"Decide to Be Authentic" (Part One of Chapter 2)

Hi girls (and guys)! I hope that you are having a great Thursday! I've decided that I will do these Bible study posts on Thursdays...kind of like my version of the "Thoughtful Thursdays" thing like I see so many other bloggers do. I was being a little too ambitious when I thought that I might be able to do this more often than once a week. If I am to do it justice, these posts are going to be LONG and unfortunately, I still do have LOTS of other things to do during my day other than blog. ;) In fact, currently, I hear my washer and dryer screaming at me in unison..."Get down here and put us to work, woman!" Grrrrrr...demanding, they are! (Okay, not sure why I just said that like Yoda)

Anyway, let's begin...this will be Part One of Chapter 2.

"Discovering and Living Out Your God-Given Potential"

"Have you ever told yourself that happily-ever-afters are for other women, not you?"

"Have you accepted the status quo rather than reaching up?"

"Have you thought your dreams would come true if you were only smarter, taller, thinner, richer?"

I have. (I'm a "someday girl"...when such and such happens, then someday I will be truly happy...)

Guess who discontentment began with? Mmm hmmm...EVE...way back in the day. The first woman. And guess what? It's been around ever since. It's nothing new. Imagine...having everything...you're perfect (I would imagine perfect body, perfect hair, perfect teeth etc), living in a perfect world with a perfect man (that alone is a miracle - haha) and you're in communion with the one true and living God. A serpent comes along and dangles a proverbial carrot in front of you saying that you could be EVEN BETTER and you lose it all in a moment because you weren't content with perfection...you.wanted.more.

Was she NUTS?! Apparently. And so are you and I. Because no matter what we have, we always want more. It truly is a curse, isn't it? We fall prey to the proverbial carrot just about every day. Lives filled with discontent. And eh hem...you can pretend that you are content all you want to but let's be real with ourselves.

We're all prone to watching out for our own interests - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

"Life still turns inside out when false principles of significance are embraced"

"Do you really want a Storybook Life?"

Let's look for a minute at the fairytale heroins:

Sleeping Beauty has to be kissed by her one true love in order to wake-up and be free to live...

Little Red Riding Hood couldn't follow directions to literally save her life...

Rapunzel was sick to death of being locked in a tower all of her life and so she took matters into her own hands and sacrificed her precious locks in order to gain new life...

And then there was Goldilocks who is probably STILL trying to find something that fits "just right"...


"To be authentic women who can decide to reach our God given potential, we have to be willing to take a long look in the mirror and ask: Which false sense of significance am I vulnerable to believing?"

Do I seek significance in a man (or my man)? I don't know if I seek significance in my husband but honestly, when he discourages me or says something negative about my ability to do something, I have a tendency to second guess myself...I start to lose my feeling of significance based upon someone else's thoughtless words...true or not.

Do I seek significance in my career? I am a stay-at-home mom perhaps like many of you who read my blog and I don't know about you guys but I definitely seek significance in my ability to be my kids mom and the keeper of my home. This is where the ugly jealous head often rears in my life...I look at other moms around me and measure myself up to what they're doing. If I am doing more, I feel good...confident...if I am doing less, I feel like a failure and definitely less significant.

If you are not a mom or if you are a "working mom" (outside of the home), then perhaps you are basing your significance in how far you are getting in your company or what your superiors think of you or even your employees.

"Ask God to search your heart to see if too much of your identity and significance are being derived from your career. When we are working in our God-given talent area - our uniqueness - we are fulfilled, but when our significance is derived from the kudos, the compliments, and the connections to power work brings, we are at the edge of a slippery slope to destruction. Decide how you will keep a "heart check" in your life so that work remains fulfilling but not all-consuming. "

Do you have a title in your life that brings you great significance? There is an example in the book of the author, Pam Farrel, who found significance in her "title" as a pastor's wife for 22 years. When her husband resigned as a pastor, she struggled with her identity. She then found herself asking a very important question on a daily basis: "Pam, are you going to keep doing the things God called you to, even though that title is gone?" Sometimes we can ask ourself that very same question...are we going to still do the thing that God has called us to even if there is no glory in it? No "title" to speak of?

