More than 'Hot'

     Okay, now just as a pre-warning for you boys, this may not apply to you very much.  You're still welcome to read, and maybe this is what you need to hear right now.  I just know that if I told all of this to my brothers, they would probably laugh in my face.  

     To begin with, a great Bible verse: "³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves."  That was 1 Peter 3:3-5a.  This verse is great when you realize that you don't have the latest brand names or don't have prettily braided or fashioned hair.  For me, at least, my form of 'pretty hair' is a ponytail and, if the day is good, a bow.  I chopped all of my hair off this summer, so it's too short to do anything else.  

     After I decided that I wanted to talk about beauty, I googled it.  Isn't that the reasonable thing to do in every situation?  But anyway, guess what the first result is!  The very first thing I see when I ask about beauty is "beauty.com-BareMinerals, Origins, Urban Decay, NARS, and more..."  Am I the only one that sees that as very warped?  Scroll down a bit, and you'll see more and more and more advertisements, cosmetic and hair tips, and other 'beautifying' helpers.  

     That is the first picture that I found on Google describing 'beauty.'  She's being attacked by five makeup brushes, and wearing a dress that looks like it was made out of saran wrap!  That image is what our culture considers 'beautiful!'  The saddest thing: I went to link of the picture, and it was a 'natural beauty' website.  

     If you go to dictionary.com (another useful tool in homework/writing), beauty is defined as "the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind,whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest)."  Just let that sink in, and actually think about it.  Intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind?  Beauty is used to describe someone truly gorgeous, or a car that some teenage boy is obsessed with, or even a view.  The word beauty is so overused.  Now does it strike anyone as odd that it is so rare that people themselves are called it?  
     Finally, Romans 12:2.  "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  We shouldn't be obsessed with buying the newest jeans or losing weight... even though there's nothing wrong with them in and of themselves.  Being healthy and looking our best should be important to us, just not too important.  I know that I can get caught up with trying to look 'cool,' and I know that it's all too easy for each one of us.  So, we shouldn't worry about our nation or culture's definition of beauty, but God's: to show our gentle love for others and live as an example of God's love.  

Joy in Our Lives

     The scores getting close: it's three to two.  Although the team was in the lead, they were by no means calm as the clock ticked slowly.  A player gets the ball, dribbles a few times, and then makes a shot on goal.  To her surprise, the ball rolls into the goal: right between the goalie's legs.  A feeling of shock overwhelms the girl, but how long does that last?  Sure, she does feel happy, but after five minutes she's right back to trying to prove herself.  Well, that's how I felt at least.  When at my last indoor soccer game I miraculously scored(my second goal in the season!), I couldn't help but feel ten feet off the ground.  Not to even mention our goalie(who deserves to go to the Olympics because she's so incredible) Jamie, or Diana, a girl who singlehandedly scored our first three goals.

     I definitely felt happy, but scoring a goal doesn't cause joy.  I got to jump up and down and look like an idiot for just a few seconds: after that I was expected to play my best and (hopefully) get another goal.  Same with the MVP of the game!  We were definitely impressed, but that just raised our expectations for her.  That's how we get with our materialistic possessions.  We get happy for a little bit when we get the latest phone or iPad or whatever we've been longing after, and then when we finally get it we just want more.  

     Our culture does nothing to help in disproving this idea.  "Joy comes in doing whatever you love doing," our 'let's just do whatever we want while we're young' point of view states.  "If you love something, then just throw your whole heart into it.  Who cares about anything else?"  Now some people (obviously not Christians) live this way their whole lives, and sometimes it works out fine.  They are successful and throw themselves wholly on whatever project that they're doing with work.  But one of my teachers, Rob, was rejected from this form of living.  He had a full ride scholarship to a great college for football, but then in his second year he broke his leg and wasn't able to ever do football again.  It's times like that when if I didn't have God with me every moment, I think I would break down and go crazy.  

     Joy.  Merriam-Webster's defines the word as "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires: delight."  I'm just going to be blunt here: you can never achieve this goal in our earthly lives if we don't trust in God!  We long to be with God, and though we have great relationships with him and the Holy Spirit lives in us, we're not actually with our Lord.  

     Happiness, however, is a totally different matter.  Merriam-Webster's definition is "a state of well-being and contentment" or "a pleasurable or satisfying experience."  When we do well in school, score a goal, see a friend, that's happiness.  Happiness is a great feeling, and I'm so glad that it's around, because I feel happy about 99% of the time.  The other day my friend was making fun of me for not being able to frown.  Is that an actual frown, because I spent like twenty minutes trying to frown.  I stink at it.  -->


     Leviticus 9:24 says, "Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown."  The Israelites were so moved when they felt God around that they felt a great sense of joy.    Does anyone feel chills down their back when they are praying or worshipping?  I find it so amazing when I get chills down my spine from the power and mightiness of God.  Just like chemistry(which God created) to my poor mind, God is completely inconceivable.  He is so perfect and amazing, as well as being my Lord and Savior.

Thanks! 
~Hannah