This chapter is really great and I'm so excited to share this one with you! But before we begin there are just a couple things I want to get straight. In the course of this blog I might say some things about how my parents raised me that I don't completely agree with. However, I love my parents to death and I do not hold anything against them. They were doing the best that they could and I'm sure if you were to ask either one of them they would tell you that knowing what they know now, they would do things alot differently. My mom has been an awesome mom and kept on going when most would've given up. My dad and I now have a great relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything. So, now that we have that out of the way lets dive straight in.
Last week we talked about how woman was God's finishing touch on this world. How all the beauty and splendor of the earth was not enough but God had to create woman. My favorite line in the whole book is this. "Beauty is an essence given to every woman at her creation." Beauty is not just on the surface. There are many women that I know that would not be considered beautiful by the world, but their spirit shines through and to me they are gorgeous. God has a beauty to unveil and He shows it through His creation. Beauty is essential to life. Read the parts of Revelation where John sees God and after reading that there is no way you can doubt that God is beautiful and that He creates beauty. It is not vain to long for beauty as long as you can be satisfied being beautiful the way that God made you. Again, focus on God, and your beauty will shine through.
We're also going to talk about how God is relational to His core... just like women. Women are all about relationships. I've known alot of men that would tell me that they don't really have anyone that they would call a "best friend." But I don't know that I've ever met a woman who could say that. Relationships are SO important to women that they will do just about anything to keep them together. That's why there is all the drama! As much as we hate it we can't get away from it. We as women do not respond well when we feel like a relationship is being threatened. Guess what? Neither does God! More than anything God longs to have a relationship with us. What is the very first commanment? Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." This goes back to what we were talking about last week... about how important the relationship with God is. The Bible is full of verses that speak of how God longs to have a relationship with us. Which is why I asked you to read Song of Solomon. I like to think of that book of the Bible as God's love letter to me. When I realize that God longs for me, not just blind obedience but an actual relationship with me, it changes my whole view of God. You see, it's not just that I should read my Bible because I'm commanded to, or that I should pray everyday because the Bible tells me to. I should do all those things because God wants time with me and when I give up time with God to spend it with other things like TV, internet, or all the other useless time consuming things I do, then God gets jealous. And just like a jealous woman, a jealous God is not to be messed with.
The last thing we're going to talk about is how every woman longs to be an irreplaceable part of an adventure. That's why I asked you to think about the movies you loved as a little girl. I'm sure you probably loved the princess stories, especially the ones where the "ugly duckling" discovered that she was actually a princess and suddenly realized that she could be beautiful (are you making the connection yet?). My favorite princess movies are The Princess Diaries and Pocahontas. I love how in The Princess Diaries Princess Mia transformed from a geek with no confidence to a beautiful princess training to one day rule a country. In Pocahontas I loved how she was a huge part of a big adventure. John Smith needed her! He would've died without her! No one else could've done what she did! God created us with this longing. When God created Eve He did not create her to be Adam's slave. When God gave the commandment to name and take charge over the garden and the animals, He did not just give it to Adam. Genesis 1:28 The commandment was given to Adam and Eve. Adam needed Eve. He couldn't have done it without her. The book goes into alot more detail about this than I have time to share and I encourage you to read it. All in all though this sense of adventure also speaks of God. Just like women love to feel irreplaceable so does God. He doesn't want to be simply an addition to your life. He wants to know and feel that He cannot be replaced. Do we make God feel this way? I'm afraid that often we don't. How do you think God feels when we go to our friends about a problem for comfort before we go to God? Or how does He feel when we try to fix a problem on our own instead of acknowledging first of all that we need Him to help us? As I'm typing this I'm being convicted. I just wonder how great my relationship with God could be if I let God know that He is not replaceable? Let's work on that this week shall we? I'll make an effort to be praying for all my readers and please in turn pray for me. I've been pretty open and honest about my personal struggles and things that God is teaching me through writing this and if God is working in you too then I would love to hear about it. Please feel free to leave comments on here or facebook or to message me personally. I love to hear the encouragement! Have a great weekend!
Cass
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Chapter 2 What Eve Alone Can Tell
I have a confession to make. I'm not perfect. I know it's hard to believe. Now obviously I understand that no one really does think that I'm perfect but sometimes I do feel like I'm held to the standard of perfection. Am I alone in this? That was a stupid question. I know that if you are a woman that you've felt that way before and I also know that if you were honest with yourself there is a very good chance you feel that way right now. If not, I applaud you and hope and pray that one day maybe I can get rid of this nagging feeling of never living up. Why is it that as women we constantly struggle with this? Can we blame it on the world? Maybe. Can we blame it on men? Seems to always be the easy answer. But really, I think we've done it to ourselves. God's love does not work on a reward system ladies for if it did we would surely be doomed. Now, when I made the observation that I wasn't perfect what I really meant was that I don't live up to my own standards. I'm so tired of feeling like I constantly have to do better. It's true that as a Christian I need to do my best to please my Savior and reflect Him in my life. But if I focus on having a realtionship with Him instead of trying to win over His love maybe it wouldn't be so much work. You see, I'm at this transition in my life. I've spent my whole life trying to please my mom and make her happy that it's just what I do. I don't have to try hard to do it. But I'm becoming an adult and although I hope that my mom is pleased with me I have to shift my focus. Wow... I just shocked myself. You see, there is something in my heart that I've been kind of wrestling with God about for a little while now. I've felt so confused about what to do but honestly, it feels like there is nothing I can do to make everyone happy. But I think I just figured it out. I didn't plan on writing any of this. I had two things on my heart that I wanted to blog about tonight and wasn't sure which path to take so I just starting typing and trusted that God would lead my fingers. I've had some alone time with God tonight and have been begging Him to give me the answers and I think he just did. Praise God! I've got to get my focus on having a relationship with God. Just like my relationship with my mom, if I can get focused on my relationship with God then trying to do the right thing won't be so much work. It'll become simply what I do.
