There’s a quote I have in our kitchen that says “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  Well, in my case, recently, it was about slipping and falling and busting my butt in the rain.  Literally.  In life and physically.

This past Saturday, it was a beautiful day for a garage sale.  After three moves in the past 2 years, I had lots of glamorous decor I was purging and ready to sell at our community garage sale.  I had everything set up on display like walking into a neighborhood Home Goods, and the sun was shining gloriously on my decor diva display.

Well, out of the blue, I felt a few sprinkles on my shoulder mid morning.  But looking up, I knew the mist would pass.  Oh the contrary, and within 10 minutes, the sky decided to drop and a downpour of rain drowned ALL my nice stuff!  Stephen had gone to work, my mom had stopped by but already left, and it was just me, and #poodlechild, by ourselves to start rushing in hauling dozens of pieces of furniture and decor back into the garage and out of the random Florida thunderstorm that ruined my garage sale, and now most of my belongings.

In the midst of my frustration, I kept saying to myself, “Lord, I know it’s just stuff… it’s JUST stuff. I was getting rid of it all anyway.”  Yet, that “stuff” was also memories now being drowned out and soaked.  It literally rained on my parade.

As #poodlechid and I, both now soaking wet, ran back and forth grabbing what I could piled into my hands to quickly put back in the garage, I took a wrong step and slipped in my garage with my feet in the air as my bum came crashing down hard on the concrete.  I was certain I did more damage to my back or neck, but thankfully, all I was left with was a tender tooshy.  Yet, as I sat there on my garage floor, soaking wet and a hurt butt, all alone in my crisis, in shock of what just happened, I couldn’t help but let out a little cry, “LORD, really?  What the heck?  Help me!”

Next thing I know, as I picked my self up, and the items I had dropped, I look up to see my neighbors kids appear in the rain and start grabbing stuff out of my driveway and start bringing it all in my garage.  Without asking, they jumped in and helped, volunteering to also get soaked in the rain themselves, just to simply come to my aid and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

I wanted to cry again.

There in the midst of my frustration, right before my eyes, I saw a beautiful example of the Lord answering my cry for help, and how He always provides when we least expect it.

But more so, it was a beautiful analogy of doing life together.  Of helping each other through the struggle.  Of realizing, we can’t do life alone, we need each other.  Because it’s a given, the storms will come in life.  And when we try to carry the burden by ourselves, we slip and fall. Because we aren’t designed to do life by ourself.  We are designed to do life together as a spiritual family.  As brothers and sisters in Christ.  With our church family.  Our neighbors.  In our community.  Even here on the internet in our online communities.  That’s how God designed it.  To love your neighbor as yourself.

The only thing I forgot to do that day was take that moment to go dance in the rain.  Looking back I wish I would have.  But instead, that day, I saw a different twist on that quote.

Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass… it’s about learning to “love others” in the rain.

I am grateful for the love my neighbors showed me that day.  How can we all show love better to our own neighbors next door and in our every day life?

It was one of those days.  As I got ready for church that morning, I just did. not. feel. pretty.  In my efforts to try another new skin care line for my adult acne, this skin care line was either purging all the ick that’s been built up in my skin, or telling me it didn’t like the new skin care line one.  I was broke out to the point where tears just fill my eyes when I look in the mirror because I’m just. so. sick. of. this. battle.  Will there ever be a miracle cure?  Will I ever outgrow this nonsense?  And where is God’s healing power in the midst of my 34-year-old skin that shouldn’t be dealing with this anymore?

(In full disclosure, I have photoshopped the acne away in the photo above! Wink wink!)

So I was in a grumpy mood heading out the door to church.  As I came out of the bedroom, Stephen looked at me and said “Wow, you look really beautiful today.”  And I gave him the glare.

“What, what’s wrong?”  he asked cautiously.

“You’re just saying that because you have to,” I said doubting the authenticity of his compliment.

“No, I’m not, but what’s wrong?”  he continued.

And my glare turned to a pout, “I’m just so sick of my acne. But whatever, let’s go.”

As we walked to the car, he reminded me in his gentle way that I love about him, “Sweetheart, that’s not what I see when I look at you.”  But, still, I wasn’t convinced. He’s my husband.  He’s supposed to be biased.

Then we went to our church and during worship, our pastor felt led to ask people to come down to the front who needed healing prayer.  Immediately I said to the Lord, “I need it, but I’m not about to head down there to ask them to pray for my acne.  I know people have so many more important things that need prayer.”  As I watched the dozens of people trickle down to get prayed over, I told the Lord, “I know, I know I need to get over my woes, and simply use this time to pray for THEM.”  So I stood there and lifted my hands and prayed for their healing, because I knew deep down, their health issues were so much more important than my vanity one.

