To The Girl Who Lost Her Way

You were standing there, right beside Him. You felt as if every step you took was perfectly in line with where God wanted you to be. He truly was at the center of your life, and everyone could see it. But then, something happened.

Something infatuated you. Maybe it was a relationship, or maybe it was a sport. Whatever it might have been, it started out as the least of your priorities, but then it began to move. This thing began to mean more and more to you, and before you knew it, it was threatening your top priority - your relationship with Christ. So, you left. You might not have meant to, but you left God standing by your footprints as you walked away from Him, your own Father. And as you walked away, His heart broke.

With each step you took, He saw a drop of blood falling from the wrists of his only Son, and He wonders why you didn't think of His Son when you took that first step. He watched as his beloved daughter turned her back on Him. You regret it with everything inside of you. You wish that you could go back in time, change your decisions, and stay perfectly in line with Him. But, do you want to know something beautiful? He stayed.

He stayed right beside your footsteps, just waiting for you to come back. He never leaves us, never forsakes us. No matter how bad you think your sin is, He sees them all the same. He is still standing, waiting for the convict, the liar, the alcoholic, and you, His precious daughter. He will always be waiting for you.

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me..."
(John 10:28)

Love Yourself

Loving yourself has become such a big deal lately. Every time I get on twitter or Instagram I see the phrase "don't forget to love yourself" plastered across artsy pictures of mountains or in the caption under yet another selfie. 

But, here is the real question. How many of the people who post this everywhere truly love themselves? Do you truly love that pimple in between your eyebrows that just won't go away? Do you truly love your love handles? (PSA: if that extra skin wasn't there, your skin would rip every time you bent sideways, just saying) Do you truly love that brown splotch on the side of your arm? If you were to be completely honest with yourself, I would guess that deep down you really don't. Every girl experiences this same inevitable self-love struggle, but there is one truth that will completely change your thoughts if you let it.

God, the creator of the entire universe, does not make mistakes. 

God didn't mold your body and forget to smooth over that little bit of flesh beside your hip bones. He didn't accidentally drop his red pen in the middle of your eyebrows and decide not to use his white out. He didn't spill some coffee on your arm while he was working on someone else. He took his divine paintbrush and painted a masterpiece on the mold that he formed with his own two hands; and you, that masterpiece, are his pride and joy.

Just think about that for a second. The Creator of the universe, the one who formed the constellations and galaxies, takes pride in the flesh that you would starve yourself to get rid of. He wholeheartedly loves that spot in between your eyebrows that you consider an imperfection. He adores the birthmark that he hand painted on to you, his child. Every imperfection, every blemish, every curve that makes up your physicality is cherished by the Almighty God. 

The only way to truly love yourself is to treasure each and every detail that can be deemed an imperfection because you know that you were "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).