Now onto what that has to do with Captivating. You see, what I just did there, admitting my imperfection and being open about my struggles in my Christian walk, was a huge step for me. There was a time in my life when I would've never talked about all of that openly for all the world to read. If perfection was what people wanted then that was what I would show them. Even if it wasn't real.
So, did you do what I challenged you to do last week? If not you're might end up wishing that you had. As I was studying this chapter I began remembering what I was going through when I read this for the first time and how much of an impact it had on me. To begin, I want you to think of your favorite piece of artwork. Not necessarily a painting or something like that but what it is that man has created that you find beautiful. I have a couple. I love music and cooking. I will listen to just about any type of music (which does not include rap because that is NOT music) but I particularly love stuff from the 40's. Especially Sinatra. That is art to me. Not just his voice, but the actual music of that era. I also love to cook. I know you may not think of cooking as art but for me it is. I do NOT simply follow a recipe. The recipe is the framework and my job is to build on it and perfect it. Enough about that. This isn't about me. Now imagine the creation of the universe. Think about it in the stages that God created it. But while you're thinking about it think about and imagine the creation of your favorite art work. Now, imagine that you get to the end and everything up to this point has gone perfect. But as you look back at the creation of your artwork you realize that something is not right. Something is missing... kind of like when I taste my creation and realize that although it is good, there is something else that would make it perfect.
This my friend, is what happened at the creation of the earth. God created and created all the way until He created man. But as He looked back at everything He realized that something was missing. That something was woman. Just think about that. I've gone on way longer than I planned so the rest of this will have to wait until a later date. But this week, just think about the fact that you, woman, were God's finishing touch to this beautiful earth that He created. Think about the most beautiful God created thing that you have ever seen... and then think about the fact that it wasn't enough. He needed YOU.
Until next time...
Cassandra
P.S. if you didn't have time to complete my challenge from last week you still have time! do it this week!
Now onto what that has to do with Captivating. You see, what I just did there, admitting my imperfection and being open about my struggles in my Christian walk, was a huge step for me. There was a time in my life when I would've never talked about all of that openly for all the world to read. If perfection was what people wanted then that was what I would show them. Even if it wasn't real.
So, did you do what I challenged you to do last week? If not you're might end up wishing that you had. As I was studying this chapter I began remembering what I was going through when I read this for the first time and how much of an impact it had on me. To begin, I want you to think of your favorite piece of artwork. Not necessarily a painting or something like that but what it is that man has created that you find beautiful. I have a couple. I love music and cooking. I will listen to just about any type of music (which does not include rap because that is NOT music) but I particularly love stuff from the 40's. Especially Sinatra. That is art to me. Not just his voice, but the actual music of that era. I also love to cook. I know you may not think of cooking as art but for me it is. I do NOT simply follow a recipe. The recipe is the framework and my job is to build on it and perfect it. Enough about that. This isn't about me. Now imagine the creation of the universe. Think about it in the stages that God created it. But while you're thinking about it think about and imagine the creation of your favorite art work. Now, imagine that you get to the end and everything up to this point has gone perfect. But as you look back at the creation of your artwork you realize that something is not right. Something is missing... kind of like when I taste my creation and realize that although it is good, there is something else that would make it perfect.
This my friend, is what happened at the creation of the earth. God created and created all the way until He created man. But as He looked back at everything He realized that something was missing. That something was woman. Just think about that. I've gone on way longer than I planned so the rest of this will have to wait until a later date. But this week, just think about the fact that you, woman, were God's finishing touch to this beautiful earth that He created. Think about the most beautiful God created thing that you have ever seen... and then think about the fact that it wasn't enough. He needed YOU.
Until next time...
Cassandra
P.S. if you didn't have time to complete my challenge from last week you still have time! do it this week!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Chapter One
Before I begin our journey I have a couple of things to clear up. It was brought to my attention that it would be wise to include a sort of disclaimer about the book Captivating. John and Stasi Elderidge are great authors and their books have a had a huge impact on mine and Johnny's lives. But just like about any author I do not completely agree with everything they believe doctrinely. Please do not think that just because I agree with about 95% of things said in the book that I am going to become Stasi Elderidge. However, I also do not believe that just because someone believes some things that I believe are wrong that everything they have to say is wrong. God has given this couple an unbelieveable insight and the things that we have learned from their books are like nothing I've ever read before. Which leads me into the first chapter.
