We’ve been on a beauty hunt. Trying to recognize it in ourselves. Because God says He has made everything beautiful.
Your answers? Written down in five sacred minutes – they filled me up.
I had to share at least a few.
This is what women see when they search honestly for beauty:
I chase her down but, elusive, she stays just out of reach. I find myself thinking that maybe just maybe if I eat less or if I happen to stumble upon a fabulous hair day or I throw on that pretty new outfit…maybe she’ll show up and I can hold her for longer than brief seconds… I don’t know if it’s so much beauty that I desire, but the confidence of a woman whose position is strong and secure. To be beautiful requires exhaling into all of who He made me to be. Walking with Him…confident, secure, grounded, solid…..beautiful. ~Katy
Beauty…sitting in our local Coffee House and suddenly hearing our four year old son singing in the bathroom at the top of his lungs, “He is worthy to praise.” ~ Loni
We had a “photo shoot” at work this week.
They needed updated staff shots for our web-site.
THE STRESS!
I watched as every woman on staff including myself was sent into a sheer panic.
As silly as the frenzy was what I loved watching was how each woman on staff supported each other.
Friends stayed for friends helping make sure their bangs weren’t being odd.
Friends made silly faces so that smiles were genuine.
Friends encouraged and lavished each other with compliments of beauty. ~ Carey
There was a time when beauty was hard for me to see. …Most of the time I was awkward, never quite the one to fit in. Never the popular girl, but shy and scared. I heard those harsh words that would rattle our house, that would sting hard. Anger that would swell, and I took it personal.
One day beauty found me in my darkest place. I was captivated by a Savior who loved me no matter what…I was a princess to my Heavenly Father. ~ Denise
Today I met a friend and I noticed she hadn’t shaved. So I asked why she wasn’t shaving. She told me that she realized that if she didn’t shave for a few days she would start to feel very uncomfortable around people, almost ashamed. And that she felt this wasn’t right, that it’s a normal part of our body and should not be a shame feature when you don’t shave.
So she decided to stop shaving all together. And she likes it. And her husband likes it. ~ Krista
Writing about beauty seems kind of silly when you are 37 1/2 weeks pregnant. Everyone else thinks you are beautiful, but all I can see right now is the end in sight {you know, when I’ll get my body back}. …Then we went for pedicures… and we laughed and laughed and laughed …I love having shiny new pretty feet all ready for labor… but I also remember one thing… God’s Word and how it says my feet are beautiful if I spread His good news. ~ Traci Michelle
Am I beautiful?
I ask it to the constellations scattered over the humming wild night. I ask it to the strangers who smile at me in the airport as I wait for my flight to help my beautiful friend get married this weekend. I wonder it silently in my eyes and in my heart, and I look in the mirror so curious about that girl who looks back at me.
Beauty is flinging wide the doors of your heart, no matter the past hurt and the past confusion, no matter if the question lingers late in the afternoon or if you don’t think you’ll ever get an answer.
And so my heart’s wide open. ~Hilary
I don’t find much beauty in a place populated by strip malls and highways. I try to look past the never ending skyline of suburbia and see to the heart of my home. I see beauty in the well worn path to the home of a dear friend, beauty in my place of worship and in freedom, and beauty in knowing that familiarity does not actually breed contempt, it breeds a sense of belonging. ~Kimberly
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been good at finding beauty. It’s when I turn my gaze on myself that the trouble comes. All through my childhood, teens and early twenties, I was convinced that I was ugly. When I look at pictures of myself from those times, I’m amazed that I felt so horrible. I see a girl who may not be conventionally beautiful, sure, but whose smile is warm, hair is glossy, eyes are bright. I want to call her and tell her she’s pretty. ~Claire
i’ve been thinking on beauty in earnest for the past fourteen years. about six months after the birth of my first daughter. twenty-two months later with the birth of my second daughter. and then sixteen months more, with the coming of my third.
and i realized that my ideas of beauty that i’d carried some thirty-long years were going to need a makeover.
an overhaul.
a trip to the salon. ~ Hope Unbroken
Some days it’s not easy to see beauty. It’s easier to see that heat and humidity make my skin flush and my hair go crazy. Or that I don’t weigh what I want to. Or I just plain don’t feel good about myself some days. And then I remember. When we insult ourselves, we insult God’s creation. For we are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.” ~Amy
Perhaps I have always equated beauty with perfection…moments in time when all the world seems right, when things are smooth, when hope and joy are in abundance. But maybe beauty can live in chaos. Maybe beauty can live in pain. Maybe beauty can live in me, despite me. ~ Jen
Beauty. I find it easy to find beauty in many things. The sun filtering through the leaves. The dimples on my little girl. The deep brown eyes of my boy. The chubby knees of my baby boy. The strong shoulders of my husband. But in me? I struggle.
And I wonder, why is this such a struggle for me?
