His Princess

Every little girl wants to be a princess. Years of youth hold the greatest potential for imagination; Carefully she'll place that paper crown on her head, and excitedly she'll wave the cardboard sceptor. Her wish is to to be admired, and delighted in. She longs to captivate those around her, and relish in the affection of those closest to her. She wants to be beautiful, enchanting everyone with her ribbons and curls.

Somehow, our culture has squelched and perverted this innocent desire for beauty. As our little princess grows, she is told that she's no longer accepted as herself, and that now the aid of make-up and revealing clothes are needed to get her the attention she craves. Instead of being satisfied and confident, as she once was, twirling around the kitchen in that tutu, suddenly she finds herself staring in the mirror, wondering "how on earth did I get so many freckles?"

“The Kings daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is interwoven with gold. She will be led to the King in embroidered work; The virgins, her campanions who follow her, will be brought to You.”

Psalm 45:13 – 14

God made us girls to love the beauty in ourselves - not a prideful, arrogant self-love, but rather an enjoyment of that which is lovely and pure. We are daughters of God - daughters of the King of Kings! In truth, we are real life princesses. As such, it is so important that we outwardly display the work He has done inwardly.

Nope, I'm not talking about vanity, here. We don't have to obsess over ourselves, in order to understand our beauty . . . God created woman as a manifestation of His beauty, grace, and charm (something man is simply not - sorry, boys) . . . Our glory should not be in ourselves, but should point to Him. This is why it should be easy to feel comfortable in our own skin . . . All girls are created with absolutely perfect beauty. I'm far from our culture's beauty standard (way too many freckles :P) But I know that I am exactly as my Father would have me . . . that I'm loved and cherished by Him, just the way I am.

When a girl is loved, she will feel secure in herself. When she feels secure in herself, she doesn't need to "improve" her looks, out of vanity, or resort to immodesty. I won't lie - Not having a Dad to compliment, enjoy, and admire me is very difficult at times . . . because that is what my young heart yearns for. God has created me with a desire to be enjoyed. Gratefully, our culture's unrealistic claims for beauty haven't gotten to me too much - So I'm still, at the core, in that tutu stage. I still wish for the admiration of my father . . . and, I will perhaps never have it. But my Father, the King of Kings, can fill that hole. ;)

Last week I did the dress challenge put on by Feelin Feminine, where I had to wear dresses or skirts for 7 days in a row. Mom joked with me, saying that this really wasn't a challenge at all . . . and it's true, normally you will find me in a dress, rather than in jeans. Unfortunately, this morning, thrown off by Daylights Savings Time and far too lazy to put effort into my appearance, I waddled into church wearing pants. My friends were shocked and said, "Wow! Lauren's . . . . Normal! She's actually dressed like a normal person!!" Haha . . . Thanks Heather ;) But usually, dresses are my thing.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to be beautiful. Not necessarily the made-up look our culture has concocted, but sometimes just the freckled young face that's far from model material. He has fearfully and wonderfully made each and every young lady out there - he delights in our beauty, and wants us to, as well. What a thought . . . that I captivate my Father! That I am His princess!

That's enough for me :)

~Lauren Lee

Impressing God - Part 2

Just Because We Don't Have To Impress Him, Doesn't Mean We Shouldn't Praise Him!

My last post was talking about how as children of God, we don't need to be concerned with "impressing" Him in order that we might be acceptable in His sight. However. That doesn't exclude our efforts to please Him. That is what I'd like to focus this post on. Now that we know we "can't" impress Him, what can we do to please Him?

A father loves his son as a baby, even when that baby can't do anything for him. But as the child grows, the father expects that his son will excecute certain actions out of maturity and love. While the actions of the child don't "earn" his fathers love, it is something that is required of him. Similarly, our Father loved us when we were worthless, but now having accepted Christ, we have grown to a place of maturity and He expects us to keep his commandments. God doesn't just want us to throw up our hands, say "well, Jesus loves me, so I'm all good! I don't have to do anything." He loves us, knowing that we don't have what it takes to get to heaven on our own. But He expects that we do our best in the strength of Christ - because we love Him.

My pastor spoke on this on Sunday. Here are five sacrifices we can make, to please our heavenly Father:

1. We can offer our entire lives.

Romans 12:1 says, "I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Usually, in the old testiment, an animals was killed first, before offered as a sacrifice. Why? Well . . . try keeping a live bull on the alter while the flames arose. He'd simply jump right off! However, now under the new covenant, we are living sacrifices. Lets not jump off that alter . . . but give all of ourselves to Him who made us.

