Simple Home Living: Musings

Showing posts with label Musings. Show all posts

Sunday, March 16, 2008

HeartHeartHeart

Unless you hear a heart ~ you can't carry one in your heart. (Lylah's Kingdom Musings)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Thoughts on Body Image and Today's Woman

Body image (for a woman) is a mind thing—not a body thing. Media and other voices seek to distort true beauty. True beauty is that which comes from a woman’s soul—and it’s a work of God in that woman.

Without digressing into eating disorder issues or other body image perfection additions—please consider the wonderful realities that no matter what we THINK of our body image—God says we were fearfully and wonderfully made. It was in the secret place of our mother’s womb (Psalm 139) that He carefully and specifically knit us together. We are awesome image bearers of God and He delights in us.

The Song of Solomon is a good book to read. The mind set of the Shulamite must become ours, “I am dark, but lovely.” (SOS 1:5) May I challenge you to do whatever it takes to care about being healthy (starting from the inside out) rather than perfect.

May I challenge you to do the best with what God has given you and thank Him daily for your life and health and strength. If you continually struggle with body image—be vulnerable enough to talk it out in a Coffee Talk Group or connect with Linda, a Life Coach Mom. Get to the roots of wrong, destructive thinking.

God wants all women to walk like a queen—and biblical queens aren’t concerned if they’re perfect enough.

How God Built Girls (Women)

Family Systems and Dad's Building Blocks
God built girls to be loved, nurtured, doted on, cared for and kissed and cuddled a lot. He built little girls to need hugs and tender mom touches. He built little girls to need to hear words like, “I love you my precious, darling princess and I’m so proud of you.”

He built little girls to be held on laps, taken for walks, and hear talks about God and how good He is. He built little girls to be protected and provided for (food, shelter, clothes, education). He built little girls to feel cared for and to be spoken gently too. He built little girls to LOVE being a girl!

Good Mothering
Good mothering gives little girls a needed foundation to love being a girl. God wants moms to provide the secure, nurturing place for her little daughter so she can grow up and feel secure and know that it’s wonderful being FEMALE. You'll know if it's happened because of the sparkle in the eye. (This is my 3rd granddaughter.)

Culture tries to make it not so wonderful—but God says it is. Culture has distorted the beautiful image of being a woman. Fashion magazines, TV and things like that give an “impression” that is damaging.

If you have daughters, what impression are you giving them? If you have sons how are you modeling being a Biblical woman? In what ways are you modeling respect?

Missing Blocks & Shame . . .
Too bad... some girls just don’t know how special they are because their mom or dad never told them they were . . . or someone told them they were stupid, or ugly . . . or a little fat . . . too short . . . or simply just not good enough . . . or maybe mom or dad were simply silent.

The family system was shame-based—and behaviorally oriented—love and acceptance was based on what the girl did or didn’t do. But God’s opinion is different. And, He’s the final say so—He’s the authority—because HE made US!

It really doesn’t matter what anyone else says about YOU—it matters what God says about YOU because He’s the ONE who created you...He had the first thoughts about you and designed YOU to bear His Image and to have a real relationship with Him (and others)...and He made YOU incredibly special.

There comes a point in a woman's life where she must see that she IS a treasure - God's treasure and she must take away the authority that she gave to others to define her . . . that authority that doesn't line up with what God says. Brides (married or not) need to do that.

Image . . .
Women that struggle in knowing they are a 10 or like I say, "The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread!" will not walk like a 10. Men with wrong motives will see that and take advantage of that. Hmmm...you know what I mean.

A lot of women seem to struggle with body image. Thoughts of size 0 perfection, flawless faces, no gray, California babe and lustful voluptuousness can gnaw at an American woman’s mind descending her to a pit of shame for not measuring up—to what? - to whose yardstick? - media? - immature men? - a father’s critical words—a mother wanting her daughter to be “perfect” so she (the mother) will “seem perfect” to others? It's an issue of authority.

Body image (for a woman) is a mind thing—not a body thing. Media and other voices seek to distort true beauty. True beauty is that which comes from a woman’s soul—and it’s a work of God in that woman. Without digressing into eating disorder issues or other body image perfection additions—please consider the wonderful realities that no matter what we THINK of our body image—God says we were fearfully and wonderfully made. It was in the secret place of our mother’s womb (Psalm 139) that He carefully and specifically knit us together. We are awesome image bearers of God and He delights in us.

