30 Days of No Make-up: Day 20

With just 10 days left, how are you doing?

I just wanted to remind you of a few things today...

YOU ARE...

• Fabulous
• Wonderful
• Super Special
• Totally amazing
• Teriffic
• breathtaking
• striking
• admirable
• amazing
• extraordinary
• brilliant
• BEAUTIFUL

The list can and does go on and on! Personalize these today and put your name in there. Add a bunch more descriptives! Own it and say, "(your name) you are fabulous. (name) you are wonderful. 

My parents used to tell me when I was a kid that it takes 1 negative to completely wipe out 20 positive and 20 positive to overcome 1 negative. If you're like me, you've told yourself many negative things over the years and few positive. So we've got a lot of work to do! Start here. Post things around your home, car and at work to remind you of these things!

Have an amazing day dear friends!

JoAnne~

30 days of No Make-up: Day 19

Hello to Tuesday friends!

I apologize for not posting yesterday, I unintentionally took a 3 day blogging sabbatical I guess. :)

I thought I'd just share a little bit of what I've learned on my journey so far.

I'm really beginning to be ok and at peace with not wearing make-up. It used to be that when I looked in the mirror without make-up I generally felt like I looked rather ghastly, like I'd just come back from the grave or something. But now I don't think that. I see me, the real, tried and true me. The me with imperfections that I certainly don't care for but that really don't matter. The me that longs for wholeness on the inside rather than the outside. I see me. The one who God fashioned by His grace, His choice, at His time, in His likeness and just the way He wanted because He loves me and wanted to be glorified through me. Life is so much easier when we realize we're not calling the shots, never were, never have been, never will be. But yet I still tried to and thought I did. Isn't that a funny one? I tried to tell my creator that he'd done a bad job and that he had some things to fix. I think his reply went something like this. "Eh hem, reality check??? I made you  and I certainly did not screw up." The harsh reality is, sure there were things I needed to let Him fix, but it wasn't anything about my body, face or appearance. It was/is my heart. It was/is my lack of focus and tendency to get distracted and caught up in what this world says matters.

Today I'm praying that my focus lies where it needs to and that I am caught up in His grace and the beauty of how He created me.

Deuteronomy 10:21- He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.

30 days of No Make-up: Day 15

Happy Friday Ladies! Fridays can be such a refreshing day. You get to often look forward to the weekend and doing things you love. Spending time with family and friends, sporting events, hikes, hobbies and the like. This weekend most of you will spend some time celebrating your dad and maybe husbands, brothers or sons and I hope that this time blesses your heart.

I want to challenge you this weekend to take opportunities to remind yourself that you are beautiful, amazing and wonderfully made. My kids have these dvd's called, Miss Patty Cake. One of the songs she sings says "You are fabu-wonder-super-special-totally-amaze-eriffic!" I love this song because it takes all of these words we often use to describe people and things but it also reminds our kids that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. There is no one like them. They are unique and beautiful just the way they are. But for some reasons we stop reminding ourselves these things as we grow into adults. We measure ourselves to the impossible "perfect" and rarely look back. We settle in thinking we are second best. Well, it's just not true. I pasted a phrase on my girls' bedroom wall that I pray will resonate in their souls forever, "There could never be, a more beautiful you". Take the time this weekend to remind yourself how beautiful and amazing you are. How "fabu-wonder--super-special-totally-amaze-eriffic" you are. My biggest challenge though for the weekend is that you dig deep and find the strength to stop any negative thoughts or words about yourself for this weekend. No complaining about your hair, your imperfections, your stomach, stretch marks, legs, scars, etc. (Trust me, several of these resonate with me and they're toughies!) But, we can do it!

Join me will you? I really think that being thankful for how HE has made us stirs HIS heart for the sake of HIS love for us.

See ya Monday!

