{Lovely}

In my Soprano sectional every week, our section leader comes up with a discussion, opening question. They vary from one naming a moment in your life that impacted you in some way to what you look for in a guy. Some of them are silly, some are more serious. & with the diverse group of girls that are in our section, our responses are all over the place. This week's question though got us all thinking in a positive way of ourselves.

"What is your favorite part of yourself? Either a physical trait or a personality trait."

Talk about seeing yourself in positive terms. Sure we all have features we wish we could change, but this activity required us to pick out or favorite parts of ourselves. Some girls said they liked their eyes, or hair, or teeth. Some liked their legs or how they evenly fit into their body builds. It was really cool to see how someone would point out a specific trait and you would look at that on them & see the beauty in it the same way they did. It was extremely cool for me to experience.

Not only did we point out physical traits, but personality ones as well. Some girls said they enjoyed their servant heart or their heart for service, or how they found joy in encouraging others. It was just so awesome! It gave me a whole new point of view of these girls.

This simple discussion question helped me to see the real, true beauty in these other girls. The beauty that God wants us to highlight everyday, on both internal & external levels. You see, God made us all beautiful. Sure someone can tell you you're beautiful or pretty or whatever, but until you actually feel that way about yourself, those words don't mean anything to you.

Like any other girl, I grew up with insecurities, like I'm too tall, too skinny, not skinny enough, My arms are too long, I lack in muscle tone. Whatever, it was I felt it too. But I've come to terms with myself that this is how God made me to be. So I may be a little awkward, but I'm confident with the way I look & confident in what I wear.

Even if I'm having an extremely ugly day, I can feel that God has given me beauty. He's given us all our own unique beauty. Some compare it on different levels, but God compares your beauty to your heart. Sure He made you beautiful on the outside, but He intends you to be beautiful on the inside.

Growing up, my mom never really told my sisters & I that we were "beautiful" or "pretty" mainly because she didn't want that to go to our heads, not because she didn't think we were, {because let's face it, us Kinney girls are babes, just kidding, but not really, we just get it from our mom, that's besides the point though} she didn't tell us about our outward beauty, because she wanted us to focus on us being lovely.

Not beautiful, but lovely. Pleasant. Ladylike. Sweet. Kind. Gentle.

Try it sometime, be lovely to someone. & maybe, just maybe, they'll be lovely back towards you.

You have a body, but you are a soul. Make it a lovely soul.

Peace & love.
B.