Did you ever think of it this way: when a woman doesn't see herself as God's awesome and beautiful creation, she is insulting her Creator. It's like saying, "O' Creator, You did a poor job here." So, let's not insult our Creator. He only does great work.
creation

The Song of Solomon is a good book to read. The mind set of the Shulamite must become ours, “I am dark, but lovely.” (SOS 1:5) Let me encourage you to do whatever it takes to care about being healthy (starting from the inside out) rather than perfect.

Let me also encourage you to do the best with what God has given you and thank Him daily for your life and health and strength. If you continually struggle with body image—be vulnerable enough to talk it out in a Coffee Talk Group, so that you can get to the roots of wrong, destructive thinking.

God wants all women to walk like a queen—and biblical queens aren’t concerned if they’re perfect enough.

Made in the Image of God

When God created YOU and Me—He created us to love Him and to learn to love others. You are His amazing creation! He made YOU special– absolutely unique—one of a kind—no one else like YOU! YOU were created to be special! As a matter of fact—there’s no other girl like YOU. Everything about YOU God put together—on purpose—your eye color, hair color, bone structure, the way you think and learn, and all those special talents you have. He did a good job when He made YOU!

After God created the heavens and the earth and filled it with beauty – He created man – the Bible says He created you and me in His own image. God wrote in Genesis 1:27 “So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” There’s nothing else in all the earth that’s been created by God that is IN HIS IMAGE. How special is that!

Do you know that you are the most awesome work of God’s hand? Made in His image, above His creation and all created beings, you are the crown of His creation! Unlike the animals, humans beings made in His Image are morally responsible beings. We have capacity to choose deliberately, to think and love deeply, to create awesomely, to be in intimate relationship with Him and others, to rule, reflect, remember and resolve conflict.

Get this, in you, is the very image of God. Wow! No matter how messed up or insecure a girl might feel and no matter what her self-image is, SHE have a God image because He designed her. No matter whether she thinks she’s not pretty or not smart - God totally loves her and thinks she’s special. He loves her so much that He made a plan for her to join His family and have a special, one-on-one relationship with just Him.

He wants to take all the messed up parts and turn them around. See, when a girl invites Jesus into her life to take over, she enters into a personal relationship with God as His darling daughter. Jesus has so much for us. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it to the max.” Until we get to know our heavenly DAD, we don’t really live the ultimate life.

The One Thing I Know . . .

Grandkiddos spent the night and Ivana (like I figured) came strolling in our room about 10:30 and just about scared the bi-geebies out of me.

She always comes in. She stands right next to my side of the bed, "doe - does" (those are blankets) in arm, quietly, waiting, little taps on my head . . . "Nana, can I sleep with you and Poppi?"

One thing I know . . . is that probably when she's four, she won't come so softly, nor have the need to sleep next to Nana.

One thing I know . . . is that, even though, I have a sorta sleepless night (her knees jab my back and periodically she'll toss both legs over my stomach (that's interesting in the night) . . . I'm delighted that she feels safe enough to let me make her safe enough. I will miss the nights and the "nuggles."

Another thing I know . . . is that many women struggle with Father - God being safe enough to make them feel safe enough.

When father isn't protective or absent or present or not there - it sure skews a girls perspective of Father God.

The importance of dad's building blocks
How you view your marriage and life and God today has been effected by your “girl-hood” experiences and the relationship with your father from yesterday. What a father says or doesn’t say effects little girls deeply. And, any un healed father-wounds often drive us to wear masks. I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to every woman who wears a mask to protect your life pain, that you will know that only the pain you reveal can be healed.

My pastor husband is teaching us, the sweet sheep, through the book of Matthew. This past Sunday, the pasture we ate in was the Beatitudes.

Jesus said that those who mourn are blessed because then they shall be comforted (Mathew 5:4). Comfort comes after mourning, and the woman who has learned to be real with her pain and mourn will be a blessed woman.
Surely, this is not the culture's thinking—culture says to hide your pain, pretend everything’s OK and wear cute masks so that no one will know that you aren’t OK and that you hurt on the inside.

God says, “you’re OK” cause He made you in His Image. God says, “I love you just how you are and He says "I will never leave you or forsake you and I long for you to be free in your areas of bondage that you hide behind and violate love by self-protective stances.”

God says, “I want to heal your father-wounds and take off your masks so that you can YADA (know in Hebrew) me as the Ultimate Father.

How a woman relates to her dad is how she'll relate to her husband.