Revelation on beauty please!!

This post is for the ladies. However, men, feel free to give this post a read as well. Perhaps it will help you to understand us crazy ladies a little better. ;)
My search for true beauty began many years ago with my own insecurity driving the search.
Since then I have come to understand beauty in a way that I never even knew existed. I'm now beginning to see to what extent that this world sees beauty in the wrong light.
God IS beauty.  That has been my revelation.
Yeah, yeah, we all know he is beautiful. But, ladies, true revelation on this will change your lives! And WE are in this together.
He is the only thing beautiful. And the cool thing is that when you begin to understand that, you begin to see Him in all things. Even the "ugliest" human on earth has beauty. God made them. They just don't know their beauty... yet. Every person's gift, talent, mind, heart, is so entirely beautiful. Music, voices, smiles, personalities... I could go on. Everything good comes from God, and He is beautiful.
So, why is it then, that we women, who (let me be frank) have been comparing ourselves to the girls in the magazines, have not been loving ourselves.
Something that made my heart sink last weekend while I was at a Propel Women conference is... well... picture this:
4000 women gather in a church to seek God. It's a leadership conference. These women are there because they love God, and they want to grow in their faith and in leadership.
The very well known speaker, Christine Cain, says out of faith:
"Be good Christians, and bow your heads... Don't look up".
She continued to invite anyone who was considering sleeping with a man to keep him, to be bold and raise her hand so that we can pray for them. What happened next shocked and saddened me.
Of course I was thinking "wow, who would raise their hand in this crowd of female Christian leaders". Christine continued on "Thank you, thank you, thank you for raising your hand. We will pray for you."
She said two dozen women raised their hands. She continued with encouraging words to say to these beautiful women ... as my mind wandered off.
My heart sunk.  
It got me thinking about all the women that were not bold enough to raise their hands. It got me thinking about all of the women (not just women, Christian women) that do not see themselves as valuable enough to honor their bodies. How many Christian women are exploiting themselves on the internet RIGHT NOW. I am confident that someone reading this right now is living this first hand. (My goal is not to condemn or judge you. My goal is to pour out the love of Jesus on you and tell you, you have more value then that!! And I am praying you have revelation on your beauty and worth!)
And if you are a man that has been reading this and I still have your attention, let me challenge you to see beauty for what it really is. True beauty is much more satisfying!
One of my favorite verses of all time is John 10:10, because it quickly describes the consequences of our choices. Choose God, or choose satan. Because every choice we make is doing one or the other.
So what now? 
Ask God to show you. Ask God to show you how beautiful He is. Ask for the Holy Spirit to speak to you and show you how His beauty exists in you. It is THEE most fulfilling. And please, accept God's grace! He can and will fix anything. He is the Healer!
I also want you to know something. I could have been that girl that raised her hand at the conference. In fact, I used to be that girl!

John 10:10 A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. 

Submit to your husbands!!!

A lot of us cringe at that statement.  But when you look deeper into it, it's actually kinda fun!  Let me explain...

1 Peter 1:3 says "wives, submit yourself to your own husbands..."

My pastor once said that "submit" means to "come alongside"; be a team.  I looked up the word submit in it's original Greek and it said "a voluntary attitude of giving in, assuming responsibity, and carrying a burden".  I LOVE THAT!!

I see it this way.  Hubby comes home from work, it was a stressful day, and he starts talking about it.  I listen!  The house is clean (less stress on him), and supper is waiting.  He gets to tell me about all the issues he's had all day, and then what happens?  The answer comes later in the verse: "if some (husbands) disobey the Christian message, they will be won over".

Something happens.  God is able to work in him, through you!

My house is by no means clean every day.  Supper is NOT ready for him every day.  I am by no means 100% supportive when I should be.  But winning him over to God sounds like some fantastic incentive to do what I can on my end!

(For more read 1 Peter 3:1-6!) ;)

God doesn't lie!

Jesus Wept.

Jesus wept.
-John 11:35

We've all seen the shortest verse in the bible.  Weeping.  If Jesus did it, we should do it.

"We live in a tearless society. Compassion runs low. We rarely weep.  We are desensitized to reality, partly because we have been conditioned by TV not to believe it, or to see evil as ordinary. We watch murder and violence every night on little boxes in our living rooms, and we are used to it. We sit with TV dinners, watching the new news reports of worldwide hunger, followed by commercials for gourmet cat food, and we don't take anything seriously."
-Lester Sumrall

Lord, teach me to have compassion. Teach me to weep like you wept.

My Garden

Sometimes we make the wrong choices.  Mistakes.  Some are little.  Some are huge.  And it seems like, the bigger the mistake, the bigger the consequence.  We reap what we sow.

I shared my testimony the other day.  The response was interesting.  "I thought your life was perfect" one person said.  If you only knew.

This week, the enemy tried to put me back into my old way of thinking.  "You haven't changed" were the thoughts running through my head.  "You are not worthy to talk to God" echo'd in my mind.

Lies.

That's what satan does.

The best part is, we reap what we sow.  I began the journey of sowing good seed 19 years ago.  Today, I see beautiful growth.  I see sturdy trees, beautiful shrubs, and new flowers blooming in my life.  I do sometimes see weeds trying to creep back in.  But the good has taken over the garden!

So, when satan lies to me, I plant more good seed.  And I'm so thankful for my friends that take time to water and shine light on my garden!

Radio today, bouncy castles tomorrow!

Well, I was surprised (yet not) when someone I admire and respect approached me about a job a few weeks ago.  Not just a job, but a job that was tailor made for my skills and personality.   I'm what they need and they are what I need.  We agreed, "a God thing" is what it was.

Although content in my job, I have been telling close friends that I know I won't work in radio forever.  In the last few weeks I spoke with my boss and some folks in upper management, that radio is going in one direction and I am going in another.  Although I am proud of the quality of radio we present, I am not proud of some of the content; the songs. I understand radio is radio.  Radio is not changing.  I am.  I just believe in speaking life giving words. That's my life's long term goal.  There are some good songs that we play for sure.  But the songs that are degrading to humans make my heart sad.  The truth is that I never listen to the radio stations that I DJ.  Praise & worship is what I love most.

Recently I had the opportunity to fill in on CHVN. A dream job.  I love what they stand for.  Being on CHVN and being able to encourage and speak life was an amazing experience.  However, I've learned that there was no chance of a permanent place for me there.  It was a sad reality for me.  And then going back to pop and country was disheartening for me.

Yet I learned to be content.  Knowing that for now, this is where I needed to be.  I learned to trust God.

And then I got the call. :)

I tried stepping away from radio in 2005 and 2010.  Radio is an addictive thing!  There's many years I depended on radio for self worth.  I would leave and come back, leave and come back.  I'm happy to say that my job no longer defines me.  I feel free from this "radio addiction".  :)  It's time for a change.

I am so grateful to radio.  In the 15 years I spent at GWB, it has grown and improved by leaps and bounds as have I.  And I had an amazing "radio father" who was full of encouragement and mentoring.  His people skills, wisdom, support, encouragement, and kindness is something I will always admire and take with me.  My boss, but more so, my friend, is an incredible person.  Always learning, never afraid to be wrong, and continually working to be a better person and employee.  I have made so many amazing lasting friendships through radio!

I can't say I will never do radio again.  Never say never.  I did love it!  But for right now, I know in my heart it's over, and that thought brings me great peace.

To the people I've worked with:  fellow employees, listeners, and the amazing people I've met through community events, THANK YOU.  My life is richer because of you!  See you around!!

Soon I will be a part of an amazing new team who's job is to bring joy and make people smile.  I'm SO pumped!