Good Gifts

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow" James 1:17 (NASB). 

Take a close look at the picture above because this is the only time you will see an image of my feet posted online. At least I say that now.

Today, my friend Samantha took me out for a belated birthday gift. She even paid extra for flowers. Now I have pretty feet for summer.

I know James did not have pedicures in mind when he wrote his letter, but that half hour in the salon chair when I soaked my feet in warm scented water, had them massages and cleared up, and let a sweet girl paint my toe nails felt like a gift from the Father. I did not need to tell the manicurist that it had been awhile since my last one. Just be happy I didn't post a before picture. The past couple years left little time or energy, let alone funds, for beauty treatments. I occasionally found time to paint my own toes, (I'll save my hidden talent as a contortionist for a later post.) or have my sister polish them, but most of the time I just wore closed-toed shoes. When sandal weather hit, I started feeling a bit unkept. After such a long season in a foggy state, I have felt a deep need to look nice, and God clearly understood that.

So, thank you, Samantha for providing a much needed lift. Your birthday gift did not feel late at all, in fact, it was perfectly timed. And thank You, Father, for knowing exactly what we need and when, and for seeing our desires as important, even a seemingly frivolous desire for professionally-polished toe nails.

What perfectly timed gifts have you received lately? How has God met your needs in creative ways?  

Girls have Always Loved to be Girls

This week, a friend and I went to the local art museum to see an exhibit of Italian art. Not only did I get to see the La Bella portrait that I mentioned in an earlier post, but they also had a replica of her famous blue dress and prints of other paintings from the time period. One of the many things that stood out to us was the women’s clothing and hair.

“Women back then wore such pretty closes,” I told my friend. “Can you imagine how long it must have taken to get dressed in the morning?”

I tried to imagine putting on all those layers. Several of the women, including La Bella, had intricate hairstyles that obviously involved a lot of braiding and twisting. Then came the accessories—strings of beads, jewels, and furs.

“Look at her,” My friend said when we finally stood in front of the La Bella portrait that was saved for the end. “It’s obvious from her stance that she was a very confident woman.” We talked about how strong-but-feminine she looked. I wondered if part of her confidence came from feeling pretty in that blue dress, with her hair done perfectly.

It struck me as I considered how long ago she lived, that God clearly created women with a natural desire to feel pretty. Today, instead of sewing gowns lined with gold thread and braiding our waist-length hair before arranging it delicately around our heads, we choose favorite fashions, wear make-up, and style our hair in ways that make us feel good about ourselves. A bad day can often be remedied by a pedicure. Face it; few things lift our spirits like knowing we look nice.

Does this mean women are shallow and only care about our looks? Not at all. I think it means that we enjoy being who God made us to be—girls. What a fun privilege!

Each of us has our own list of things that makes us feel pretty. I, for example, love jewelry, especially if it’s delicate and looks slightly antique. I enjoy having naturally curly hair. While I like to wear jeans and boots, my clothing style is definitely feminine. I feel best when I know I’m wearing a color that people say I look good in. (Since I don’t see in color, my friends are nice enough to tell me.)

What about you? What makes you feel pretty? Why do you think women enjoy dressing up and looking our best? What blessing do we enjoy by being girls?

Celebrating Beauty

My oldest son is getting a lot of extra hours at the art museum where he works, because of one important painting. La Bella is on display for a short time and they are making a very big deal about it. The opening weekend was loaded with events, some drawing international guests. The museum hired an extra security guard just to keep watch over La Bella, which is displayed alone in a special gallery. Christian even had to buy a new shirt so all security employees would match during opening week.

When he first told me about all the hype, I thought it seemed a bit over the top for one painting, especially when his boss announced that no one could take time off during opening week, meaning that Christian had to miss a family trip.

Then I looked La Bella up online. I learned that this Titian portrait (Sometimes subtitled, The Woman in the Blue Dress or The Beautiful Woman) dated back to the 16th century. As I looked at the sweet-faced young woman, I understand why a museum would plan events, hire extra security, and display it in a separate room. I pictured art students sitting back and taking in every detail of this lovely lady’s gown, face, hands, hair, and accessories. I’ve been to the museum where Christian works twice but I think a third trip might be in order. Seeing La Bella up close would be worth the cost of admission.

How often do we take time to appreciate rare beauty, particularly art that is hundreds of years old, created during a period of history when people may not have had the technology and other advances that we enjoy today but did have the giftedness, discipline, and patience to immortalize a gorgeous young woman on canvas? How amazing to consider the hours that one nameless woman spent standing still in an obviously heavy dress while the painter portrayed the shimmers in the fabric, the positions of her hand, the curls in her hair, and the gentle expression on her face.

