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