As I contemplate that answer, I think that a lot of it has to do with who I have given authority in deciding what is beautiful in me. ~ Dayebydaye
When they see her, it’s the eyes they notice first: wide and brown and lashes the length of I-70 across Kansas. Then her dimples, not in her cheeks, but under those big brown eyes. Then her laugh, her smile, then her speed. Because she won’t let you look at her long. She’s too busy, too fast, too mature for such trivial things as the outstanding beauty of a 4-year-old girl on fire for life. ~JackandDellasMum
Beauty is not red lipstick. It is a word fitly spoken, a prayer for loved ones, a prayer for our enemies, a compliment, praise, words of thanks, a kiss, a lullaby, and “I love you’s.” ~Kelly
This girl has the real beauty I think. Laughing comes easily to her, because she knows it’s the beauty of life. She knows that even the small things can be funny. This is my cousin who has beauty in more ways than one. My cousin who will not talk till she sees the beauty of heaven. ~Bethanne
I am beautiful in and out
Created in his very image – a display of His glory
Called out of darkness into His marvellous light
Beautiful ‘cos He’s in me and I in Him
Beauty resides in my home! ~Atshaibu
Beauty is family loving each other, despite each other. ~Sophia
And there, in the distance on the jetty was Lana, the secretary at the school. I was wondering what she was doing there, and as my eyes fixed on her as we drove by, she was standing with her arms raised to Heaven and her face gleaming and staring upward in worship of Jesus. It was all of 10 seconds that I caught this site, and it was one of the most lasting and beautiful pictures of worship I had seen. It impacted me from that moment on.
I wanted THAT kind of beauty! ~ Jennifer
She has changed me.
I no longer complain about my hair.
She is listening.
I no longer fuss about my weight.
She is watching.
I no longer berate my features.
I want to teach her the One who made us both makes no mistakes.
I know this awe I inspire in her won’t last forever. She is only five. But for now, I don’t have to look in the mirror to see beauty reflected back at me.
I just look into her eyes.~ Gaby
{Thank you for sharing your words and your beauty with me}
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Wow. Such great, encouraging words about beauty. Timely words, too, as I was shocked into a state of questioning beauty yesterday.
After my 4 year old had his bath, he was sitting on the bathroom counter. He looked at the mirror and asked, “Why do bathrooms have mirrors? Is it to look and see if we’re pretty?”
Where did he learn the message that mirrors show beauty? Where? The message that beauty is what you see in the mirror is usually aimed at girls. Where did my son learn it?
And then I wondered, did he learn it from me? I don’t think so. Because I am well aware that that message is a lie. But what if I’ve sent that message and didn’t even realize it? My goal as a mom of boys is to model what a lady is, which has nothing to do with mirrors and everything to do with the heart.
That one simple question has shaken up my world. And I realize that it’s a battle to fight continuously. For both girls AND boys.
Yes, wow indeed. That’s so so powerful. I’ve faced the same thing with my boys asking me about make up and why I need it if they don’t….makes a mama think…
I gave up nail polish because of not having a good answer to the boys’ questions about it. And I don’t miss it one bit. (well, once in a rare while). “Because that’s what girls do” seems like a cop-out answer, but there’s not a better answer that I’ve found to those questions about makeup and jewelry and “girly” things. It really does make a mama think!
I had such an amazing time reading about the various way people see beauty.
Thanks for the prompt and the shout-out:) You and all of these lovely ladies have me thinking about beauty in new ways.
And on a completely separate note, I’m enjoying immensely your hamster adventures on FB. Our adventures with our dear, sweet Snickers were short lived. In fact, I may have been accused of plotting his early demise. By my husband. Oh, dear.
What a beautiful collection of “beauty” thoughts!!! I love this. Truly. And I want my 14 and 12-year old daughters to read these thoughts, to be inspired by the lovely women who have gone before and taken the time to write out what God has shown them in this area. I know they will be deeply encouraged.
THANK YOU for reading, and then for compiling so many good sayings here in one place. I think I read the majority of them, but will have to go back and catch the few that I missed now.
I just can’t over-emphasize what a testimony this has been to my own heart.
steph
Some time not too long ago I saw myself as *beautiful*. God invited me to see myself that way and truly, I was so pleasantly surprised. When I look in the mirror and see the passion behind my eyes and hear Him speak how He created me this way, I nearly cry–every. time. Because it’s true, there’s beauty in me (and you) and it’s astonishing we haven’t noticed it all this time. We’ve been comparing our beauty with the beauty of others and forgetting that He made us the way we are, and truly that’s beauty in the truest form. This *beauty talk* is life changing–truly.
I am totally for the not shaving thing. My husband loves my slightly furry transformation! I’m so blessed!
what a beautiful blessing this post is! :) thank you.
Wonderful. And much needed this morning. Love that picture of you girls from law school – what beautiful smiles :)
What beautiful words of beauty…made me smile today :) Thank you for sharing Lisa-Jo!
The most beautiful post I’ve read in a long time.
