You are beautiful

Oh my gosh, people -- two in one week!  Can you stand it???

I am posting this from a book I have recently read.  I hope it helps you all as much as it helps me.  I have printed it out and plan to put it on my mirror in my bathroom.

You are beautiful.  You are a handcrafted treasure in the eyes of your God.  He loves first and foremost your inner beauty.  He is captivated by the ways you have sacrificed for your family.  He finds you breathtaking as you cook yet another meal, as you bandage a scrape, nurture a friend or take care of a sick husband or child.  Even when you are frustrated and not at your best, He delights in how you compose yourself, smile ruefully, and try to honor His ways.

Physically, He loves the way your smiles reaches up to your eyes, the way you laugh out loud when something strikes you as funny.  He adores the curve of your face, the way you dress up, and the way you dress down by donning your favorite pair of old jeans (or stay in your pajamas!)  He chuckles with pleasure when you wake up with “bed head,” and He can’t get enough of the beauty you expose when you are feeling playful.

You are His delight.  Read for yourself:

The king is enthralled by your beauty.  Psalm 45:11

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.   I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.   

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  Psalm 139:13-16

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11

How beautiful you are, my darling!  Oh, how beautiful!  Your eyes are doves! Song of Songs 1:15

…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. Isaiah 61:3

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:10

Not only does God find you captivating, He is also able to take the hurt, the “ashes” of your dreams, and turn them into something beautiful as well.  He is good, and He is absolutely crazy about you.  Hold on to that, cling to His truth.  Especially when you feel overwhelmed by the voices and feelings that try to whisper something different.  You may think, well, it’s great that God thinks I’m beautiful, but I want my husband to find me attractive!  That makes total sense, so of course you do.  But know this, if you believe what God says about you, your sense of personal beauty won’t be tied up in your husband actions, it will be founded on the truth.  That, in itself, will give you freedom to smile, freedom to be confident and freedom to walk through any situation with your head held high.