Some days I like him. Most days I hate him. But I do have to admit, he's honest. He'll always tell me if I have food in my teeth or a booger in my nose. He isn't afraid to let me know if a certain shirt is too tight or if a color doesn't complement my skin. I appreciate the honesty, but he is deceiving all the same. Deceiving because anytime he tells me, " Just get this cute shirt and feel better about yourself" or " Just lose five pounds and be forever happy," it doesn't work. I'm never good enough for him.

I try not to hang out with him too much, or else I can easily fall into his trap of discouragement - " Jenna, I see that cellulite back there. Your skin is looking pretty oily these days. Those teeth could use come whitening!" I try to block out his lies that tell me I'm not good enough, that I'm not beautiful, but it's hard.

I'm sure you've met him. He tends to pop up in all sorts of places: bathrooms, cars, department stores, gyms. And I'm sure you've felt some of these insecurities when standing in front of him.

                                                                       His name?
                                                                       Mirror.


Unfortunately, the mirror rarely tells me how beautiful I am. He never notices when I have helped my mom clean the kitchen or when I avoid gossip at the lunch table. Even when I'm having a great hair day, he just notices that pimple on my chin. Because of him, sometimes I wonder if the word beautiful could ever describe me.

Beautiful: adj. 1. Having attractive qualities that give great delight or satisfaction to see, hear think about, ect. 2. excellent of its kind. 3. particularly graceful, lovely, or pretty...

Okay, so that may be the dictionary definition of beautiful, but let's get real. Mirror, along with his other sidekicks like TV and Magazine, seem to determine what is beautiful and what is not. We have to let boys tell us whether or not we are beautiful, and sometime we even let the popular group of girls at school define what beauty is.

Because of all of the thousands of definitions people have for beauty, we can easily get confused and struggle to see ourselves as beautiful. But the truth is, Mirror got it all wrong! He never uses the most important definition, the one that clearly states what beautiful really is:

                                           Beautiful: what God sees when He sees you.


Shelby ;D

A WEIGHT LIFTED



What is your #1 problem today? What makes your heart heavy? Do you worry about your family's well-being? Is a friend struggling? Have you been feeling left out at school? Whatever it is, prayer is the answer. The Bible says to "cast" your problems and burdens on your heavenly Father. Isn't that absolutely great? You get to say to God, "Take all this stuff from me!" When you do this, you're putting "impossible" problems into His powerfl hands. God will tka e care of them...as only He can.

When you begin each day by giving allt he cares of your life to God in prayer, you'll feel freedom of having a weight lifted from your shoulders and your heart.


Lord, I give You everything that weighs me down. Sometimes I think it is up to me to carry everything that comes my way. But You are offering to take it all on and deal with every problem...even the really hard stuff. here it is, God. Take it all. Thank You! Amen.

SLS ;D

Pray for Bethany Cook, she is having surgery on her shoulder tomorrow. She has been in massive, massive pain for a long, long time and the surgery should take care of it. She is nervous, I am sure you all can imagine. She is 16.