Take a moment and pause.

more from "now what?"...

"Put a symbol on your desk or wall where you can see it to remind you that today you and Jesus are partnering together in your work. Maybe it's just one word: peace, or wisdom, or joy, or diligence. Every few hours as you're working, pause for two or three minutes. Close the door (if you have one), look out the window (if you have one), and just remember that God is at work in the whole world. Thank him for his help. Rest with him for a moment, hand him your worries, and ask for his energy. Every moment of every day is an opportunity to be with Jesus. When you forget -- and you will, when you mess up --and you will, remember this really important rule: There's to be no beating yourself up! Every moment is another chance. God just keeps sending them. That's grace. Every moment is a new chance for you to be with him."

I needed these moments today. Of course I didnt re-read this part of the book until like 4.30 in the afternoon... but I paused at my desk, and remembered that in this book, there was something that would help. And I read this, and it actually did help. As I drove home, I wondered if I would come home, find something to eat, sit in front of the tv to have some company, and wondered if I would just watch tv all nite again, for the 4th nite in a row. I come home tired, maybe even with a big headache... but what does sitting in front of the tv do to help that? sometimes i use it as an excuse - i say it makes me think, but really.. today i came home and said i'm gonna see what i can do instead of watch tv. i put in a cd and just layed on my bed for probably 20 minutes just stopping everything. wouldnt you know, i started thinking, really thinking..

somehow I got thinking about beauty, wanting to look beautiful. thinking about the clothes we wear, makeup, all the time put into it. when i look in the mirror, i dont see beautiful. on some level it bothers me. i wondered how many other girls feel this way. i wondered how many girls completely honestly look in the mirror and felt beautiful. i wondered where exactly my idea of beautiful came from. and i wondered since when did being beautiful become such a big deal? why is it so important? i wonder how young we are when we begin to compare ourselves to others around us. i'm not sure what i believe about beautiful. i'm not swinging on the pendulum. i'm not saying the idea of beautiful is evil. yet. i'm just wondering...

i read a quote in a magazine once, cut it out and glued it to a binder in fact. it says, "Truth is, there are a million girls prettier than us... Everybody is looking at somebody else, and the answer is really to stop looking in the mirror. You are never going to be satisfied with what you see until you see Jesus inside of you."

i dont think i'm to that point yet. that's okay.. life is a journey.

"Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ~Acts 2:21

for the praise of His glory,
Melissa