Meekness or Weakness?

I don't know about you but I personally do not see many (if any at all) ads encouraging inner beauty... I see ads that scream to woman that they are too fat or too quiet or way to different to be considered beautiful. I see t.v shows and songs that explicitly allude to the idea that a woman isn't worthy of a mans love if she isn't promiscuous or built like beyonce. To all you feminists who have such a problem with a woman being submissive to her husband or staying home to rear her children-- Why don't you have a problem with the constant degrading of woman in practically every source of media? Is that the message you want your daughters to hear? That is is okay for women to be objects of lust (because its their own body and they can do what they want with it, right?) as long as she has the opportunity to pursue the same career as a man. That it is okay for a woman to be used for sex as long as she has the right to get 'rid' of the product... 

I do not know about the rest of the woman population but this literally disgusts me.  

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. 1 Peter 3:3-5

In my seemingly long but relatively short nineteen years of life I have never really been the 'gentle one'. And I am certainly not quiet. However, after doing some studying on Godly woman and their attributes it has come to my attention that the "gentle and quiet spirit" that Peter is talking about in Scriptures is so much more than avoiding sanguine silliness and holding our tongues. The beauty of a woman is placed in her ability to love the unlovable and submit to God's never-accidental plan for her life. I crave these virtues more than ever. 

"They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear." 1 Peter 3:6

  

Ever since I was a little, my parents told me "it is far more important to be beautiful on the inside than the outside". This belief has changed me more than any amount of makeup or hair product could ever! The moment I believed that inner beauty was more important than being accepted, all the boys liking me and being super pretty was the moment I truly felt beautiful. It is like a flower (so cliche, I know). A flower can only produce beautiful pedals if everything on the inside (biologically speaking) is working correctly. 

I have seen what a Holy woman can do and let me tell you-- it is far more powerful than any right the feminists have fought for all these years.. I have seen my mother calm storms that I just knew were going to destroy everything in its path. I have seen her hold her tongue when I have about bit mine off (for lack of appropriate words). My mother's beauty radiates through her meekness.

Meekness or Weakness?

I am going to be completely honest. For several years I viewed my mothers temperament as a weakness but now that I am older I realize my mothers temperament is more valuable than gold. This is especially true in a marriage. My mom could tell my father more things in one look than she could in a million words. After seeing examples of true beauty and the blessings God pours over a Holy woman-- I want to be a submissive wife, I want to have a gentle spirit and I want to bridle my tongue. 

Truth of the matter is-- meekness is the exact opposite of weakness-- it is "a heart free from fear". 

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears not is made perfect in love." 1 John 4:16-18

Women: Do not be misled-- society today... DOES NOT care about you. 

*Find your validation, peace and joy through your relationship with Christ. Find your beauty, confidence and appeal through the gentle and quiet spirit Peter talks in the verse above. Find your worth through the Cross.*  

                              Meekness

adjective, meek·er, meek·est.

1.

humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.

2.

overly submissive or compliant.

3.

Obsolete . gentle; kind.

Heart to Heart.

I lost my grandfather on a Sunday several months ago. It was the Sunday before my fall semester of my sophomore year of college started. I was heartbroken.
But this post is not about my heart.. for it has many more lessons to learn, heartbreaks to endure and many more foible and short-coming specks that need to be uprooted by the Savior of my soul.,
 This post is about the rarest kind of heart. 
-- A heart that is not common, required to live or even appreciated in today's society.
-- the heart of my eighty year old grandmother. 

My nanny lost her husband on a Sunday several months ago. It was a couple Sundays after the three and a half year anniversary of her oldest sons premature death. She was heartbroken. 

After reflecting back on the very emotional and saddening passing away of one of the greatest men I have ever known, I came to realize how very distrustful my heart can be unto the Lord. I was angry, I was confused and I was sorrowful. I could not believe He would put this on me before I stepped into the stressful and hectic world of college. I missed the first day of some of my classes. I saw my father cry. I watched my brother be crushed by the callous and unforgiving force of grief.
Death trampled my family's defense and ripped out the heart and soul of our seemingly weak fortress.

After several days of my selfish pity partying and remembering back on the solid hour I balled uncontrollably into nanny's shoulder, it hit me. 
I have the heart of a egocentric wretch.
I just watched my grandmother watch her soul mate die. I witnessed the slow torturing heartbreak that diseases- such as Alzheimer's- do to families. I saw the woman who put everything she had into a beautiful marriage- stand solid while the body of the man she loved every hour of every day for 63 years deteriorated. And I had the audacity to disapprove of God's perfect timing. 
My Nanny has the most beautiful heart I have ever seen-- and I cannot help but feel disgusted at myself for the selfish creature my heart can turn into-- sucking the very life out of my character. 

She has the forgiving heart.
The loving heart.
The heart that even in the most unpleasant circumstances trusts that God is in complete control. 
She has the heart that puts the needs of everyone else before her own- even to a fault, at times. 
Her heart went crawling to its Creator as it suffered life's greatest agony (death) and placed itself humbly before Him -- asking for strength and peace-- while my heart defied its Creator and questioned His complete sovereignty.  
                                              Two different hearts but One Redeemer:
I pray that God eradicates my unfaithful heart and gives me the heart-- the trusting and humble heart-- like the one of my gorgeous Nanny.
It is given and received only by the Grace of Christ. It is rare. I know that it isn't always easy to depend on. The saddest part is that that it isn't even appreciated nor desired by the majority of the world today. But the truth of the matter is--- the faithful heart leads to life, a fulfilling and content life. 

Nanny was diagnosed with Stage I lung cancer. I found out this past Sunday. I am choosing to trust the Lord just as she has.. I believe the most beautiful thing about the God-given, God-trusting and God-filled heart is the effect it has on everyone else. Jesus has shone through Nanny's humble heart more than she or I could ever even comprehend. This kind of heart creates a uneasy hatred for complacency, a convicting guilt for selfishness and a desire to love people in the deepest sense possible.  

                                                                      Scripture:
Psalms 131:1-2 - My heart is not proud, Lord. My eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself. I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 
Proverbs 20:24- A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?
2nd Peter 2: 1-3- “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

I finally picked a ‘title’ :) “it’s just a cup of coffee” is a song my pops sang to me from the time I was just a little baby till I was nineteen years old! It wasn’t until I was much older and he passed away that I realized the almost serious complexity of the song.. A song I thought for so long was just a silly tune that my grandfather practically made up-- about how much he loved coffee...  was so much more than that! That song was about him expressing the importance of enjoying the little things in life-- like a cup of coffee. It was about being happy-no matter the circumstance. It was about knowing when it's the right time to be silly. However, the most important lesson this song and my grandfather taught me was the importance of sharing yourself with those that you love— all with an attitude of humility, a sense of humor, a respect for hard work and a desire to serve the Lord. And that... is exactly what I want to be about.