30 Days of No Make-up: Day 14

Two weeks down! Way to go! I hope you're beginning to feel more comfortable in your own skin, I know I am and I've been so blessed on this journey. Although I don't plan to ban make-up forever after this challenge, I believe I will be intentional about going without make-up one day a week. I may even do it on a rotation so that I don't always get to pick the most convenient day of the week for me, keep me out of my comfort zone a little :)

Well friends, now that we're half way through I feel like we've done the hardest part of it all, We've climbed up the mountain and we're almost to the top. We've begun to see the horizon and it's beautiful. But we've only yet begun. There's more to be discovered for we can only see the horizon through the trees. We don't yet know what awaits us at the top/end of this journey but it's sure to be amazing if we continue to climb, out of the darkness and into the light. I do believe that what awaits us is not only breathtaking but it's life changing, world altering, forever different. Some of you may be wavering, unsure if you should pursue. Well dear friends, can I tell you, it'll be worth it. I urge you to move forward. Fear may be what's stopping you and if it is, let me ask you, how many amazing things have you seen and experienced because you didn't let fear stop you? I read a devotional recently that a woman was letting fear hold her back and a wise friend of hers asked her, "what if you take fear out, what's left"? So if you take fear out of the equation I believe you'll see that there's freedom at the end of this journey. What will it be, freedom or bondage?

So dig deep sisters and let's go see what awaits us!

Me and my son Jack this morning. I don't know what it is about my kids wanting to make silly faces in these pictures! ;)

30 Days of No Make-up: Day 13

As I stared down at my 9 month old baby girl this morning I thought to myself, "She's so beautiful. Her ivory skin and big blue eyes and a smile and innocence that light up the world. Simply beautiful".

Pssst, I have a secret for you. Someone thinks the same about you. Don't believe me? It's true, I promise.

How often does someone pay you a compliment and you politely say, "Oh, thank you" while really you just brush it off like they're just being kind but don't really mean it? And isn't it interesting how we usually take compliments the least serious from those who love us most. Why is that? Oh yes, because we think they're obligated to say it. I can tell you this, my heart breaks when I think of my kids and husband thinking the compliment I paid them wasn't serious but more a mere obligation. I pray that they take things to heart, knowing how much I love them and how true my words are. I pray that my words would sink deep down into their hearts, resonating with their very being. Because, it's true. And there's someone, and likely several someone's, who are praying, wishing you'd believe them too!

A few months ago I read an article in the newspaper about one of the newest fads on youtube being kids videoing themselves and then asking viewers, "Am I beautiful or am I ugly?" My heart sank and I literally shuttered at the thought. The scariest part is that their parents didn't even know about it. I'm sure most of the parents were horrified at best when they found out. I guarantee these parents at many moments stared down at their child and were enamored with their beauty. As they grew they were enamored with their talents, their inward and outward beauty and the things sometimes only a parent knows. Yet, these kids went seeking approval and the responses were disastrous. Many told them "you're so ugly you should kill yourself" and made awful jokes. Others however pleaded with them not to do this, telling them they are beautiful and that they deserve more than this. Sadly, these videos went viral in popularity because there's something that draws our culture to things that often are just sick and wrong.

My point is, how often do we look to all the wrong places for approval? Sometimes even knowing we won't get one or even worse, receive the opposite. Unfortunately, it's sort of built into us to easily believe the bad but quick to toss out the good. Yet we still go hunting it.

I want you to remember something. YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! Write it on your mirror, notes around your house and car. Most things in our world tell us we don't measure up, it's a lie. There are people in your life who believe these lies and you beg of them not to! Someone today, besides me, is begging you to silence these lies and see how incredible you are. You're beautiful, inside and out! You have a creator who is enamored with you. There may be years of lies and hurt covering up your belief of beauty, so I say, "Start digging sister"! It's in there and it's worth fighting for. Wouldn't you tell someone the same? For once, take the good instead of the bad and start seeking out the positive. Do away with this nonsense our world throws at us. It surely hasn't gotten us anywhere good so far! So don't keep following it. And make this a habit. Do whatever you have to do to resist it! YOU ARE AMAZING and if you will just believe and embrace this, well, it'll knock your socks off!

