"Worse than telling a lie is spending your whole life staying true to a lie." - Robert Brault
One of the most common lies I hear from the younger customers at the Diary Dairy is, "I'm not beautiful." If I had a penny for every single time I've heard a girl say that to me, I'd be rich. There are many ways to get rich, and that is the worst way. It breaks my heart when I hear girls and boys tear themselves down. Not only is it the most common lie I hear, but it is the worst lie anyone can tell themselves.
As a youth pastor, I try to keep up to date on what the kids at church are reading and watching and listening to. As much as I love to read magazines and watch my favorite television shows, some of the images I see make it so obvious why kids don't see themselves as beautiful. When we see people in the magazines and on the television and movies with their perfectly toned bodies, we think that, since we don't do whatever it takes to make our bodies look so flawless, we're not perfect and flawless ourselves. The thing is, because of makeup and computer editing and eating disorders and alternative lifestyles, those people come across as flawless.
I'm not perfect. I don't have a petite figure like Krista, or an athletic build like Melissa or Carrie, but that's okay. The kids in my youth group, the customers at the Diary Dairy, my family, and my true friends don't think of me as Emily, the Chinese woman with an average body and a little flab here and there. They think of me as a gentle, caring, compassionate, anxious, sensitive person. I may not be as great of a basketball player as Melissa, or as brave and bold as Carrie, but my gifts are found in my writing, the passion I have for my faith, and my ability to be able to talk non-stop about both sports and music. The guys get a kick out of how much I know about football and stats.
The point is, I am most definitely sure that you are beautiful, too, whether you're skinny, heavier than some, white, black, yellow, brown, athletically built or have a wider nose than the kid sitting next to you in class. What makes you beautiful where it matters most is not on the outside, but on the inside. Your friends may have told you that you are kind, sweet, generous, funny, witty, clever, intelligent, gentle, compassionate, or really good at memorizing things. In my honest opinion, that makes you beautiful.
When you lie to yourself over and over, saying that you're ugly or imperfect or insufficient, then you start to live it out by hurting yourself in some way or another, and you were never meant to spend your life hurting yourself or believing you are ugly.
If you need reminded how special and how beautiful you are, and need to hear the truth, I encourage you to spend some time at the Diary Dairy. My co-workers and I would be more than honored to tell you the truth, which is that you are special, beautiful, and loved by someone. Believe it or not, God loves you the way you are, which is how you were meant to be loved: Unconditionally.
~Emily
Grab a dish of ice cream and feel free to read, listen and jot down your own thoughts in a diary or journal.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Survivor Tree
SUBMITTED BY: SHANE
Next week on April 19, I will be remembering where I was when I heard about the Oklahoma City Bombing. For those of you who do not remember, it was an outrage! It was one of the worst attacks on our country because it was an attack on innocent people, including young children. All over the news, we would see pictures of people crying, bleeding, and scared to death. It was a day of pain, sorrow, and mass confusion and fear. Even though I was safe and sound in a high school building, on my way to class, I could feel the pain and hurt in my heart. I hurt for them. It seemed like a hopeless situation.
A few years ago, I took a trip to see the Memorial, and will never forget the inspiration I received from being there. One of my favorite parts of the Memorial was seeing the Survivor Tree. When the bombing occurred, the tree was majorly damaged. It seemed as though the tree was beyond survival. Fortunately, Spring came, and, because of how the tree was maintained and its foundation, it began to bloom again. See, one of the roots was placed inside a large pipe, so it could reach the soil beyond the wall without being damaged. I find that to be really awesome. The coolest thing about it was the inscription around the inside of a deck wall around the Survivor Tree reads: "The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."
I am so thankful for the faith that I have in God. Not only is it my faith alone, but Melissa and I put our faith in Him. Our relationship has had its ups and downs. There was even a time when we spent some time apart so she could dedicate time to fully support her sister during a trial in her life. At first, it seemed as though my relationship with Melissa had little to no chance of surviving the separation. Like the Survivor Tree in Oklahoma City, our relationship would be restored once again. In time, God gave the relationship new life when we reconciled, and it is stronger than ever now. I truly believe it was our "deeply rooted faith" that sustained our relationship.
If you are going through a tough time in your life and it feels like there's no hope, I pray you would not lose faith, and that God would help you through your hard time. If your faith is deeply rooted in God, I am confident that you will not be defeated by your trials and pain.
-Shane Larson
Next week on April 19, I will be remembering where I was when I heard about the Oklahoma City Bombing. For those of you who do not remember, it was an outrage! It was one of the worst attacks on our country because it was an attack on innocent people, including young children. All over the news, we would see pictures of people crying, bleeding, and scared to death. It was a day of pain, sorrow, and mass confusion and fear. Even though I was safe and sound in a high school building, on my way to class, I could feel the pain and hurt in my heart. I hurt for them. It seemed like a hopeless situation.
A few years ago, I took a trip to see the Memorial, and will never forget the inspiration I received from being there. One of my favorite parts of the Memorial was seeing the Survivor Tree. When the bombing occurred, the tree was majorly damaged. It seemed as though the tree was beyond survival. Fortunately, Spring came, and, because of how the tree was maintained and its foundation, it began to bloom again. See, one of the roots was placed inside a large pipe, so it could reach the soil beyond the wall without being damaged. I find that to be really awesome. The coolest thing about it was the inscription around the inside of a deck wall around the Survivor Tree reads: "The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us."
I am so thankful for the faith that I have in God. Not only is it my faith alone, but Melissa and I put our faith in Him. Our relationship has had its ups and downs. There was even a time when we spent some time apart so she could dedicate time to fully support her sister during a trial in her life. At first, it seemed as though my relationship with Melissa had little to no chance of surviving the separation. Like the Survivor Tree in Oklahoma City, our relationship would be restored once again. In time, God gave the relationship new life when we reconciled, and it is stronger than ever now. I truly believe it was our "deeply rooted faith" that sustained our relationship.
If you are going through a tough time in your life and it feels like there's no hope, I pray you would not lose faith, and that God would help you through your hard time. If your faith is deeply rooted in God, I am confident that you will not be defeated by your trials and pain.
-Shane Larson
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