Lisa Jo,
This is a lovely post, and a wonderful culmination of words and women. Thank you for gathering all of us together, and for including me. It was a sweet surprise.
Blessings my friend!
I read quite a few of the posts on the link-up, but I still missed some really good ones. These are just wonderful, and thank you for including me, too.
so beautiful seeing them all compiled. definitely stretches me to keep on redefining and examining the truth about beauty and my own version. =)
thanks for the shout-out as well!! <3
These insights into beauty are so lovely and remind me of gentle summer breezes. They will come upon us, sometimes unexpectedly, but always welcome and refreshing, and fill us with delight and surprise.
As we each come to terms with what beauty means for us and to us, and how we communicate that to ourselves and to the world, and especially to our sons and daughters, we realize that we need to be that breath of fresh air, that gentle breeze that blows away the clouds of doubt which hide the beauty within.
Thanks so much for this topic. It has been incredibly inspiring and uplifting.
It was pure delight writing about beauty and linking back to read what others had shared. I was blessed. Should have seen my squeal and delight at seeing my post included! thank you once again for the prompt! *wink
Thanks so much for this reminder and all your efforts to put this together. It was well said and a sweet collection of encouraging reminders of this journey- I just had to post on it on my own site and some of my own reflections over the years…. Thanks again!
Dear Lisa-Jo,
Thank you so very much for so generously including my excerpt in this post! Wow! I feel so honored. Blessings to you! You have an amazing ministry to women through your blog.
God bless :)
That post was beautiful. I just tonight, at 3am started reading your blog. I am nursing my 8 week old daughter, and I crave all of that beauty, in every description. I have always thought God never blessed me with a girl because, I’m “that” girl, the one who doesn’t have a very healthy opinion of herself, and shares that unhealthy opinion of other women too. So judgmental of outer beauty. My heart knows these thoughts trap you, but my brain can’t quite reprogram itself. So as I sou here, holding my sweet baby girl, I’m encouraged by all these words of love and wisdom. And I will continue to beg God to create a healthy mindset of beauty, a mindset of what His beauty is. Mainly for my daughter, but for me too. Thank you, your blog is beautiful, it really is.
P.s. This would make an incredible book, devotional, journal and childrens book. Thats how much I love this!
What a delightful and beautiful way of putting together all these “beauty thoughts!”
I don’t know how I stubbled across this, but I’m glad I did. I have been struggling at 32 weeks pregnant, not feeling beautiful. Doesn’t help my husband doesn’t like the ‘big pregnant’ look…. not like I can help it haha. Thank you for this – puts things in perspective, and we are always beautiful in the eyes of our Creator. Hallelujah!
Blessings
I just came across this article while browsing during a break. The descriptions of beauty are astonishing. It is awe inspiring to read about how different women view beauty differently.
Gaby’s interpretation of beauty and the caution she takes in exposing her daughter to negative comments should be praised by all women. I am in my mid-twenties, and just now coming to terms with my own view of my beauty. My mother is a woman who focuses on all the negative aspects of one’s body – height, weight, etc. My mother thinks that to be beautiful one has to be perfect – and particularly weigh a certain number. Happiness eluded me for many years in trying to please my mother, who for the last 5 years has told me “you need to lose weight”; “you were most beautiful when you weighed ____ amount”. Despite my personal and academic achievements, I felt she still didnt view me as good enough because I wasn’t thin enough. If only I had my mother’s body type – but alas, I do not. And it took years of building courage to finally tell her that I could care less what she thought about my weight – it does not define me. It doesn’t get me excellent grades, make a salary, raise beautiful babies, or make a marriage last.
It took eight years of being single, many heartbreaks, and a chance meeting with my current boyfriend of 2 years for me to realize that every single part of my body and soul is beautiful. Not just beautiful in a sexual nature, but beautiful in the curves of my body and the way it moves. It should be celebrated – every day for the rest of our lives. I will never – and I truly mean this – say to my daughter “oh I hate how much I weigh”, “dieting is essential”, or “supermodels have the perfect bodies!”. Proper nutrition and exercise is essential to staying healthy, NOT fad diets or other unhealthy choices. Supermodels have beautiful bodies, but they are not perfect. I want my daughter to see herself as beautiful because she is unique. She is the only version of herself there is, and ever will be. Life is too short to be anything but happy.
This is an amazing look at what beauty really means. I’m a young teenager, but I know what real beauty is, or at least I’m pretty sure I’ve got it figured out. Beauty isn’t perfect hair, perfect eyes, or perfect teeth, but it’s the light that’s inside of your heart. It’s kindness, love, and compassion that you show to others. And it’s realizing that you are God’s daughter, and that he made you exactly the way he wanted you; and that means that you are absolutely beautiful in his eyes, and that is all that matters. Thanks you, everyone who contributed to this. You are amazing women. :)
well it is very sad nowadays that many of them think they are, especially the ones with their Attitude Problem.