Sorry this was so lengthy. I didn't even actually have anything planned when I woke up this morning. But, let's just say I had a little, I mean A LOT of help from one of those who thinks you're pretty amazing :)

Have an amazing day friend!

J~

30 Days of No Make-up: Day 12

A few days ago I was reading a devotional about thankfulness. It dealt with the fact that we often want to complain about things rather than taking time to be thankful. It made me think about how we take so much time to critique ourselves and identify what we don't like rather than being thankful for the way we were created. It might even be starting simple, like being thankful you can get out of bed, walk, run, having two arms and two legs, whatever. Taking the time to be thankful daily for at least one thing will not only make us happier and healthier, inside and out, but it will also begin a pattern of thankfulness. Which can in turn, combat this unhealthy obsession with what we think is not right or perfect. 

Yesterday we identified something we like about ourselves. Today, choose something you like about yourself and something you are thankful for. Maybe even find a reason to be thankful for something you don't like about yourself. Like, "I'm not crazy about my legs but I'm thankful that I have two working legs that get me around" or " I don't like my crazy hair but I'm thankful that I have hair". 

I'd love to know what you like about yourself and what you're thankful for. Feel free to post if you'd like! 

Here's mine... I like my height and my eyes and I'm thankful for my legs that get me where I need to go. :)

See ya tomoroow!

JoAnne

30 Days of No Make-up: Day 11

Happy Monday Ladies! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Well, my weekend was not as traumatic for me as I imagined it might be. Funny how we can make such a big deal about things when they're really not. But I'm sure none of you can relate, right? ;)

From the beginning, I've had a few reasons for taking on this challenge and one of them I haven't yet discussed on here. It's for my two precious baby girls, Emma who is 5 and Lucy who is 8 months. I know the struggles I've endured with my body image and being secure in who I was created to be. It made me want to forge a new path for them to follow. I want them to always be thankful and secure in their beauty.

It's beyond sobering when you're applying your make-up and your daughter says, "Mommy, can I have some make-up on too?" To which I reply, "Oh no, honey. You're beautiful just the way you are." Then she says it..."So mommy, why do you need make-up then?" Gulp.
How do you tell them that they don't need make-up because they're already so beautiful while yet continuing your pursuit of comfort behind this mask of color? Again, not that I think make-up is all together bad, but when it becomes a crutch or security, it is detrimental at best. It was at that moment I knew something had to change. I can't live by the "Do as I say and not as I do" principle when it comes to this. (Although I do when it comes to eating brownies for breakfast. Anyone relate?) :) But seriously, I can see what a downward spiral it begins for my girls when I set this example. So, I had to make a decision. I had to decide what I was going to do to change this.

When I think of the assault our society launches at women, day after day and every moment therein, it makes me sick. And when I think of my girls being impacted by this the way we all have been, the mama bear in me rises up to protect my girls. Protect them from these lies! Interesting that we all know that these truly are lies but yet fail to embrace them as such, or rather choose not to embrace them. Why is that? What am I, what are you, what are we going to do about it? We can't simply go on this way and expect things to miraculously change. Because it's just going to get worse. The world stands too much money to lose to stop fighting this battle. But we stand to lose entirely too much and our daughters even more so if we don't take some action. So, what can we do? What might you be able to do today to change your thought process? To be confident and comfortable in your own skin and to begin to be thankful for who you are?

Last night, my husband took Emma out on a little date. She's a wonderful little chatterbox and she just randomly told my husband that she likes her dimple. Pretty much makes my heart leap for joy and brings tears to my eyes I must say! But it challenges me to find at least one thing today that I like about myself.

How about you? What is at least one thing you like about yourself? Find one today and make it a point to find at least one every day this week, if not more!