LIFE is Really NOT All ABOUT Me....DARN !

 

I had something really goofy happen to me at the end of last Summer, something that made me realize how ridiculous and vain we all can be...but mainly me this time as I tell you what happened on my back porch.

I had been working in the yard, very hot late Summer day, hair put up, camisole top and shorts. Plus lots of sweat and dirt from my garden added to that ensemble.

I walked up to my back screen door, and I saw my reflection in an old 1930's mirror I had hanging by the door. I had put it there to reflect my yard back to me and so I can see my garden when I go in the house. Well, I glance at my reflection in the mirror , see an Ok-looking sweaty gardener-lady looking back at me...and open my screen door, still looking at myself...and,

WHAM !

  hit the door right into my forehead.

HARD.

I grabbed at my forehead, rubbed it , and then broke out laughing at myself ...

and felt God reminding me, " WHAM, it's not All about YOU Missy !" 

That admiring of myself got me good.

 My vanity had whopped me in the head too.

Now don't act like you wouldn't have looked at yourself in my mirror by my back door. Everyone looks in mirrors when we pass them, especially  if they are right in front of you. They reflect back all about YOU , and sometimes those ' mirrors' may not actually be mirrors, but the eyes of someone else, or the opinions of someone else , your worth in their words or their eyes...reflected back to you.

All of this ' looking ' at ourselves , pointing at ourselves with words or actions or dress...it is a ploy the devil loves to use to draw our attention away from God.

And on ourselves.

Me,

Myself,

and I.

And we are a pretty easy group here in America with all of the excessive ways we can now point to ourselves, and not point to God.

Facebook.

My Space.

Twitter.

blogs ( guilty ).

The media

Numerous other avenues for self-promotion and attention we have created, and more added yearly , are making US the main ' thang ' in our eyes.

In the Bible it warns about the ' end times' in 2 Timothy 3:1-4:

" But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters. proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,unloving,unforgiving, slanderers,without self-control,brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong,haughty; lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. "

I would venture to say without a smidgen of a doubt that is where we are today.

Again, awareness of all this SELF, ME , Over-indulgence can make us step back , and instead of magnifying ourselves so much,

magnify our magnificent God.

He alone is worthy .

Through our words, through our actions, through our work , and through our love.

Something to ponder for you today, be a blessing to just one person this week...

Make THEIR day.

Bless you ,

Gina

" For He know our frame; He remembers that we are dust. "

Psalm 103:14 

 

For WOMEN Only: BE More GENTLE w/ YOURSELF

Starting off the New Year I decided to write about some advice that an older friend of mine gave to a small Bible Study group I was in a few years ago. We were all sitting around , discussing problems, our feeble solutions, our frustrations with ourselves, our spouses, our lives...and she was sitting in her chair , listening to us and about to give us some very sage advice.

Her name was Marjorie , she had four sons...her husband left her when they were all under 5 years old. She worked hard all her life, and she was a very knowledgeable Christian and happy person to be around in general .
She would be 70 years old that year.

She waited until we were all through talking,  leaned forward in her chair...and said these words,

" I have lived longer than most of you, and what I have learned is what you all need to learn, Be more gentle with yourself. "

I remember that really struck me, as I am pretty hard on myself..especially in the " Not-being a good enough Christian" department, but also the

Not being a good enough wife department

Not being a good enough Mother department

Definitely not being a great housekeeper department

Not being a good enough friend department

Daughter

Sister

Community volunteer

School volunteer

Church volunteer

I could go on and on.

I think that women , even more than men, try to measure up to a standard of beauty, righteousness, domesticity, graciousness, intelligence, servant hood, self-sacrifice...and we end up falling so short of our goals or our ideals for ourselves ( and that society expects of us ), that we then can come down very

HARD on ourselves.  

What Marjorie was trying to teach us women, and there were women in their 20's, 30', 40's and 50's in that room...was when we focus on being tough with ourselves...we end up sapping our strength from what we ARE

doing a good job at in life.

I believe the devil is always working on us to shift our focus on us and our weaknesses, our sins...and robbing us of our JOY in our special selves that God created.

If we focus on what we are not good at...we lose sight of God and how He can use us , at what we ARE good at doing. 

I have actually told many young women , in their 20's, to be more gentle with themselves, because that is where it starts...being hard on yourself when you are young.
No one ever told me to be gentle with myself until Marjorie did that day.

Women need to be more gentle with themselves physically , mentally and emotionally.

I hope your New Year begins with gentleness towards yourself...I think how to learn to do that more is pretend you are a friend that is doing whatever you are doing that causes stress or excess energy to drain from your life...and what would you tell that friend ( which is you ), what advice would you give her ?

