Reading Between the Lines

I think that title is clever.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot recently about people. I've always liked to psychoanalyze people (including myself) because I like to be able to know what's going on with them. I like figuring things out - this includes people, naturally. I've always been pretty good at noticing things about people, like when they're hiding something. More specifically when they're hiding their emotions. I'm decent at reading people. It's a fun game for me!

Of course on the other hand, I've been psychoanalyzing myself since I was about 14. A lot goes through my head at once, and since I forget to write things down, I just keep thinking more and more until, well, I've thunk myself in a circle.

With all of this, I was thinking about the beauty of people - God's greatest creation. Don't believe me? Read up on Genesis for yourself, and then try and tell me that God didn't value His creation of us over all the other things! He did save the best for last, because we were the ones made in His image - made for an intimate relationship with Him. People are beautiful.

I came across an article and video from Dove about beauty today. And how we're really hard on ourselves, whereas others tend to see the best in us when it's solely based on our appearance. Perception plays a huge part in what we define as beauty.

Here's the thing: yeah I've had moments of self-consciousness, but I've never truly struggled with having a negative body image. Like most girls, I do have my days, but in the end I never let those very temporary feelings of physical inadequacy drive my decisions or actions.

I love knowing that everything beautiful has the potential to reflect God's beauty. This, again, depends on perception I think. I can look at a really pretty landscape painting, and marvel at how beautifully it captures the vastness and mystery of God's creation, whereas another viewer may simply look at it with no regard to our Creator. From my point of view, everything beautiful brings God glory. Every human IS beautiful, and has the potential to bring God glory. Which is so, so cool!

Anyway, I was looking at someone's face on Facebook today (I know, weird right?!) and it was someone I didn't know - a friend-of-a-friend. She made a comment to another friend of mine who has her 40th birthday this week (or what I like to call her second 20th birthday). She said, "I would love to be 40 again... You should stretch it out! It's a GOOD decade!" Which I thought was interesting. Then I went to her page to see what she looked like (because I'm easily side-tracked). I would assume she's in her late 50's/60's. And I was looking at this picture of her, and I mean yeah certain facial and other physical features tend to give away our ages, but I saw another picture of her...

In this picture, I looked at it and had a pretty easy time telling her age (ish). But what really struck me were her eyes. They honestly looked as though they hadn't aged since she was 18. I covered up the rest of her face with my hand on the screen, and what I saw were beautiful eyes that looked as energetic and alive as I'm sure they've ever been - as if by looking into her very being, she were still young at heart.

This sounds pretty cliche, but I think it's cool. We can really be so critical, especially when we use our stage of life as an excuse as to why we look a certain way. But if we learn how to read between the lines - the wrinkles, the dark circles, the gray, the weight - I think that's when we can accept that our true beauty does in fact come from within, and when we embrace that and let it, it shines through to our outsides as well.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm fascinated with all stages of life. They're all beautiful! So stop coming up with excuses as to why you don't measure up, and quit comparing yourself to others who just happen to have different insecurities than you! You are fearfully and wonderfully made, from the inside out, by an Almighty God who loves you more than you will EVER be able to grasp or know.

"So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day."

Genesis 1:27-31