1st Beauty & Identity Teaching Accomplished! :)

As you may have read in my last post, I've had a few pretty crazy weeks.  We've had a lot to get done before Infusion started, and now it's here!  A tiny part of me thought that once Infusion started, things might be a little bit more relaxed; but our schedule is definitely full!  I've been so grateful for a few hours off today to recoup and get a homework assignment done, and now I'm feeling much less stressed out.


Yesterday I was one of three lucky ladies to get to speak on Beauty & Identity to our Infusion ladies.  There were about thirty of us in the teaching, talking truth to each other about how beautiful God's designed us and decorating mirrors for ourselves with lots and lots of sparkles.  It was the first time I've ever spoken to a collective group of women about Beauty and Identity, and it was so much fun.  I was so nervous, but I had so many friends here in LA and family back home in Idaho praying for me during my teaching time that I knew I'd be okay.  And I was.  :)


I'll share a little bit with you about what I spoke on, because as I was putting together the teaching I learned a lot.  Funny story actually.  I was only going to share my testimony during my speaking time, but a few days prior when I sat down to write it out, there was a ton of other stuff on my heart to teach on.  It was definitely God, because a lot of what I wrote down were things that had been so far from my mind beforehand.


My goal was to paint a picture for these women of how much God desires for them to know the truth about themselves.  About how God wants to say something to us about our beauty and identity every single day.  That beauty is a huge part of a woman's identity, just because that's how God has designed us.  And most importantly that our identities are lined in the truth that God says about us.  


With that said, I talked about how crucial it is for us as females to talk with each other about our struggles with identity, beauty, insecurity, etc.  Because we must be interdependent to overcome lies, and we must have accountability with each other to grow in God's word and in God's truth.  And that praying for each other in hard times is such a need, because sometimes the only thing that can break off the enemy's strongholds against us.


Also, if finding identity lies in seeking God's truth, than we must read what's known to be the Book of Truth... the Bible! :)  God has so much to speak to us about how precious and irreplaceable we are in the Bible.  About how unique and beautiful He's made us on the outside, and the traits He's given us in our personalities.  And how He desires for us to continue to seek Him to become more beautiful on the inside, and to put effort in becoming Proverbs 31 women.


Continuously seeking Him and diligently going after His truth will reveal so much to us about our beauty and identity.  It's unlikely that we will know how truly beautiful and wonderful we are as women without spending time reading the Word, praying, or simply sitting in a quiet room with God.  This is what will feed our souls, and help us to discern the truth that God says about us versus what a Cosmo magazine says about us.


I encourage all of you ladies out there (and men, too :)) to keep on keeping on!  Read your Bibles even if only for a few minutes.  Pray every morning while you're on your way to work.  Give time to God.  It's so rewarding, and something all of us should be doing more.  Seriously, I'm saying this to myself probably more than I am to you.  


I love you all, and hope you've enjoyed a wonderful weekend!!


-Nan :)

Your identity lies in the truth God says about you.