I'll bet is is different than what you tell yourself most times.

Remember how very important you are to God today,

Bless you,

Gina

" Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. " Matthew 11:29

EXPENSIVE Shoes Do NOT a Happy WOMAN Make

During this mad rush during the last days of shopping before Christmas...I had a recollection back of a vacation I had in New York city, courtesy of my Mom , who had taken me there for three days of Metropolitan Museum of Art Gawking...and also fancy lunches and dinners and a play.

Oh...

She also had to shop for some shoes for my daughter's wedding which was coming up in a few months.

We stayed in a very nice hotel, a block off of Fifth avenue, with easy access for me to walk the two miles to the Met daily. 

What happened the first day we arrived has always left me with an impression, a deep profound impression.

EXPENSIVE shoes do not a Happy woman make.

We had checked into our hotel, decided to walk around 5th avenue to check out some stores.

Me and my Mom in the hotel lobby about to go to dinner

I had no idea what sights I would see !

My mom has always been a big shopper, she loves it...I only like shopping for antique paintings...clothes and shoes are wayyyy down on my list. I'm more like a man in that respect, get in the store, find what I need, and get out as quickly as possible. I hate even trying on clothes or shoes.

But the women I saw in these stores , made up for my lack of enthusiasm over high-priced designer label items.

These women were spoiled rotten.

They may have been nice, I have no idea.

But I do know they were spoiled rotten, at least materially.

AFFLUENZA was rampant.

We first went into Bergdorf Goodman, a expensive store with multiple, never ending floors of designer fashion. Most of the clerks were dressed better than I was that day, but let me tell you when we hit the shoe department,

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

Let me describe it for you...racks and displays of expensive...and I mean EXPENSIVE designer shoes all around. At least 30 or so women milling about, some holding up shoes, some bossing around the shoe salesmen ( and they were ALL men ), and some sitting trying on shoes with boxes stacked beside them.

I walked around while my Mom was looking, picked up a sandal that was cute, may have had 4 pieces of leather total that created it...and it was 850.00 ! And that was one of the cheaper shoes there for sale.

I know I gasped ( which caused me to receive a few raised brows ), put it down, giggled, asked my Mom if she had any idea how expensive these shoes were ?

She says, " Of course, we're in BERGDORF GOODMAN !", like I should know what that meant.

 

I then glanced around and watched as women who were buying 1200.00, and 2500. a pair shoes, with boxes that were in the 'Yes' pile, I watched how they seemed.

They all seemed unhappy.

Bored.

I meandered through them and the salesmen, no one was smiling.

Now I am not one of those very friendly , happy always smiling people ( my husband is ). But I would walk around and mildly smile at the women.

NOTHING in return.

Now you may say, " You're in New York. " That's why. No, I met plenty of nice people in New York city. 

But not the shoppers, not the women.

We then went to Prada, Chanel, and then to Nordstroms. I told my Mom I was being tortured at that point, I could go see 4 galleries of paintings, but not 4 expensive designer stores.

This was about to kill me.

She on the other hand was just warming up.

At Nordtroms, a larger shoe department  was full of women on a full scale mission of over-dressing their feet.

Credit cards would be smoking soon.

I walked around, it was really kind of fun to pick up a shoe , see  the exorbitant cost ( do you know how many antique paintings I could buy for that price ? ), and then go pick up another one.

It became a game to me.

Pick up a shoe,

1200. ON SALE

799.

850.

2800.

695.

CRAZINESS.

 

Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Gucci, Chanel, too may names, mostly Italian shoes.

But still, no happy faces ( except mine being tickled at the prices), no smiles from the women.

No joy.

Then when I tired of my game of watching these women and the harried salesmen , I told my Mom I couldn't do this anymore.

I left, went back to the hotel but my little Mom ( she was only 5'3 ), kept shopping for another 2 hours.

She was a professional shopper.

The next day as I made my long trek to The Met, straight down Fifth Avenue again.I had on my jeans, Timberland boots, vest and jacket.  Not chic for New York standards...but I was happy, going to see my beloved favorite art museum ( The Met). I encountered woman after woman, all ages, mostly 20's-60's, dressed to the nines.

Expensive jewelry, expensive boots, expensive coats, expensive handbags, expensive haircuts , these women were over the top spoiled rotten , or spoiling themselves rotten with THINGS.

No one was smiling.

I never in three days saw any woman smile that was wearing terribly expensive anything.

Not one.

I entertained myself walking the two miles to the Met and the two miles back by seeing if I could get one of them to smile.

Not a chance.

