A blonde is running as fast as she can to catch the bus, her hair whipping all over the place as she tries to hold onto her laptop, backpack, duffel bag, lunch bag, coffee mug, and a stack of textbooks.  She almost trips. She is panting like nobody’s business.  The bus door closes and she whimpers and runs faster.  The bus driver sees her and graciously waits.  She sits down, exhausted, and tries to set down all her stuff without dropping a book or letting her Tupperware containers make their getaway.

This was me a couple weeks ago!

As I sat there on the bus, I was fully aware that I was loaded with way to much stuff.  I also noticed that others around me were only carrying a purse or a small backpack.  At that moment God spoke to my heart, and I began to wonder what the world would look like through His eyes.  What would I see?  Though I was physically weighed down with heavy baggage, I wondered how many people on that bus were carrying around emotional, spiritual, and relational baggage.

Girls, can you relate?  Are you carrying a lot of baggage while trying to hide behind a mere purse or little backpack?  You don’t need to pretend with God. He knows you have been hurt by relationships and jaded by the world. He sees your weariness, your pain, your wounds, and your disappointments.

“Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

These are the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew.  Hold onto them, and shed your baggage.

Michelle

Found this on Eric Bryant’s blog.  You girls are going to love this sweet old man…

What has God gifted you to do that you could never stop doing? How can you help others with this gift?  How can you do it in secret?

Start today.

Over the years I’ve had a love hate relationship with a “polished piece of metal”. . . yep, the mirror! It started out as my childhood friend. We were great pals -bosom buddies some might say. Like every little girl, I used it to admire myself when I dressed up as a princess, dreaming of the beautiful woman that I wanted to be one day. But around the time I turned 14, I started struggling with acne and the “loving dreamy” aspect of the mirror left.  Now, looking into it, the object that once helped me to dream, only seemed to criticize me, point out my every flaw, and scream at me with reasons of why I would never be the beautiful woman I dreamed of becoming.

Can you relate at all?!  Maybe your struggle isn’t keeping a clear complexion, maybe it’s your weight, your teeth, your height. Whatever it is, I think it’s safe to say we have all struggled, to some degree, with Self Image. We live in a world that’s obsessed with it!  Every day we are bombarded with images from the media of airbrushed flawless girls.  Magazines tell us the top 10 beauty tips, the fastest way to get “fabulous abs” and a great beach body. In a world where we are encouraged -almost expected- to look perfect, it’s no wonder we often become so consumed with the picture of who we ’should be.’  We end up despising the girl we see in the mirror.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of living up to a standard of flawless perfection overwhelms me!!!  So, I decided to GIVE UP… don’t worry, I still practise personal hygiene and put effort into getting myself ready for the day!  But I no longer let the mirror define who I am. In the middle of my struggle, the Lord showed me His heart. A heart that said “I value your life and what’s inside of you, more then what you see in the mirror.” (1Pet. 3:4)  A heart that told me He created me with precision and purpose (Ps. 139:13). A heart that said I was beautiful in His sight. (Ps. 45:11) This became my focus. It gave me a new standard to live up to. Believe me, I still have days when I’m not completely satisfied with the girl I see in the mirror..as we all will. Despite how we fail to measure up to the standard of beauty the world -and we ourselves- set for us, God still considers us His masterpiece.

Inside every woman is a desire to be beautiful. I think we can all agree on that.  But what really defines beauty?  It’s time for us as daughter’s of God to let go of the lies the world has spoken over us. My prayer is that we will come to a place where we are so saturated with the truth of who God says we are.  That we can look at the mirror and say “You don’t define me” and know what really does.

Love,  Jess

“Flirty girls are the worst.”

As a member of the male species, I can totally say this- no upstanding dude trusts a flirty girl. Maybe you know one, or maybe you are one:

You smile and/or wink and/or cuddle with pretty much every decent-looking boy.  Hugs are a little long.  You chat online and text constantly.  You’re always going out for coffee or dinner or a movie, with different guys, and you’re ‘just friends.’  Late night chats.  Heart-to-hearts.  Phone calls.  Flirting.  Whether you know it or not, there’s a very good chance that you are leading that poor guy on.

Can I give you a little piece of knowledge that’s worth it’s weight in gold?

If you flirt with every guy in the room, you’ll end up doing two things:

1. You will turn off every guy smart enough to realize that you’re just flirting with everyone.

2. You will attract every bonehead who is dumb enough to think that you’d actually settle down with him.

Here’s what it comes down to:

While you’d think that flirting with a lot of guys would increase your chances of getting a boyfriend, it actually decreases your chances of getting a GOOD one!!!

Dang.  There’s something to re-think about.

So what should you do instead?

Jay

“Money is a great servant but a cruel master.”

A wise friend quoted this to me a while back, and I distinctly remember adding it to my ever-growing collection of catchy one-liners.  A couple of years later however, I discovered that money was the number one competitor for my heart and had become a master in my life.

Ladies, the love of money is not always obvious- you might assume you are immune.  But let’s change the word money to “stuff” and answer a few questions:

Do you get jealous when others have more than you?
Do you envy your friends whose parents buy them whatever they want?
Do you tithe regularly (give a portion of God’s gifts back to Him)?
Are you content with what you have?

Jesus said that your heart is wherever your treasure is.  Where we choose to spend our money is a clear indicator to God where your priorities lie.  What is it for you? Clothes? Furniture? Haircare? Shoes? Decorating your home? Movies?

None of these are bad in themselves, but if you find yourself being discontent without feeding your fetish, it might be time to check your motives and identify who you are trying to impress.  Do not let money become your master. If you let Jesus be your master and money be your servant, you will discover a life of freedom AND fulfillment.  Let’s make that our goal this week!

Michelle