Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
What do we hope to gain by spending countless hours running, walking, weightlifting, and doing other exercises? What are we trying to achieve by sweating persistently, feeling utterly exhausted, and even permanently injuring our bodies? Are we truly trying to be healthy, (as we claim)? Or are our motives a bit messier than that?
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I am Grace in this story. However, unlike my name, I'm often lacking in grace for myself and for others.
Sometimes, I just want to walk up to him and ask him the question. I mean, what would he say? I’d love to know how he’d answer if I asked him, "So why don't you like me?"
Honestly, I’m tired of the lectures about not meeting my goals last year. And I’m tired of the lectures about meeting my goals in the upcoming year. Of course, I strongly encourage you to grow in Christ and always be intentional about deepening your faith. But sometimes, I struggle with being told how to live by fallible human beings.
I realize that most people hate the Christmas rush, but I think that it can be a great thing. You know—the rush to buy presents for family members and friends, the rush to watch every Christmas movie possible, the rush to decorate with cute Christmas décor, and the rush to make cards and cookies. The rush to get it all over with. I love the Christmas rush because it helps me escape…but only for so long.
Last year, I wrote about three things that I wasn’t thankful for. For this post, I'm going to share two more things that I’m not thankful for:
The reason my heart hurt was because it seemed like the commenters could only express their feelings in the comments section under my article. Was that the only “safe” place for them to share how they truly felt about guys and relationships? My story of longing and loneliness was their story, too.
I'd heard "Just the Way You Are" before, but I hadn't seen the music video for it until a classmate shared it in a presentation for class recently. At first, the lyrics made me feel good. The song made me think of similar songs, like the crazy popular hit “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. But then I understood the message that this song was sending—especially when it was combined with the music video.
I hate my body. I’ve honestly hated it for years. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly. It's completely healthy. But I still hate it because it doesn't look the way I want it to look. And truth be told, it never will.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 