2. We can offer praise.

Hebrews 13:15: "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that gives thanks to His name."

After creating us (even with the knowledge of sin), killing His son for us, and continuing to have mercy on a fallen and perverse world, don't you think He deserves praise? What an awesome God! If our purpose on this earth is to bring God glory . . . . then this is one of the biggest ways that we ourselves can glorify Him. With thanksgiving!

3. We can offer up doing good and sharing.

Hebrews 13:16: "And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices, God is pleased."

As the body of Christ, we are the physical manifestation of the compassion and love of Christ. This should be shown through our empathy and giving, to others. It is a sacrifice on our part? Yes. Don't jump off that alter. ;)

4. We can offer self-sacrifice.

Philipians 2:17: "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all."

The Christian walk is sacrificial. At times, it hurts . . . because after all, we're not living for ourselves. Our desires, our comforts, will be stripped away. Will we still be willing to sacrifice even more of ourselves, for Him?

5. We can offer material resources to meet a need.

Philipians 4:18: "I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having recieved from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God."

Remember, the Philipians could barely feed their own families. And yet, they saw the work of the Lord as SO important, that they provided Paul with everything he needed. This selflessness truly pleased God!

Being acceptable to a father, is always something a child yearns for. But we're already accepted, through the blood of Christ:

Galations 2:20 - "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Now that He has accepted sinners, for no reason besides His infinite love, it's time to give back to Him.

~Lauren Lee

Impressing God

There's nothing in the world that quite compares to impressing your father. And there's nothing the world, that quite compares to disappointing him. Before Dad left, it seemed to be vital to my existance that I impressed him. If I didn't, I felt like I didn't have his love.

So, I buried my head in my textbooks, determaned to make straight As. All in hope - that when I announced "100%!!!" on my exam, he would love me.

I worked hard on my speeches, so that when he took me to debate club, he could be proud to say, "that's my daughter."

I joined the Inland Valley Orchestra at the young age of 13, so that when he saw me up there with all the other adult musicians, he would be impressed.

I did Ballet at the studio 6 days a week for hours each day, year after year, desperately attempting to earn his affection. But it never worked . . . and I didn't understand. I worked so hard for him, and yet I still felt the pain of disapproval whenever I failed. He just . . . Didn't love me. Although I understand now, in hindsight, that he is a lost man who cannot love until he finds redemption in Christ - my young spirit couldn't comprehend it. I suffered, deeply.

How relieving it now is, that I have a Father who doesn't need to be impressed, to love me. In fact, I can't impress him! Even if I try! No matter my good works, or worldly accomplishments, I do nothing that compares to the greatness of God. He knows it, too - and He accepts me as I am.

"Alright. This is downright weird. Look at you. You're chubby, and bald. You've barely opened those blue eyes, and you're already crying and screaming. You can't do anything - you're just a little ball of blubber. You haven't even spoken yet. But yet - I'd give my life, for you! I'd sacrifice anything, for you! You're . . . You're my son!" The youth pastor spoke those words to his newly born son . . . Looking at the round, innocent face, gurggling and sputtering up at him.

"Babies are useless," Mr. Simons told us kids during one sermon. "But for some reason, I still love my son, even though he hasn't done anything for me. If I feel this way about my him, how much more, does God feel for us?!"

Love is such a strange phenomenon! And yet, love is something God has in abundance.

Isaiah 64:6 says, "... all our righteousness is as filthy rags." No matter what I do, my righteousness is nothing without Christ. It is all counted as loss for the love of our Savior, as Paul says in Phillipians 3:7-8:

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

I no longer feel compelled to serve out of fear that I will be rejected - instead, I am now free to serve with a heart of joy! Even when I fail - He loves me. Even when I mess up - he loves me. Even if I don't get 100 on that exam, he still loves me!

This is a truly awesome thing about our God. Salvation is based on grace alone - not by what I do, to earn my way. His love isn't conditioned upon my success . . . Because success is impossible when compared with the His holy standard. He is a truly loving Father! :)

~Lauren Lee

An Idea For Mr. Simons:

Perhaps if he bought the "Baby Mop", his son wouldn't be so "useless" as he says . . . haha!