10 Things That Make You Uniquely Beautiful

10 Things That Make You Uniquely Beautiful

1.     Your smile. No one has a smile quite like yours and it makes your whole face light up and shine.

2.     Your eyes. The eyes are an opening into the heart and soul. So much is said in someone’s eyes. How much they’ve been hurt, the sparkle of joy and happiness; love…. Your eyes speak for you. And what they have to say is a beautiful part of your story.

3.     Your mind. No one can think quite like you do. Those things your mind comes up with – the way you can create a beautiful piece of artwork, or write an encouraging note – or even the way you figure out how to fix something that is broken – that is a gift. Not everyone has it. Not everyone can use his or her mind in the way that you do.

4.     Your touch. Do you pat someone on the back when you hug? Do you rub their arm in support and love? Do your hands help a child up when they’ve fallen? Your touch shows your heart. And it’s a loving, beautiful heart.

5.     Your sense of style. Do you like elegant clothes, or hippie chick? Do you live in jeans or love long skirts?  Your sense of style makes you beautiful, because it’s unique to you. It says a lot about your attitude and outlook on life. It helps you stand out instead of blending in.

6.     Your laugh. One of the most beautiful things on a person is to see joy and happiness in their heart spill out. Whether your laugh is high-pitched, loud, or full of repetitions – it’s  a reflection of all that is good and merry and right.

7.     Your heart. Oh – yes, your heart makes you beautiful. The heart that is sensitive to injustice and cutting remarks. The heart that desires to please or wants to change the world. The heart that can’t stop dreaming, giving, or loving. The heart that has been wounded and hides. It’s the core of who you are.  It’s so tender in there. So authentic. Beautiful.

8.    You are beautiful in your natural state. Hair undone. No makeup on. That is how God created you. Your authentic self is beautiful. Authenticity is ALWAYS beautiful.

9.     Your personality. That sweetness, diligence, tenacity, patient and forgiving heart….that bubbly outlook on life, that inquisitive nature  - those are beautiful. God wants to use those in you – let them flourish.

10. Your flaws. What are those things that you feel like are flaws? Is it your hair color? Freckles?  Short legs? Big feet? Are you going through something right now that has changed you? Maybe cancer treatment that has cost you your hair completely or an accident that’s left a scar? God has scars. On both hands. And to me those hands are beautiful. Just as you are – you are valuable, worthy, and wanted.

You ARE beautiful because you are unique. God made you just the way you are. Go out and be all that you can be today; knowing that there is beauty woven in every fiber of your being.

It's Only a Name

Names are very powerful. In Bible times, people’s names truly meant something to them. Maybe without realizing it, they lived up to the meaning of their names. So it was life-changing (literally) when Jesus chose to change someone’s name to a name – and a role – that HE saw in them.

I don’t think things have changed that much. Today, names still matter. If your name means “mighty one” you carry that knowledge internally with you, and you tend to live up to that thought and image. Yet, if you were named a name that came with a meaning such as, “forgotten one,” that can be a meaning that can ingrain itself into your heart without you even realizing it, as well.

There are other names that hold negative connotation to them; mother-in-law for example. I don’t know who the woman was, who first gave this name a bad rap, but it’s forever the butt of jokes. And how about “step mom?” It’s very hard to overcome the bad publicity on that name.

A mother-in-law gets a bad rap because I think, in the history of mother-in-laws, the reputation is that she just has to intrude a little.  She just can’t hold her tongue. It’s the way of the woman.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

I know many wonderful mother-in-laws who are an asset not a detriment to their families. I also know of people who claim to have had the most caring stepmothers ever, enter into their lives. These women are cherished. So, holding a certain title or name doesn’t have to label you for life.

You can put a new meaning and connotation onto the name, or the title that you were given – and you should.

Don’t let a history that comes with a name, change who you are or who you can be. The true way to win the battle of a bad name, is to change what the name means by living out the testimony.  It’s only a name after all, and we certainly don’t have to live up to bad press just because it simply exists! Defy the odds and prove you are different just by simply living it out. After all, a name doesn’t make you who you are – you do.

So, whatever name you were given – change the meaning to a positive one. Defy the odds and make your role, your name, and your life – a positive one. You can be blessed, and BE a blessing – WITH the meaning of a name you were given, or in spite of it.

Exactly Who You Are, Is Just Enough

When the world says you don’t have what it takes, do you know that you are enough?

We have all gone through those times where we felt like we just didn’t measure up. Those times make us feel so small, and so alone.

The world can tell us we don’t have what it takes. It can tell us that we don’t have the right image. The right talents. The right personality.  It can take every last ounce of our efforts from us….leading us on, only to reject us and spit us out in the end. And that leaves us feeling so low and so unworthy, doesn’t it?

We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt rejected and “spit out” at some point. I promise you. But you know something?  I’m here to tell you that the world is wrong. Those “others” in your life? They are wrong.

Don’t listen to those voices. Don’t give room in your heart to the lies that make you feel like you are alone.

Because you aren’t. There is a WORLD full of people just like you. People who have felt what you are feeling. People who have tried, what you have tried. People who want to be loved and accepted – just – like – you.

You ARE beautiful. You ARE worthy. You ARE loveable and you DO have what it takes. You were made to be exactly who you are.

Sure, maybe you can improve on certain areas – but your core identity – that’s YOU. That’s who you are supposed to be. You have something to add. Something to give. Something to share. Your opinion DOES matter.  You DO have a place in this world.

And there will be people who will discover those truths and love you just as you are.

Because, you know what?

Exactly who you are is just enough.

Being a Mom Is Only a Part of Our Children's Identities

I was reading a devotional. I don’t even remember what the whole devotional was about – but it took a turn where it was talking about our children and the path their lives would take. Then I read this line…

“Don’t ever forget that you being their mom is only a part of their identities.”  (Youversion – Tightropes & Teeter-Totters)

WHOAH.

As I enter into the season of my baby girl just graduating from high school and gearing up to go off to college next year; that sentence hit me like a ton of bricks.

And the tears welled up in my throat.

Not because that sentence made me sad. But because it rang so true. It’s something I’ve been trying to prepare myself for.

I know that my children are the world to me. But knowing that, I also have to know that when my job is done raising them, that I may not be the world to them. And I have to be okay with that. Sure, I hope I’m always a priority with them. I hope they value my thoughts, my time, my company.  But they will have a larger life than just the role I play in it.

So different than when they were babies.

I can see it. I’ve been with my husband now longer than I lived in the home where my parents raised me. And although nothing or no one can ever replace “mom and dad,” there is so much more to life than the circle and neighborhood that you grow up in.

So I have to face it. I have to prepare myself to adjust and transition my place and role in my children’s hearts. If I’ve done my job well, they will never not want to be with me, love on me, talk to me, or care about my well-being. They will never go out and just forget me. But, if I’ve done my job well, they will also be able to live independent lives. Ones that are generous, merciful to others, compassionate, joyful, and intentional. They will be able to function and love developing friendships and relationships that are separate from the close bond that I hope we will always share.

It’s a strange thing. Yet somehow, should be so natural.

I will always be a mom. I will always be THEIR mom. But that part of my identity can’t become their WHOLE identity. It would cripple them.

And that’s the last thing I want.

So, I sit back and cheer them on. I hope to be a part of as many moments as I can in their lives. But I live and I love not just as a mom, but as a person. A woman who also has other identities and roles in her heart and life. None maybe as important – but still, they matter. And they shape me.

May the part of the identity in my children’s hearts that I play a part in, be one of the strongest and most beautiful. But may it only be a part. Because I want them to be whole people; their OWN people.

Nothing could be more beautiful than that.