Sleepover Preparations

Saturday night we are having two sleepovers for our youth group--one for boys and one for girls. I'm responsible for preparing a "talk" about seeing ourselves through God's eyes--which is something that I have been preparing for my camp Bible study group anyway.

It is so hard to remember that what's on the outside is unimportant compared to the condition of the heart! Last night, for instance, my roommates were watching a show about becoming a model...and one young woman was considered to be a "plus size" model--when she couldn't have been over a size 8! I was amazed. The average woman is a size 12...which must be obese in the modeling industry.

Our society places so much value in outward beauty...

But how does God see us?

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
--I Samuel 16:7

To begin, I am going to give the girls a piece of paper with several questions on it, for their own personal reflection..."What does your heart look like? What do you treasure? What makes you who you are? What do you like the most about yourself? What do your friends like about you? What does God see when He looks at you?"

After they have completed this sheet, we will have a discussion; afterwards I will hand them several poems and passages from various authors that talk about appearance and inward beauty. I found this one years ago in a magazine, and it has stuck with me ever since:

In God’s Eyes

In God’s eyes, it doesn’t matter
How much you weigh
How many people you dance with
Or even whom you kiss.
In God’s eyes, it doesn’t matter
Where you shop
What you wear
Or even how much you spend.
God doesn’t see the wall you hide behind;
God sees beyond.
When you’re grasping for things that
You convince yourself
Will push you to the top,
God sees the person you know is really you.

~Emily Viola and Emily McNeill

They say you really know something if you can teach it...so I need to work on applying this in my own life, because this is something I struggle with daily...even hourly. What does God really care about when it comes to us? The Bible gives us several ideas...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness...obedience...but do I really believe and apply these lessons to my life? Do I really truly believe that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14)?

What really matters?

Not fashion...not outward beauty (though, of course, there is nothing wrong with beauty)...but the condition of the heart.

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
--Proverbs 31:30

PS--Shingles are horrible. Avoid them at all cost! (LOL--not that you can!)
Today the pain has increased quite a bit, so I am INCREDIBLY thankful that it is only in one spot! I cannot imagine what the severe cases feel like. Praise the Lord for my high pain tolerance, as well--though it was not easily attained.

Also--I reached 5000 hits on my blog! How exciting!