#IAmBeautiful #30DayChallenge

During the month of March I've spent a good bit of time reflecting on what it means to be beautiful.  If we are Facebook friends chances are you've seen the hashtag #IAmBeautiful #30DayChallenge from me.  It stemmed out of working with my girls from the campus ministry I help lead at State, Chi Alpha (XA).

We usually assign different challenges when we meet weekly and this time around we decided to try the "I Am Beautiful 30 Day Challenge."  You can find it here.  It served as a reminder to me of my worth, who I am in Christ, and the woman I aspire to be.  I think from a bigger picture view it caused me to reflect on my purpose.

To anyone who stops by my site today, I'd like to encourage you to go to my search box and type in "Beauty Reflected."  That's the title of one of my old posts which was also inspiration for one of my songs, Conversations, to be released on my upcoming project.

My hope is that today and every day you will know your worth.  You are valuable.  You are important.  You are worthy.  You are beautiful!  I could go on and on about how wonderful and amazin' YOU are! ;)

So...please don't allow God and Carlena to be the only ones to recognize and speak of your worth.  Know it for yourself and be sure of it!  We have been indeed fearfully and wonderfully made by God!

BUT... I do want to add this in...

I don't think folks touch on it enough.  And everyone may not agree with me...

Ladies & Gents!...I understand folks may say, "It's the inside that matters the most.."  While this is true, please don't take that as your approval to walk around lookin' broke, busted, and disgusted.  One thing I shared with my XA ladies in March is that even though makeup isn't everything or what I wear doesn't make me, I believe it does say something about me.

It's a reflective representation of what's inside of me put in visual view.  And I'm not one of those people who has to wear makeup or dress up every day.  But I am someone who believes that when the Bible says in Romans 12, that you should present your body a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable, that's inclusive of how I present the visible me.  Plus, I don't recall ever meeting a girl or guy who DIDN'T smile or feel more confident from knowing they looked great on the outside.  ...seriously imagine all these folks who take selfies of themselves.

I remember taking the below pic of myself and saying, "Wow, call it a good shot, but I am so pretty."  I posted it on Facebook and everyone else seemed to agree because I got a lot of likes.  And though I'd already made my own day by just looking in the mirror at how fabulous I am lol, they did help to boost it up for me! ;)

If you are struggling with knowing what to wear, how to do your hair, makeup, etc., it definitely may help to seek advice from people who are supportive.  Contact me if you think I can help in some way or if you're a guy I can reach out to one of my male friends to give you some tips.  There are many tutorials out there on YouTube as well and I've had convos with the XA ladies about what is and is not acceptable to wear as a woman of God (which tends to be a subjective topic).  I've been told I'm pretty conservative but the Bible does speak on being modest, I Timothy 2:9, so I aim to present myself accordingly.

The big picture is that we should always remember that inner beauty outweighs and overrules outer beauty at all times.  I didn't make that up or pull that out from the blue sky.  That's the Word.  Check I Peter 3:3-4.  And it's pretty great to know that the beauty of my soul is what God wants me to shine on this earth.  #IAmBeautiful #30DayChallenge #Complete.

One of the songs I shared with my Facebook family this March was Wanted by Dara Maclean.  I hope you'll take a listen.

Also, this week I'm hoping to record my rendition of Bruno Mars' Just the Way You Are.  With that being said, be sure to come back to my site soon!  I'll post the link on my fan page once it's up.  Love you guys tons!!!  Oh and please subscribe by email by referring to the link on the right hand side and feel free to leave a comment below.


Officially,
Lena