February is coming up meaning the commercial scene is currently flooded with all things related to Valentine’s Day. Considering pink is one of my favorite colors and I love any excuse to doll up, Valentine’s Day is actually one of my favorite holidays.
Beyond the stereotypical reasons to love Valentine’s Day, I love the holiday because it forces me to sit down and reflect on all my relationships and how I can improve them and love that person better.
This week I wanted to actually reflect on loving myself better. Confidently loving the skin I’m in has always been a work in progress. In my current season, I’ve learned to love being a mama and a wife, love being a writer, love being a giver and my heart for others and so much more. It hasn’t always been this way though and I’m so thankful that I’ve finally reached a place where I can love the skin I’m in and the current assignments God has me on.
A couple years ago I ran across a meme that said “Do you think God ever gets sad? Like, “What do you mean you don’t love yourself? I worked so hard on you…”.
This hit home and hard.
How often do we spend time beating up and cursing the very thing God created fearfully and wonderfully? How often do we not acknowledge that the things (and people) He made are good and made with a purpose in mind?
Can these things become corrupted? Yes. But that’s where Jesus comes in and the redemption He brings to the table if we would only cling to Him and acknowledge it.
Once this revelation came to me there were a handful of things I had to do to get the place I am today.
- Seek Truth— I know this is kind of like duh Michelle. But in a journey of loving myself wholly I had to seriously block out a whole lot of things that weren’t truth and heavily guard my heart. This meant instead of spending time watching Netflix or binge watching YouTube vlogs, I had to keep worship music or sermons on repeat constantly, especially on the days I didn’t have the energy to pray or seek God on my own. It’s super crazy how our flesh can keep us from doing simple things like opening our mouths and seeking God for help in our weakest moments. It puts it in perspective on just how important it is to pray and have a constant relationship with God. He heals us and strengthens us. He loves us like no other. His thoughts of us outnumber the number of grains of sands. What better way to learn how love ourselves than to look unto the one who loved us first.
- Accept who your are— Your face is your face, your voice is your voice and it’ll probably be your face and your voice the rest of your life. I heard this recently and it made me think of all the times I ran from the camera or was simply scared say a word to anyone. After Raelynn was born and towards the end of my pregnancy I refused to let anyone take pictures of me. I had pre eclampsia for a couple months at the end of my pregnancy so I was super swollen for a while. Honestly, it is one of my biggest regrets. I have a million pictures of my beautiful newborn daughter but none really of me snuggling her or a decent family picture of the 3 of us the first week of her life. So what’s the solution? For me it was as simple as forcing myself to take a picture every single day for a month straight. If you’ve never done this before, do it! No matter how you look or how you feel just do it! On good days I was able to look back and realize I’m not as bad as I thought I was and on bad days it was a moment out of the day I was forced to smile and add joy to my day. Regardless, its memories. Life is a long journey and no matter what you’re going through each season is a temporary and unique part of your story.
- Switch it up— My mom constantly tells me stories of how much I loved dressing up and having “performances” as a little girl. It’s so funny when I hear her tell these stories because Raelynn loves dressing up and looking “cute” (as she would say). As I journeyed into womanhood and my body changed, I became super hesitant and insecure about trying on clothes and wearing different things. Which is crazy when I think back on it because with the extra skin and stretch marks I now have, I realize how silly it was to think less of my body then. When I decided to take a picture of myself everyday, I decided to also switch it up and try new things. I would go into target and try on things I wouldn’t think of wearing in a million years because…why not! The lesson here? Stop telling yourself no, stop telling yourself you are undeserving of certain things. Get out there and try something different because what’s the worst that can happen. Simply training myself to not count myself out has helped me achieve certain things I couldn’t even fathom doing before I adopted this mindset. I wore a 2 piece bathing suit twice in the past month because…why not. I’m currently teaching myself the art of photography and styled shoots because…why not.
- Know your circle— We’re not meant to do life alone. I talked a lot about this in my boldness post because my number one goal this year is to be more intentional about my relationships. I never realized just how important relationships were until the past couple years when I was struggling to accept my new assignment and embrace God’s plan for me . I don’t think I would’ve been aware of the hole I had to bring myself out of if it wasn’t for my husband and mom. I also don’t think I would’ve been able to stay out of that hole if it wasn’t for my sisters. God is intentional with everything, that includes the people He places in your life. Accept their love and be transparent and open with them. If you’re not sure of the purpose each person serves in your life, ask Him and pay attention to who is always there no matter what. And If you’re not in a season of learning how to love yourself, pay attention to those around you that need extra love. Pour love into them, pray for them and simply just be present. When I first had Raelynn, I had a friend just simply sit on the couch with me and hold Raelynn. This gesture seemed so small but it honestly meant the world for me in that season.
xo.
Michelle
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