completely different. I began to get into the Word. I devoured it. I didn't want to be the girl everyone used to know. 

I came upon probably one of my favorite Women in the Bible. Ruth. I figured she had to be important because very few books of the Bible are named after women. It was only 4 chapters, so I dug in. WRECKED MY WORLD. Through the book of Ruth, I learned lessons that have shaped me to this day.
For some of those lessons click here  http://legsclosedmindopen.blogspot.com/2011/09/unexpected-relationship-coach.html

Through reading the Word and understanding the value that God placed on me as his child, as his daughter, as his precious one made in His image, I had to take stock of how I viewed myself. I had to make sure that my own world view and even the view that had been shaped by city, neighborhood, family, friends, teachers, ideas like "nicknames" was really a reflection of Me. Whatever was not a reflection of how God saw me, I had to chuck, even if it made some people angry. I also had to throw out old ideas about myself, even if it made me uncomfortable.

The more I discovered who I was in Christ, the less I relied upon people to confirm, affirm, or validate what God had already declared about me. It's great that people can recognize who I am, but it's more important for Me to recognize it and appreciate who God says I am. I'm still discovering because God is still revealing who He is, and in turn, revealing more about me as His child.

Beloved, You are a treasure and an indescribable gift. The moment you take hold to that truth, you also have to understand that people may not agree with it. That you may have to renew your mind about yourself.

I want to encourage you to spend some time with the Lord this Holiday season. Steal away with him. Read the Book of Ruth, the ancestor of Jesus. I believe that God is going to speak powerfully to you as a Young Woman. Maybe you have a past, maybe you are a Widower and have given up on a second chance at love, maybe you have made some bad decisions and think that you have been disqualified or are not good enough for someone like Boaz. Maybe you feel like used goods, and God asking you to hang out with virgins is a really bad idea (my own story there :)?  God knows where we are, and what we need. Let him unlock the Gift of You. 

The Son of Man wants to take you out, dine with you, and present you with an eternal outlook. You really are a Treasure! I challenge you to discover just how much!

Walk This Way~ Girls & The World Of Shoes

Shoes.

 From pumps to sneakers, I have yet to meet a woman that has absolutely no love for a good pair of shoes. Here are a few interesting facts that you may not know:

Women spend about 18billion a year on shoes. A woman will spend about $25,000 in her lifetime.
They say, "If the shoe fits...buy it in every color."

Typically, women buy for emotional reasons and create memories around what they buy, marking time, place, people, significant moments by their shoes. I remember the very first pair of shoes my husband bought me near the end of our engagement. They were chocolate with kitten heels and ankle straps. He bought a dress to match them. It was a clue to how he thought of me and also clued me in that he had very good taste!

Shoes are one place where comfort can meet style.- SAC
Shoes have a long history, including a Biblical one:
In Isaiah 3:16,  women so loved shoes. In the Song of Solomon 7:1 men recognize them too :). In the book of Ruth, shoes were used as a way to conduct legal transactions between men, symbolizing ownership.

Historically, heels were invented by jealous husbands who hoped the cumbersome movement would make illicit relations difficult according to a 15th century scholar on heels. (and we know how that turned out!) Heels have also been invented out of lack and desperation. Cork wedge shoes came from a #shortage of material. Salvatore Ferragamo sewed wine corks together when he ran out of leather.

There are many suggestive ways that shoes have been programmed into the psyche to "matter" to young girls who ultimately grow into Young Women:

Cinderella- glass slipper that must fit the princess
Woman who lived in a shoe (not store)- Nursery Rhymes
Dorothy- the red shoes that would take her back home
Those shoes became an Iconic prop when they were changed from gray to red.

Yes, we have been trained by our culture that "clothes make the man and shoes make the woman".
In fact, 80% of women suffer from some type of foot pain, some the direct result of trying to make a shoe fit that doesn't, much like Cinderella's stepsisters.


Some practical tips about shoes?
Don't buy shoes you can't return & rotate your shoes so they will last longer.

So, whose got the largest closet?
Author Danielle Steele has the largest known collection in US right now with #6,000 pairs

What do retailers know about Women and Shoes?
The most direct route to a woman's heart is often through shoes. Loyalty to a store starts with the shoe department. - Terry Lundgren, Macy's Chairman & CEO

The world of shoes is vast, and for some it has created the perfect place to build an idol. Consider these verses:

For we walk by faith and not by sight - 2 Cor 5:7

You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. - Deut. 5:33

Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Psalms 119:133

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6:8

Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. -Genesis 5:24

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. -Romans 13:13

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.- Galatians 5:16

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 2 Peter 2:21

Walk worthy of the calling you have recieved- Ephesians 4:1

Like seeking out the perfect shoe that looks and feels great, we must put the same effort into walking out our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. Our standards should be higher than our heels, and we should engage in nothing that causes us to stumble. There's nothing wrong with a good pair of shoes, but there is something great about having a spiritual walk that matches!

Keep your mind open today, Ladies!