I hate Woman Crush Wednesday (further known as #WCW).
Probably always will (in other words, until I am somebody's).
For those of you blessed enough to not know what #WCW means, it is a social media trend - girls and guys around the country on a weekly basis post a picture of a woman in their life & plug some endearing comment at the end. It's been abused into posting silly SnapChats of one another (which I see the humor in. Bahaha.).
I'm not going to change the face of social media. Just like I can't help the fact that I'm miserable on Valentine's Day. Some things will just remain the same for many years. 😉 However, I can shed some light on the subject. It's okay to be your own 'Woman Crush Wednesday'... but remember. Whether you've been one (repeatedly) or are in the same boat with me, every title you have on earth is a mere nothing.
More than what Taylor Swift is implying in her last music video, more than the pit Miley Cyrus is leading so many people into, more than the condescending words of a selfish boy.
You are even more than all their compliments. You are more than the world's flattery. (Believe it or not, Emilee Clemons. #preachingtomyselfhere).
You're a Peculiar Treasure.
This is eternal stuff.
Remember this one I shared awhile ago? It's worth sharing again & again.
Thank-you, Ann Voskamp, for stepping on our toes once again.
When you were seven & the world had not entirely crept into your whole outlook on yourself yet. You were a princess, an astronaut, a nurse, a mommy, a world changer. You were all of this because you had the freedom of using your imagination. You were all this because you didn't care what people thought of your crazy dreams.
Speaking of which, just in case no one has told you lately...
...&
Last, but surely not least:
It's a daily struggle choosing truth over insecurity. Forget daily, it's a minute by minute struggle, because your outlook on yourself can change in one scroll of your finger these days. Jesus sees Instagram, but, beloved, that's not all He sees.
I know that you know He sees your heart.
Most of you have heard that you're beautiful. You just haven't believed it first. Or, you've believed it because you had time to swipe mascara on this morning, not because He told you so.
...& I know that when you're lonely, you don't care what your heart looks like. Right now you may be wanting to yell this at me right through the screens that separate us:
Just plain & simple pretty. If I told you that you were, you wouldn't believe me.
I know that because I can't handle those compliments either. I don't know what to say...because I don't understand how someone could think that I was pretty. Or, how they could have the courage to tell me so. (Please don't sympathize for me. I know what you want to say. I've been told. I'm not writing this post for a #wcw. I'm writing it for all the girls that feel the pressure of being someone's #wcw everyday.)
Just like the typical orphan's heart - we're inclined to choose other's words over our Father's as a temporary fill. Because listening to our Father would make us tear down our wall of comfort & hiding that we place in our relationships. We choose what seems easier at the time on our hearts over getting to know our Father in a vulnerable atmosphere.
It's not that I haven't heard that I'm beautiful. It's not that I don't tell myself that I am on a rare occasion. It's that before I hear from any outside sources, I need to be secure in my Father before I seek temporary (even if often necessary) help.
In some shape or form, you & I have orphan hearts. Orphan hearts that cringe at #wcw's & every other form of masked betrayal. Orphan hearts that fear two things most (1) being lonely (abandoned) & (2) being fully known.
I'm right here with you. Searching for security & feeling an un-justified shame when I don't feel beautiful as His daughter. (There is NO condemnation for those who are in Jesus.)
But let's face the ugly truth.
Most of the time, we feel ugly. Or undesirable. Or disrespected. Or unworthy.
I don't know how to fix that (He does), but I can tell you that you are not ugly.
You are beautiful.
We are beautiful.
...because through Jesus, God no longer sees our sin. He sees our redeemed beauty. The born again church being made new.
Here's to figuring that all out - believing it - together.
To top off our evening together, I'm going to do something else I'm not comfortable with (like this whole blog post). I'm going to post a few pictures that I feel beautiful in. If you are inspired, I dare you to do the same on your little corner of social media!
Let's raise our girls up in a generation of women seeking the truth about themselves from Jesus & not from another single soul.
(In case you hadn't noticed, I feel the most beautiful with my beloved friends in Africa.)
“So that's me. Now somebody else please go.” —Pitch Perfect
–Beloved Of Christ, Emilee
No comments:
Post a Comment