No Matter What--You're Still Beautiful

Looking in the mirror, I frown.  What in the world?  I ask myself, “Is that hair under my chin?”  Pulling at the annoying strands, “Now come on now God, why would you let me grow some hair under my chin?  I’m a lady!  (my mind drifted and went on Sheneneh for a minute)  Anyhoo, this hair is worrying my nerves.  I can’t be seen with hair under my chin.  That’s for men, not ladies!  And why would God even allow that anyway?  Uuuuuggggghhhh!

I can imagine that I’m not the only woman or person experiencing this.  No matter how others view us, there is always something about ourselves that we don’t like.  As previously told in one my blogs—Sometime ago,  I met a beautiful young lady who was a little older than I and she looked marvelous.  She had grown children and she still looked flawless; shape and everything, but for whatever reason, she was not pleased or satisfied with herself and decided to have surgery.  For the life of me still to this day, I couldn’t understand that, b/c most people that I know that undergo such a surgery is….well large, however, this chick didn’t have any fat, rolls or nothing (only us big girls know what I’m talking about)!  No matter how many compliments she received from others, she had a problem with accepting herself. 

Now, I’m not saying to walk around looking any old kind of way, because I’m definitely not walking around with hair under my chin.  I’m too cute for that!!!  But what I am saying is—know that you are beautiful regardless.  Don’t allow what you see as flaws make you so paranoid and obsessed that you do something extreme or things to hurt yourself.  Don’t be so hard on yourself that you find yourself in a depressed kind of mode. 

The Bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  You might have to put some make up on to cover some blemishes.  You might have to wear a girdle.  You might even have to shave that unwanted hair from under your chin (ha ha haaaaaaaa), but baby you are still beautiful.   

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa

I Will Not Let You Die

I’ve noticed it for quite some time that she had been falling off.Week after week, she was looking weaker and weaker.I didn’t know exactly what I should do for her, so as much as I wanted to help, I didn’t do anything for her at all. Besides watered her, I just watched.

Today was a little different as I was sitting here looking at my plant in her current state, I felt compel to move and do something to try and save her fragile life.  Although just a plant, it symbolizes life at its best.  And I feel that as long as there is life, there is always a chance.  Always hope.

There are several ways we can look at this, but let me just flow with it for a minute.  Sometimes we have good seasons and sometimes not so good seasons.  We flourish, we grow, we bloom and we excel. Then there are times when we are down and out, sickly and frail, and more vulnerable to our environments.  Sometimes we’re strong.And then other times we’re weak.  Those are just some of the same stages a plant may go through.

As an observer, my heart began to ache at the declining health of the plant.  I remembered when she was so full and pretty.  She was growing and everyone that saw her complimented on her beauty. J ust seeing her made me smile.  But now what? Now that she needs me the most, do I just turn my back on her and let her die.  Do I just sit and watch her deteriorate?
 

Have you ever been in a situation where you saw someone in pain or in need and wanted to do something to help them?  I believe this is where God was with us.  We were sick.  We were dying and He couldn’t and wouldn’t allow us to die.  He sent a Savior- someone to save us from ALL sickness (physically, mentally, and/or emotionally).   He sent someone to heal the broken-hearted and to lift the heavy burdened.

The more I thought about how God’s love for us demonstrates RESTORATION- The process of repairing or renovating a building, work of art, etc., so as to restore it to its original condition—which is wholeness, I decided to no longer sit and just watch her die. As a matter of fact, “I refuse to let her die,” is what I told myself.

I will do all that I can to restore her back to her original state.I will nurture it, pour into it, and I will even SPEAK life back into it.   I refuse to let her die.  I refuse to let you die!  So, no matter what you may be dealing with today, no matter how bad you may be hurting today, don't give up, help is on the way!  Know that God loves you and wants you whole.   Know that there is absolutely nothing too hard for God.   Respond to his love.  Respond to his voice, and watch and see how you bloom.

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa

IT'S NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS

Today I was thinking about when my family first moved to Atlanta in 2009, we (my husband and I) spent almost a year and a half bored to life without any friends.  (Yes , I meant to say bored to life b/c I choose not to use such negative words as bored to death, tickled me to death, etc.—so instead I choose to use the word life.) 

Anyhoo, last year, my baby girl was outside playing with one of her friends and somehow, one of their necklaces got caught up on a limb in a tree, when they tossed it up in the air (don’t ask me cause I just don’t know why).  Instead of them asking an adult to help them get the necklace down, they attempted to retrieve it themselves by throwing jumbo rocks up in the sky.  Well guess what happened—you guessed it right, they broke someone’s windshield, and unfortunately for me, it was my daughter’s rock that busted the glass on the Nissan Pathfinder.

Just as it is with most apartment complexes, any type of accident will bring an audience to yard—some concerned and others just nosey.  The police came out and wrote up an accident report, but because it was a parked vehicle, they couldn’t charge anyone with “at fault”.  Well to do the right thing, we ended up paying for the neighbors’ windshield to be repaired, which was close to 300 bucks.

After the officer left, we ended up meeting some really cool people out of the “watchers” that stayed in the same building as we did.  Since then, we have become like one big family—sisters and brothers.  They have been a blessing to both me and my husband.   I needed a sister and my husband definitely needed a brother.

So you see, had not my daughter bust the windshield, we probably wouldn’t have met our friends, Ron and Camone.  What started out as a disaster, ended up being a blessing.   Since then, we have moved four hours away, but our friendship is just as strong as it was before we left.   Even though we had to come out of our pocket a pretty penny, I thank God for my sister and brother because meeting them taught me that everything is not always as bad as it seems.   Sometimes there is really good in the bad.

Stay Hopeful,

Clarissa