To be completely honest the first chapter of this book did not make a very good first impression on me. There were things said in the first book that flot out made me mad. I still don't completely agree with everything she said in the first chapter but something in there interested me enough to want to keep reading. There were actually a number of things that intrigued me. To begin with, she uncovered so many of the questions my heart was asking and feeling. We'll get more into those questions in later chapters but believe me, I'm sure you've all wondered about them too. They are questions that we as women will always ask because our world makes us wonder about them. Why exactly are women so emotional? Why did God make us "the weaker sex?" Why is it that I always want to do better but never feel like it's enough? Why is my need to be romanced so great? My friend, that is the way God made you!
Think about it this way. We know that the Bible tells us that we are created in God's image. But why is it that when we think about God we think only of masculine features? Is God a man? Is He a woman? The truth is very simple yet we seem to not understand it. We of course know that God is neither man nor woman. But the thing is that not only are men created in God's image... women are too! God created both of them in His image. You, my women friend, show a part of God's heart that no man can ever show. And God needs you to show it! Are you hiding it by trying to be "tough?" Are you hiding your true beauty because you don't think you're beautiful at all? I was. God showed me that was sin. God does not make mistakes. For years I wondered why I had to be so emotional. It showed my weak side and after awhile I realized that if people could figure out when I'm weak they could figure out how to hurt me. So as a result I made sure to never cry in front of anyone. Oh if I had known what I was hiding!
The book has a guided journal that I bought to go through after I read the book the first time. I want to share with you a few parts of the questions asked and my responses so you can see just what condition I'm recovering from.
One question asked me to skim over the pages of the first chapter and write about the things that stood out the most to me. The part that I remember especially striking my heart was a part about little girls and twirling skirts. C'mon... you have to admit that as a little girl you loved to twirl your skirts. It made you feel beautiful! But when I was a little girl and twirled my skirts I got in trouble. It was inappropriate. The message spoken to me concerning beauty when I was a little girl was "It's wrong to want to be beautiful. God only cares about what's on the inside so to strive for beauty is vanity." It wasn't until I read this book that I realized how wrong that was. It's true that when you focus on beauty too much and can become vanity. But it is not wrong to want to be beautiful! God put that in you!
Much of this may seem very abstract because the first chapter is kind of an overview of the whole book. I promise as we go on it will all start to make more sense. I do have a small challenge for you this week though. 1. Read a little of Song of Solomon. 2. Think about the movies you loved as a little girl. Even write them down. We'll talk more about it next week. Thanks for reading!
Cass
To be completely honest the first chapter of this book did not make a very good first impression on me. There were things said in the first book that flot out made me mad. I still don't completely agree with everything she said in the first chapter but something in there interested me enough to want to keep reading. There were actually a number of things that intrigued me. To begin with, she uncovered so many of the questions my heart was asking and feeling. We'll get more into those questions in later chapters but believe me, I'm sure you've all wondered about them too. They are questions that we as women will always ask because our world makes us wonder about them. Why exactly are women so emotional? Why did God make us "the weaker sex?" Why is it that I always want to do better but never feel like it's enough? Why is my need to be romanced so great? My friend, that is the way God made you!
Think about it this way. We know that the Bible tells us that we are created in God's image. But why is it that when we think about God we think only of masculine features? Is God a man? Is He a woman? The truth is very simple yet we seem to not understand it. We of course know that God is neither man nor woman. But the thing is that not only are men created in God's image... women are too! God created both of them in His image. You, my women friend, show a part of God's heart that no man can ever show. And God needs you to show it! Are you hiding it by trying to be "tough?" Are you hiding your true beauty because you don't think you're beautiful at all? I was. God showed me that was sin. God does not make mistakes. For years I wondered why I had to be so emotional. It showed my weak side and after awhile I realized that if people could figure out when I'm weak they could figure out how to hurt me. So as a result I made sure to never cry in front of anyone. Oh if I had known what I was hiding!
The book has a guided journal that I bought to go through after I read the book the first time. I want to share with you a few parts of the questions asked and my responses so you can see just what condition I'm recovering from.
One question asked me to skim over the pages of the first chapter and write about the things that stood out the most to me. The part that I remember especially striking my heart was a part about little girls and twirling skirts. C'mon... you have to admit that as a little girl you loved to twirl your skirts. It made you feel beautiful! But when I was a little girl and twirled my skirts I got in trouble. It was inappropriate. The message spoken to me concerning beauty when I was a little girl was "It's wrong to want to be beautiful. God only cares about what's on the inside so to strive for beauty is vanity." It wasn't until I read this book that I realized how wrong that was. It's true that when you focus on beauty too much and can become vanity. But it is not wrong to want to be beautiful! God put that in you!
Much of this may seem very abstract because the first chapter is kind of an overview of the whole book. I promise as we go on it will all start to make more sense. I do have a small challenge for you this week though. 1. Read a little of Song of Solomon. 2. Think about the movies you loved as a little girl. Even write them down. We'll talk more about it next week. Thanks for reading!
Cass
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