Paintings like this just aren’t done anymore. I almost made me wish we weren’t quite so advanced.

When was the last time you took time to really take in something beautiful? How has your relationship with God impacted your appreciation for beauty, whether it’s something created by Him or by a gifted artist?

You might want to look up La Bella online. The woman in the painting couldn’t be more than 19. Picture yourself wearing a dress like hers and standing still while someone painted your picture. Would you consider that a fun way to spend an afternoon?

I feel beautiful because ...

What would make you feel beautiful? Would it be to lose 20 pounds? Get a tummy tuck? A nose job? A hair cut? Would it be buying expensive makeup that you can't afford? Would it be new shoes or new jewelry to make you feel beautiful?

For many years I struggled with feeling beautiful. It started as a little kid. My friends were stick thin and I had a little more fluff to me. Looking back I was average kid size, but still--even at that early age of 9, 10, 11--I felt inadequate. It wasn't thin enough. I didn't have the right clothes. My teeth were crooked. As I grew older those things still bothered me. I wanted to be the one in fifth grade who had the boyfriend. I wasn't. I wanted to be the one in 7th and 8th grade to have a boyfriend. I didn't get one then, either.

When I finally found someone who told me I was beautiful I was willing to give everything to him--my heart, my soul, my body--only to be crushed. In highschool I looked pretty cute in my tiny cheerleading skirt, but still I didn't feel beautiful. Not really. There was always someone prettier, more talented, and who did the cheers with more gusto. 

Looking back, I don't remember a time when I could say, "I look beautiful at this moment." I felt pretty good at times, but it was never enough. I'm so glad I don't have to live through those days again. I'm finally glad that I do feel beautiful.

First of all, I feel beautiful because I have a husband who tells me so--even though I weigh about 40 more pounds than when we got married and have stretch marks. My husband tells daily how beautiful I am and how thankful he is to be married to me. More than that, over the years I've grown into a deeper and deeper relationship with God. God who created me and who gave the my hair color and eye color, my face structure and even my dimples. God knew me before the creation of this world and He loves me. He created me and He thinks I'm beautiful.

Sometimes I forget this. Sometimes I get busy, going through my day. I spend too much time flipping through fashion magazines, and I feel frustrated when my jeans don't fit like I want them to. But when I spend time with God. When I get to know His heart. When I remember I'm His special creation, and when I listen to His whispers then I can hear it: "You are beautiful. You are my daughter. You are mine."

Simplicity, Beauty, and Transformation

Early summer, I traveled to attend a seminary class, which gave me the chance to hang out in one of my favorite areas of California, in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Mount Hermon. I had a little time before I arrived at the home where I would be staying, so I stopped at a deli to grab a bite to eat.

A shop next door looked intriguing. After I ate my dinner, I noticed the open sign still hanging, so I stepped inside and browsed through the unusual items, some brand new, some antique. I found a quirky but beautiful glass bowl and lifted it to the light. It was priced reasonably. I sat it down and moved on to explore the rest of the shop. In the end I bought the bowl. I knew just where I would put it in my home.

This purchase was part of a decision I had made just a few months before. I wanted to simplify and beautify my home in ways I hadn’t yet done since moving into the ministry house where we lived. My time and financial resources are limited for this project, so I decided to make one or two simple changes in a room, then move on to another, make a change, take another room, make a change . . . you get the picture. That way each room would receive some attention and all would gradually transform.

Sometimes the change involved throwing or giving away things we no longer used or needed. Sometimes it meant finding something new (at least for us), like the glass bowl. I’m not going for House Beautiful here. Just warm, welcoming, and an expression of who we are.

The plan felt do-able. As I began, I realized this was fun, encouraging, uplifting. Even as simple as each change was, I felt the subtle transformative impact on the overall look and feel of a room or my home.

I’m far from done. This will take a while. But that’s okay. I’m enjoying the journey.

This all sounds a bit familiar to me. This thing of changing a little bit at time is very much like what God has been doing in my life since I met him in high school. I’m so glad that when I quietly prayed to ask him to forgive me and change my life, he did forgive me entirely, and he changed my heart. Those were huge and noticeable as have been other changes where God has really dug into an area of my life. But many changes have come slowly over the years—a few in this area of my life, a few in that one.

And God’s transformative work goes on to this day. Getting rid of stuff not needed in my life. Simplifying what I’ve made complicated. Beautifying areas that are dingy or dowdy.

