you are lovely | robyn

new installment | you are lovely series.

today you get to meet robyn.
she is a ray of sunshine - and tells it like it is.
she loves Jesus and is constantly sharing her joy.
there is just something about her that i always look forward to reading her blog.
i know you will enjoy her installment in this series.

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i remember reading an article in a magazine when i was younger, around 6th grade. i can't remember the exact title but it was something along the lines of "big girls can get dates too!" the basic premise of the article was that it didn't matter if you had a few extra pounds, some guys prefer a lovely personality over a lovely figure. i remember reading that and being so happy because that meant i could possibly have a boyfriend at some point in my life. because even if i couldn't get my body to be skinny enough to look lovely, then i could work on my personality.

how sad is that?! i think that sheds a lot of light on how our world views what it means to be lovely. we try to find loveliness in magazines, clothes, and makeup. we consult the world on what it really means to be beautiful. when all the while God has told us what it means to be beautiful in His word. but often that is the last place we look for our definition of beauty.

i could talk about so many things when it comes to viewing myself as lovely. my weight has gone up & down throughout my life. i have struggled with learning to love my body for years and years. i have fought with my hair for so long - straightened it every day for years, then finally leaving it curly and learning to love it in it's natural state. tanning because i am so pale, and finally learning to embrace my light skin tone. there are so many things i have learned about God and myself through these struggles. but today, i wanted to dig a little bit deeper.

because the thing that makes me feel most lovely isn't straight hair, tanned skin, or being my "ideal" weight. the thing that makes me feel lovely is when i am in deep relationship with Jesus. He sees me as lovely, and the closer i get to Him the more i can see it too. the thing that makes me feel lovely is doing what i was created to do - live intentionally and live vulnerably.

vulnerable:
susceptible to being wounded or hurt
open to criticism
exposed

the world would tell us that being vulnerable means not wearing any makeup, letting the world see what you really look like behind the mask.

the world would tell us that being vulnerable means wearing your heart on your sleeve, and leaving yourself open to be hurt by others.

the world would tell us that being vulnerable is weak, ugly, even childish.

the world would tell us that being vulnerable is unattractive and not desirable.

lovely:
having a beauty that appeals to the heart as well as to the eye
of a great spiritual beauty
delightful

the Lord would tell us that to be vulnerable is to be lovely.

the Lord would tell us that He created our outward appearance and to Him we are all beautiful. we are not beautiful because of what we look like necessarily, but we are beautiful because we are a reflection of Him. we were made in His image & He is lovely.

the Lord would tell us that to be vulnerable has little to do with appearance and much more to do with letting people into our lives. after all, letting people see us without make up isn't all that vulnerable at all. true vulnerability is allowing people to see our sin, our struggles, our doubts, and our fears. true vulnerability is opening up the darkest parts of us and allowing people to speak into it. true vulnerability is doing life with other people & pushing each other on towards Christ. there is nothing more lovely than that.

the Lord would tell us that being vulnerable is the strongest thing we can do. because when we are vulnerable, when we share those deep parts of us with others, we give them permission to be vulnerable too. and when everyone is being vulnerable & sharing their lives & spurring each other on through sin - that is the beauty of community. that is how we were created to be. that is lovely.

that is what i want to focus on in my life. i want true vulnerability & true beauty. i want to see people for who they truly are - i want to look past outward appearances and get to know someone's soul. i want to see loveliness the way that God sees it. and i want my life, my actions, my heart to be lovely because they are so close to the Lord. i want to be seen as lovely because Jesus can be seen through me.
some of the loveliest sunrises are after the darkest of nights. some of the most beautiful flowers grow through the ugliest of thorns. and even though being vulnerable can be painful, it is so worth it. even though being vulnerable can hurt, it is lovely.

www.robynsnest.org

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interested in joining in on this series?
leave a comment and i will get in touch. :)