Not a hint of a smile.

Not a glimmer in an eye of a smile.

Not one.

It made me realize even more than I ever did, that THINGS, material things do not bring you joy.

They were carrying lots of boxes too.

These lovely, beautiful women...were searching in shoe boxes for happiness, for worth, for attention.

But with each successive purchase, with each pulling out of the credit card, with each brand new bag with boxes full of leather and special shoe protective covers, it only made them happy for a short while...until the emptiness returned and more shoes were needed.

Or jewelry,

or clothes,

or handbags,

or hair salon trips,

or vacations, 

or cars,

or room make-overs,

always 

MORE.

My fun, sweet Mom died suddenly of a heart attack...unexpectedly and tragically,  a month and a half after we came back from New York. It was the last trip I had with her, she spoiled me with all she could there.

But what brought me the greatest joy was simply her presence.

Simply BEING with the ones you love , brings true joy...plus the knowledge of God loving us with an everlasting, eternal love. 

He will never leave you or forsake you.

God gives us people, nature, love...to bring us true, lasting joy.

I hope this season you realize that God longs to bless you everyday, longs to hold and love you...everyday.

And fill your life with TRUE joy.

Merry Christmas & Blessings,

Gina

" These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." John 15:11

A Woman's WORTH

I always have had such strange encounters out on my power walks , that I almost named this blog, The Walking Woman. 

What happened to me on a Summer's morning , at a crossroads in my neighborhood...heading home...has caused me to think about a woman's worth in today's world, and most especially in her own heart...and how far it is from the truth.

It was about 8 AM in the morning,I was coming back from my walk , and when I came to an intersection of the road, I crossed paths with a young woman in her 20's coming a different way. 

She stood out in the bright sunshine of the morning because she was walking barefoot in a short cocktail dress, she had her rhinestone high-heel sandals in her hand, she had smudged mascara under her eyes , and her lovely hair was disheveled and obviously hastily put up. I knew immediately what she had done the night before , as I had walked in her footsteps myself when I was young.

She looked briefly at me , I smiled...but my heart was breaking for her as I KNEW she did not have any idea how valuable she is , her worth in this world...and especially her worth in God's eyes. It also made me think of  my two blonde daughters about her age ... I saw all women , walking some paths they should not.

She looked mildly embarrassed , her white cocktail dress with it's sparkling beads looked very odd in the bright sunshine of the day. She passed me, I knew she had come from the large house on the corner where all the college and young adults live. There is usually about 4-6 cars outside of the house, it is a rental house with attractive young men and women coming and going from there all the time. Lots of different boyfriends and girlfriends, or even worse yet , the new ' friends with benefits ( sexual)' with no attachments or strings. I have seen young women leaving there with their hair wet from their early morning shower , the young men taking them home. The ' worth ' of these young women is very evident in the eyes and actions of these men.

I wanted that morning to take that young beautiful woman at the crossroads by her shoulders, shake them and say, " Do you have ANY idea how valuable you are ? " Women of all ages have been brainwashed by our culture in the last 50-60 years to believe our worth is solely in the eyes of a man. If we are attractive enough, fit enough, sexy enough , happy enough , pleasant enough then we are more valuable ...of more worth.We also have added on the additional burden to ourselves to be successful...and so when we fall short of the mark in any of these areas we believe our worth is plummeting.

I wanted this young woman to know deep in her soul that God wants her to have high respect for herself . To consider herself , her very essence and person MORE valuable than gold , jewelry, great material riches , even a  priceless masterpiece . To not allow the reflection of herself in a man's eyes be her judge of her worth , but to KNOW she is of such high value to GOD that it makes any other reflection from this world of her worth...meaningless , that it pales in comparison.

My two beautiful daughters

Once she can grasp her own true worth , then she will become more beautiful than she ever could imagine...not just physically...but in her spirit. I did not tell this young woman that message that day , but God spoke to me very strongly to try somehow to relay that to young women in any way that I can possibly do it. I have tried , I need to do more...and I do not believe this is only a message for young women. 
I do not completely understand my own worth , I have been sufficiently brainwashed myself between movies, television ,  magazines, ads and the media. I almost did not write this as I have not ' arrived ' myself 100 % at this truth.

But I believe if we all wait for that " Aha ! Now I understand completely !' moment , when we know that something is true...then we procrastinate until our convictions lose their power and strength. So I write this with the hope that if even ONE woman stops and considers her worth in God's eyes and not man's eyes, then it will be sufficient in helping someone who is already

beautiful.

Many , many blessings to you today,

Gina

  " For you have formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise YOU, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made . " Psalm 139:13-14