Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Wonderfully Made

I grew up in a house full of beauty. The second of four sisters and the daughter of a cosmetologist, I was surrounded by hair and makeup my entire life. With image constantly in the forefront of my mind, it was easy to be consumed with my appearance.


Am I too fat? Am I too skinny? Is my hair too thin? Why is my face so round? Where did these hips come from? Can I get rid of them? The thoughts that I allowed to cross my mind were ridiculous to say the least.


If it wasn’t my appearance it was my personality. I was the shy one; the one who’s nervous habits provoked laughter from the other kids. I froze at the sight of a cute boy, speechless, unable to flirt or even show a little bit of confidence. I watched as every boy fell in love with my older sister. I saw the way she made people laugh and smile. I stood in amazement as everyone tried to be more like her. She was confident. She liked herself. She was contagious.


I remember talking to my mom one day; ashamed of who I was, I told her I wanted to be more like my older sister.


My sweet mother, who always had a way of making me feel perfect, looked at me and said “Brittany, there is someone out there and they need you JUST the way you are.”



This phrase changed my outlook on myself.


I realized that God had made me this way on purpose. I knew that he had already set my life into motion and if I were any different, things wouldn’t turn out like they were supposed to. I began to love myself.


Years down the road, I am able to look back and see all of the people who have come into my life. I see how our personalities worked so well together. My husband is one of the best examples of this. He is extroverted to the nth degree. And while I have come out of my little shell, I am nowhere near as outgoing as he is. But that makes for the perfect balance. We wouldn’t work so well together if we had twin personalities.


God has used my quietness for his glory. He has given me wisdom and enabled me to be a counselor for many girls. In order to be a good counselor you have to be a good listener, and in order to be a good listener you have to be quiet.


His ways never cease to amaze me.



I want to encourage every girl out there to LOVE yourself.


You are beautiful and God made you the way you are on purpose.


There is nothing about you that happened on accident.


Every hair, every freckle, every tooth, is there for a reason.


Every laugh, every sneeze is supposed to sound that way.


Whether you are quiet or loud or both, God will use it for his glory.


I am sure you can look back on your life and see how he already has.



We always look at others and see what THEY have that WE don’t.


But I encourage you to look at yourself and find something that YOU have that others don’t. Without being conceited, find what makes you special and different and learn to love it.



“I Praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14

5 comments:

  1. I believe we have more in common that i would have ever thought...

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  2. Love this Brittany! I am going to follow your blog now.

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  3. .... and WHAT was God's purpose for this zit on my face, hmm??
    haha, just kidding.
    I love reading your words Britt- makes me proud to call you a friend

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  4. Brittany, thank you so much for inviting me to join the blog! I have been reading back through the entries you made previously. I came across this one but this comment speaks for them all. Everything you are saying are things that I have felt in my heart and it seems like we share many similar things - especially from this posting. I was also very shy when I was younger and unfortunately, I did not have any older siblings so I was always saying the reverse - "I wish I was more like my younger sister." I still say it at times actually. I went through so many years of self-hate and bitterness at God for not making me differently. I stored it up inside and sometimes would lash out at others for a reason they did not understand and neither did I. I hurt people that I should not have hurt but I eventually realized that all of it came from a place of selfishness. I am just starting to learn what it means to really like myself and accept the fact that God made me just the way He did and for a reason. I can't say that I have gotten to the point where I really thank Him for everything about me but I am learning that my selfishness was the ultimate barrier and that I have to move past that before I can heal completely. Dying to myself every day for Him is still a new experience but one that I hope God will see fit to use for His glory.

    To all the women that read and follow this blog, I hope we can continue to encourage one another through this time together and I hope you come to understand that we ARE fearfully and WONDERFULLY made.

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