"Authenticity is doing what is right regardless of the circumstances."

Do I seek significance in prestige, money or my looks? I don't really feel like I have a problem with prestige per se but I have had my share of struggles with significance over money and looks, for sure. My sister (sorry, Jul) and her husband have very good jobs. My sister is an RN at a reputable hospital in our area and her husband is a teacher at a Blue Ribbon public school also in our area. Both of them have steady incomes and are able to afford lots of things that my husband and I cannot. My husband has his own business and our income isn't always quite as steady. We get by and are fairly comfortable but I have to admit that I have often felt "less" because we don't make as much money as them or some of my friends. We happen to live in a very success driven part of the country. The more money, the better. I find it difficult not to try to measure up. I'm working on it though!

Looks? Um, heck yeah! I struggle with weight and it's more up than down. It is also pretty difficult not to allow that to make me feel less significant. Especially in a world that is so looks driven. I tell you guys this only to help you get a sense that I am not preaching to anyone here other than myself. These are my struggles and regardless if they are yours as well, I've got to work on these areas in my own life. If this study helps you, well, that is a God-given bonus! :)

Let's get back to looks for a minute. It's not only a weight issue, it's a looks issue in general and we as women can sometimes be consumed by it and definitely seek significance in good looks.

Ask yourself these questions.

Do you think you would be a better person if you wore a smaller size?

Would your worth go up if you had more money for fashionable clothes?

Does the thought of going out without make-up send chills up your spine?

Obviously, it is very important to be healthy but are you trying to be healthy OR are you trying to gain fulfillment because you desire heads to turn when you walk into a room?

Is your focus on the external short-changing your internal growth?

"This false sense of significance sneaks up on our hearts. We all want to look and feel our best. We want that first impression to count. But if we're not careful, our priorities about the way we look can slide right into that number one spot. Dieting is a multi-million-dollar industry. I finally found a diet that has rules I can keep. Rules for this diet are: (prepare to giggle cause you soooo know that YOU've thought these things too! LOL)

1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.

2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are canceled out by the diet soda.

3. When you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you do not eat more than they do.

4. Foods used for medicinal purposes never count, such as hot chocolate, toast, and Sara Lee Cheesecake.

5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.

6. Movie-related foods do not have additional calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one's personal fuel. Examples: Milk Duds, Junior Mints, Red Hots, Tootsie Rolls, and buttered popcorn.

7. Cookie pieces contain no calories. The process of breaking causes calorie leakage. (HAHA!)

8. Things licked off knives and spoons have no calories if you are in the process of preparing something.

9. Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are: spinach and pistachio ice cream, mushrooms and mashed potatoes. Note: Chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color.

10. Anything consumed while standing has no calories. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

11. Anything consumed from someone else's plate has no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to his or her plate. (We all know how calories like to cling!)

Wasn't that hilarious? I am still giggling and I have read it several times over the last week or so. :)

Okay, now to be serious...eh hem...(gettin' my straight face on)

"We're laughing because we've all been there. We feel the pressure if we don't measure up to the airbrushed pictures in the magazines - and humor is a way to combat the pain. "

"Are you spending as much time in the Bible as you are in front of the mirror?"

God says in 1 Peter 3:3-4, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (I'm not sure what version that is)

That is where I will leave you today...some things to think about for sure.

Part 2 will be brought to you LIVE from a studio blogcast of A Fine Romance here, next Thursday at ____Eastern Standard Time. lol

hehe - just having a little fun with ya.

Hope that you all have a great day! Will be blogging about a little "craft" project I've been working on for the last few days a little bit later if you're interested.

XO,