(Disclamer: this is my forum friendly version of an article that I recently found. The article can be found at the end of this thread. Thank you.)
Alright ladies, including the high school kind, this thread is especially for YOU (guys, if you are reading this, pass this on to you female friends, partners and family)!
Now, this issue has been around for ages: body image, and we basicly know what's it is about, especially in High School.
However, we also try to fit in with the popular lot...yes, i do mean the "Queen Bs". The ones who doesn't fit in, are the outcasts, and the goody two shoes. The freakest part of it, is seeing your school mates turning into something that is against who they really are. I seen that with my own eyes, and i have friends who seen that too.
Side note: it's also freaky to see those people being back to themselves AFTER high school. I also seen that with my own eyes.
Anyway, what I also noticed that at high school, it's for people to express themselves, or a journey to find themselves.
So, lets have a look at one woman in the Bible. Esther. You can find her story in...well...Esther.
We all know the story, Esther got picked for her beauty after bannishment of the Queen, became one of the favourtible contenders, became Queen and saved the Jews....that's in a nutshell. But there is more meaning in this.
Point 1: Inner Beauty. Hegai, found more than just outer beauty in the Queen-to-be, but inner beauty as well as character. He looked out for Esther from when she was picked and won the favour (2:9), till she faced the King (Hegai gave her exact instructions on how to approach him etc, how she did that, you can find that in chapter 2 v.15 on what she did).
Her inner beauty and character counted beside her outer beauty.
Point 2: Courageous Esther KNEW that if she stepped in the castle walls, there was a chance she won't see her uncle ever again! That would scared her to pieces, and that wouldn't go down well if that fear took over.
But it didn't, instead, she was one of the favourites, and our Queen-to-be ended to be Queen (without the fear of the unknown taken over). But it doesn't end there. Back in the day, if you see the king without a request, you would be dead. But that didn't stop her for seeing the king to ask for her people to be saved. Now that took some courage.
Esther was courageous in that act, which payed off and her life was spared.
Point 3: Godly. You probably thinking right now, where is God in all of this? Though it's true that He "wasn't" in that book, however, God was there. Though Esther. This is part 2 of her book: the plot to kill the Jews, her people. Around then, it was already law so she was already in a pinch, with a possibility for her uncle to die though this law. So she stop, drop and PRAY! Also she fasted. She knew that without God's help, it would be in disaster! So she did one thing that she could do: hand the next move over to God....and you know the rest.
God was there through the whole thing to save His people.
So, how does this relates to us women today, with high school, work etc? Simple. The three points shows what we can be, Godly (meaning like God, not as God, just to clear any confusion there), courageous, AND show our inner beauty. But that's not all. Though those three points helped Esther back in the day, there are also more points, like being God's child/princess, being the light etc. God made us not just to help populate (different story altogether) but also to be role models for younger women for the next generation. They need us.
So, to finish off, I would like to leave with two things. First, a vid that has been recently released (it still gives me goosebumps).
Secondly, from Proverbs 31:29-31: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is decetiful, abd beauty is vain, but a women who fears the LORD is the be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praised at the gates."
And remember, stay true to yourself, as God wants you to be the very best that he wants you to be. He loves you v. much. You ARE his little princesses. You ARE his masterpieces. You ARE his daughters, and NOTHING will take that away from you. Remember that.
"Love yourselves, as God loves you" Daniel "Bucko" Buckingham
Thank you for that beautiful message of inner beauty. Inner beauty does indeed extend outwards and it really makes one shine out through Christ. Cute music vid, btw! I enjoyed it : )
Thank you for that beautiful message of inner beauty. Inner beauty does indeed extend outwards and it really makes one shine out through Christ. Cute music vid, btw! I enjoyed it : )
best thing about the vid, is that it was funded via kickstarter too.
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:47 pm
musasgal
best thing about the vid, is that it was funded via kickstarter too.
Awe, that's awesome : ) I've always felt sort of like an outcast back in high-school. I had friends- best friends even. Sometimes we wouldn't have the same class together and would only see eachother during our lunch break in the cafeteria. But highschool life wasn't all that bad for me during 9-10 but 11 & 12 became hard because I started having less friends to hangout with. It was partly my fault because I was quiet and shy. sweatdrop but Thanks to God, He has since brought me out of my shell and I'm a lot better now in terms of social interaction than before. So..Praise God! biggrin
Have you ever felt like an outcast or were labelled?
best thing about the vid, is that it was funded via kickstarter too.
Awe, that's awesome : ) I've always felt sort of like an outcast back in high-school. I had friends- best friends even. Sometimes we wouldn't have the same class together and would only see eachother during our lunch break in the cafeteria. But highschool life wasn't all that bad for me during 9-10 but 11 & 12 became hard because I started having less friends to hangout with. It was partly my fault because I was quiet and shy. sweatdrop but Thanks to God, He has since brought me out of my shell and I'm a lot better now in terms of social interaction than before. So..Praise God! biggrin
Have you ever felt like an outcast or were labelled?
Yep, most of of my life. Though I was known, i was shy in new places, and i only had a v. small handful of true friends. You probably know the saying "God has a sense of humor" right? Well, thanks to a pencil, I met my bestie. First year was the WORSE at high school, but for the rest, I was in a Christian school (the kind with primary and high school put together), I was fine. And that's kinda how I broke out of my shell a bit more (Probably the main reason why I'm the most known in the Divisional Youth).
But it's sad to see (or hear) friends who loose their way through high school, and also freaky when they returned back to themselves, a little altered but still.
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:41 pm
musasgal
Yep, most of of my life. Though I was known, i was shy in new places, and i only had a v. small handful of true friends. You probably know the saying "God has a sense of humor" right? Well, thanks to a pencil, I met my bestie. First year was the WORSE at high school, but for the rest, I was in a Christian school (the kind with primary and high school put together), I was fine. And that's kinda how I broke out of my shell a bit more (Probably the main reason why I'm the most known in the Divisional Youth).
But it's sad to see (or hear) friends who loose their way through high school, and also freaky when they returned back to themselves, a little altered but still.
Thanks to a pencil eh? Heheh. It's funny how God works sometimes. : ) I met my best friend thanks to the new seating arrangement. I'm glad you broke out of your shell a bit more. I'm still in the process of letting go of ALL of my anxieties- socially speaking and just being completely over it and more confident through Christ's help.
It is sad to see and hear of friends who've lose their way through highschool. All we can do is pray for them and even communicate with them either online through various social media like facebook or in person. We can only do so much to help them but the rest is in God's hands ♥. I remember reading a verse that said something along the lines of.. we can help plant the seed [His Word] in others' lives but God is the one who grows it. Which relieves a ton of worries on my part for the other person because I know that..God will ultimately help them if they choose to let Him.
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