After church was over, as I started to exit the row, a familiar face passed by and said “Heeeeyyy girl!”

“Heeeey,” I smiled back.

Then she totally caught me off guard.  She continued, “Girl, I just have to tell you, you look so beautiful today.”

I started looking around.  Me?  With my face broke out in welts?  Clearly she was talking to someone else.

“Wow, thanks, I kind of needed that today,” I shyly said in return, feeling so undeserving.  If she had only known the kind of morning I had.

“Oh you just always look so beautiful, so put together,” she continued. “I was just telling my husband the other day about you, how there is this girl at church who just always looks so cute all the time.”

Again, I wanted to turn my head around to try to find who she was really talking about, because that did not feel like me that day.

“Seriously, you don’t know how much this means to me today,” I told her.  “Because it’s just one of those days where all I can see are the flaws.  But thank you, truly for your sweet words.”

As she started to walk away, I just stood there for a second at the end of the row, and looked up. In those ways I believe God sends messengers, I knew that was a message He was sending me through my sister in Christ, to remind me, just as my husband said, that’s not what He sees when He looks at me.  And I immediately thought of 1 Samuel 16:7:

“God does not see the same way people see.

People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In the superficial society we live in, it’s so easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves to the next woman and feel we’re not as thin/young/fashionable/clear skin/cellulite free/successful as “her”.  Magazines constantly barrage our eyes with this false sense of perfection, and it can feel overwhelming to try to keep up with the Joneses on what we are supposed to look like.  But really, it’s not our outward appearance that should matter as much.  It’s our inward beauty that the Lord cares about.  Yes, I’m a girly girl who loves fashion and make up, but it’s when I let something like the clear skin I don’t have get me down that I need to be reminded, that’s not how the Lord sees me.

And it’s not how He sees you.

What is most beautiful to Him is your heart.

Are you praying for others more than you are praying for yourself?

Are you serving others in need?

Are you giving to those who have less?

Are you using your gifts for His glory or for your own?

The way God sees you is as nothing less than His incredible masterpiece.  And just as He sent me a messenger to remind me of that, I’m giving that message to you today.  With eating disorders on rampage and a million beauty products out there, we women are always trying to change the things we don’t like about ourselves.  Don’t let the enemy highlight your physical flaws so much that it masks the beauty God has created in Your heart. We all have that little something about ourselves we could nit pick to death that always feels not good enough, but instead, today, let’s come together and celebrate the good waiting in our hearts that is capable of changing the world.  Because with God’s love in our hearts, that’s exactly what you and I are.

World changers.

And I believe, that’s how God sees you.

Speaking of changing the world, in the photo of me at the top, I’m wearing my Social Grounds Coffee t-shirt.  It’s a beautiful ministry started by some good friends of ours at church that uses the proceeds from selling coffee and t-shirts to serve the homeless in downtown Jacksonville and future cities with the goal to raise enough money to help provide them jobs through future coffee shops. And it just happens to be some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted, so smooth and amazing.  I encourage to you take one step today toward changing the world, and check out the Social Grounds Coffee website to see how you can support an amazing cause by switching out your coffee or rockin’ a cool t-shirt!

There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like you.
There’s always going to be someone who wants to pick apart your flaws.
There’s always going to be someone who projects their own unhappiness onto you.
There’s always going to be someone who writes or says nasty things about you that aren’t true.
There’s always going to be someone who hurts you because deep down they are the one who is hurt.
There’s always going to be someone who misunderstands your intentions.
There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t want to see you succeed.

But the bottomline is, what that someone thinks of you is none of your business.

And don’t let that someone be you as your own worst critic.

Because the only opinion that matters, and is in fact truth not opinion, is what God’s word says about you.

And His word says:

You are beautiful. (SONG OF SOLOMON 4:7)
You are brave. (JOSHUA 1:9)
You are stronger than you think you are. (PHILLIPPIANS 4:13)
You are joyful. (JAMES 1:2)
You are grateful. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:18)
You are victorious. (DEUTERONOMY 20:4)
You are kind. (GALATIANS 5:22)
You are made to look exactly as you should be. (PSALM 139:13-16)
You have a legacy before you of conquerors. (HEBREWS 11)
You are at peace. (ROMANS 15:13)
You are not the one who needs to stress about your future. (JEREMIAH 29:11)

And… you are loved. (ROMANS 5:8)

Walk today in that truth.  Cling to that oh gorgeous one.

Because…. there’s always going to be Someone… who loves you.

And in case my words weren’t enough, watch this video for an extra huge reminder!