"Beautiful" (blogpost for ladies) part 1

So you are in line at the grocery store checkout. Right in front of your face is this spam-fest of magazine covers..."How to look better in a bikini" "how to please your man" "how to lose those unwanted pounds" "how to look beautiful"...blah blah blah. No wonder depression medication is the most highly prescribed and used medicine amongst the female gender...you know, no matter how hard you try, you don't add up to the girl on the cover...because some guy didn't spend hours airbrushing your face, and then photoshopping your image.

If by some rare chance, your eyes don't catch all the "cosmo-type" magazines, then they catch the "better homes and gardens" where you are inspired to think "if my living room only looked like that living room, I would be happy." I could go on...but I won't. We live in a microwave and barbie dolls society..."I want the perfect (fill in blank) and I want it now!" It blows me away to see people stand in front of a microwave anxiously...I mean, are you really that strapped for time that you can't wait for a full 5 course meal to cook for you in less than 3 minutes? Anyway, back on track...you want perfection and beauty and you want it now. The reality is, the beauty that you are seeking may not even be beauty at all. It may be the thing that makes you ugly, or unattractive, or undesirable.
Contrary to popular belief, men (yes, even husbands) are not attracted to women (wives) who are self consumed (either by over confidence, OR insecurity)...consumed by appearance, or the appearance of something (like your house, or your kids lives, or your career, or your blah blah blah).

Psalm 45:10-11 says "Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
Forget your people and your father’s house;11 the King is enthralled by your beauty"

What God is speaking is first "listen, I want my voice to be loudest in your life...because I am worth it!" And then, once you allow that voice to be loudest, you will understand that "The King is enthralled by your beauty!" Enthralled means captivated by, entranced in, lost in the moment with...the King sees you and the world stops spinning for just a moment, and all He sees is you. It reminds me of my wedding day, when my wife first stepped out of that old 57 chevy and out onto the lawn where we were being married...the lawn was perfectly manicured, the lake behind me was sparkling, 350 people sat between me and her, but for that moment all I saw was her...nothing else mattered...I was "enthralled" by her beauty.
Your worth and value come out of the heart of a lovesick God, not off of a magazine cover and not in a clean, well decorated home.

Part two I will give you my premise that most women define there beauty in 5 ways...and wrap up all their identity in one or more of these 5 things.

See you next time, and share this blog with others...copy and paste this link to your facebook, twitter, myspace, or email lists (www.ypcshack.blogspot.com)...thanks for helping me spread the word!