And I hear God say to me, “I’m not done. This will take a while.”

I smile and respond, “I’m okay with that, God. I’m enjoying the journey.”

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit”

(2 Cor 3:18 NIV).

Have a beautiful, transformative week!

Jan

http://www.jankern.com/

http://www.choose2livefree.com/

The Greatest Day

If you were asked to describe "the greatest day" you could imagine, what would you say?

In my book, Parting the Waters, I tell a story about cleaning my son Jacob's room a couple months after his near-drowning accident and finding this slogan taped above his bedroom door: "Today is the greatest day and I am in it." At the time he was and lying in a coma at a nursing home. When I read those words, I hit a new low in my grief and, between sobs, asked God once again how this could be His plan.

In that moment God spoke, and despair made room for hope.

Our daughter, Grace, adopted the phrase and placed it above her dorm room door in college. Now that the book is carrying the message literally to the far corners of the world, I've been hearing from various people who've made it their daily declaration, too. One woman I met when I spoke at a retreat was inspired to create a painting that now hangs in Jacob's current room.

Last Friday evening I spoke to the precious young women at East Texas Open Door. Seventeen girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen, all of whom have survived deep suffering and brokenness in one way or another. We talked about how God is like an artist who can take the shattered pieces of our lives and create a beautiful mosaic. Afterward we hung out over refreshments, and every one of them took up permanent residence in my heart. I signed a copy of Parting the Waters to each girl and included this phrase: "Today is the greatest day, and you are in it."

I can be a little slow, but I'm beginning to realize that this is no small thing. What Jacob once penned as a private reminder is inspiring who-knows-how-many people to live each day to its fullest. One more ripple from his life. One more glimpse into the beauty God is creating from brokenness.

Yesterday I received yet another e-mail from a mom who is helping her daughter paint the phrase above her bed in her new apartment. She wrote to verify the exact wording because they didn't have the book handy. In my response I asked her to please take a picture of the results and send them to me. And then I had an idea.

If you write, post, or paint Jacob's words somewhere, would you do me a huge favor? Photograph it and send me a copy. I'd love to collect as many as possible and post them on my website. You can send them to me at jeanne.damoff at gmail.

Whether you've adopted the phrase or not, the saying is still true for you. Today is the greatest day, and you are in it. Let's live like we believe.

Do You Have a Spiritual Eating Disorder?

Sometimes we develop spiritual eating disorders. We binge and purge on Jesus or fast from Him altogether and our souls quickly become malnourished.

Matthew 5:6 says, “ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Do you hunger for Jesus? Are you thirsty for the touch of His hand on your life? Or have you developed a spiritual eating disorder? Let’s do a quick checkup.

Spiritual bulimia

Do you binge on Jesus? Do you get filled up at camp or weekend retreats or on Sunday morning and then purge so that you can live the life you want to live? In stead of getting a steady dose of Christ through His Word, do you cont on filling feasts of God every once in a while?

Read Matthew 13:5-6 and see if you are like the shallow soil. Without the constant nourishment of consistent time in the Word and fellowship with other believers, your heart will get sick.

Spiritual anorexia

Do you starve yourself of Jesus altogether? Do you go weeks and months without seeking Him in prayer, fellowshipping with other Christians, or digging into the Word? It is impossible for your spirit to stay healthy when it is cut off from the source of life and strength. Anorexics delude themselves by thinking they can avoid food and still stay healthy, but it doesn’t’ work that way.

In the same way, you cannot grow spiritually without the nutrients God offers.

In Colossians 1:9-11 Paul writes, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might.”

Growth and strength come from being filled by God. Don’t starve yourself of His teachings. Feast regularly. Get filled up. It is simply the only way to grow in Him.

Spiritual stress eating

Are you a crisis pray-er who runs to Jesus only when the going gets tough? Do you neglect Him when life is smooth but seek Him with urgency when the road gets rocky? He is certainly able to provide for us during times of trial. Nahum 1:7 promises, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” But He calls us to seek Him at all times, not just when troubles hit our lives. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 teaches us to “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Did you catch it?

Always…continually…in all circumstances. We are to ingest a steady diet of Christ, rather than just running to Him when we are stressed and afraid.

Do a spiritual checkup. If your spiritual life has developed some disordered eating habitaq1s, pull up a chair and feast and the banquet table of God. Allow Him to fill you and nourish your heart.

This segment was taken from Erin's book, "Graffiti: Learning to See the Art in Ourselves." You can learn more about this book at www.graffitiministries.com.