My First Devo- beauty

This past weekend we were in Denver City Friday-Sunday and this time the AIMers were in charge of organizing what would be going on. Usually our assistants tell us who we'll visit, what events are going on, who's house we'll have lunch at on Sunday, or whatever else is going on. We knew we had a lock-in on Friday night and the 8 of us were in charge of it. We had an ACDC meeting to plan it out and it went pretty well. I was really excited about this, especially for the split devo we decided to have. We would have a devo with everyone at the beginning of the night, led by Jacob, and later on split the guys and girls up for a more gender-focused devo. Chris and Van did the boys' devo and Ashton and I did the girls' devo. We were planning on doing these later on in the evening, but most of our plans got shifted around ("be flexible" as they say) and so we ended up doing these right after the main devo. Ashton and I didn't exactly have our materials ready but we quickly got our stuff prepared while Shae led songs.

The devo I led was on beauty. In our culture, girls are constantly pressured to look a certain way. They're shown images of models who are all skinny, with perfect skin, perfect hair, the nicest clothes, the latest trends and accessories. This is what makes a woman "beautiful". I showed the girls pics of these beauties from magazines and they picked out ones they'd want to look like. They were able to point out the qualities of these girls they wished they had...these qualities that just don't reflect reality. I read from part of a book called Wanting to be Her, which emphasized the image of beauty that we're faced with so often but is really a lie that our culture gets girls to believe, and damages their own self-image. We all admitted that there are times when we look in the mirror and just don't like what we see. My nose is too big, my complexion is gross, I lips are too thin, my hair is dull and flat...or frizzy. I'm too big, I'm too small, I'm not beautiful. These are the lies that we are told, and that we tell ourselves.

Then I went to scripture and told them what Real beauty is. I took about 4 different verses that show what beauty according to the word of God is. Girls really need to be reminded how beautiful they were made, and made to be with their lives. We were made in the image of God, each fearfully and wonderfully made. Beautiful are the feet of those who bring GOOD news, and not those who outwardly "do themselves up", but who radiate beauty from the inside out. Some of the girls told me they really liked the lesson and that made me happy because I felt like I was able to bring them some sort of light.

I know what its like to look at yourself and think, meh, I'm not pretty enough. I can't compare with that girl, she's so beautiful. The thing is, I'm not supposed to compare. Everyone is different, yet made to be beautiful. And if I continue in the way of the Lord, I'll have a beauty that can't be bought in a bottle or off a rack. It's the type of beauty I want others to notice because it reflects and points to the one who loves me all the time, whether I'm having a bad hair day, wearing no make up, totally don't match clothing...the One who made me to be exactly who I am.

I really hope the girls remember this in times to come because I know they'll face this issue time and time again. It's something I'll work to remind myself too.

Portrait of a Real Man

Six foot something, fit, and an air of confidence about him, the guy walked past everyone. Strutting his cowboy boots, blue jeans, and vest, he was fittingly fashionable and clean cut. He was what would appear to be just another guy who has it all together, going to say a selected few words in front of people, then sit down and continue looking like a guy who has it all together. Maybe he'd receive a few head nods at the words he read, though true, said quite flatly.

He took his place in front of us all and began to read. Nothing out of the ordinary. I might have not even been looking at him anymore. But then I heard it-a crack in his voice. I looked up and saw this confident looking man suddenly weak. His voice dropped and raised. His lips curled down. All eyes were now certainly on him as he attempted to continue reading the words in the book in front of him. I wondered, what's going on? Something must have happened. He's surely going to tell us some story of what happened to him that made him so emotional. There's some personal life application to what he's reading that has brought him to this state. He paused to try and collect himself while letting out a few wimpers first. Struggling through it, he read the rest of the scripture. As he choppily read, I realized there was no personal story to accompany it. There was no story about how his kid did something precious to remind of what faith really means. There was not story about his wife expressing what love means and in turn showing him how to be Christ. No story about anyone-just the reality of the words he read.

My brother from Denver City read from the book of Philippians, chapter 2. Wow. Amazing. Those were my thoughts. This strong looking man broke, surrendered, and wept like a child in front of us all at the reading of the word of the Lord. A man who loves the Lord. There's a REAL man.