You can’t tell how cold it is by looking outside.

The sun is shining brightly, the sky is cornflower blue. A bit of wind can be heard in the distance, and a few leaves are rustling. But if you didn’t read the forecast, you would have no idea that it were 20 degrees outside.

Yesterday morning when I left for church, my car thermometer told me it was 63 degrees.

We dropped 40 degrees and change throughout the day and night because of the cold front that traveled down the east coast. Two days ago my mother told me they were supposed to get 2-3 feet of snow on Saturday night in New Hampshire. This same cold front that dropped dozens of inches of snow onto my family up north sucked up dozens of degrees from the state of Virginia.

But you couldn’t tell by looking outside. It looks beautiful out there. And it is beautiful out there. Beautiful doesn’t always mean warm.

That’s how I feel about myself and my emotions. “Wow, isn’t she vain”. Some people might say. But I’m okay with that. It’s good to know you’re beautiful.

I remember a few years ago before I knew my true worth, my cousin would refer to herself as beautiful or hot or attractive and I would be jealous. I would judge her a little bit, be jealous of her a little bit, and question if it was okay to say such things about yourself.

Turns out it is. It’s okay to know you’re beautiful, and be warm about it. There’s no need to pretend that you aren’t beautiful. Because you are. I know there are some things you don’t like about yourself. It might be your skin. It might be your teeth. It might be your stomach, or your arms. It might be your wild hair, or your short torso, or your fat ankles. But you are beautiful.

You are beautiful because you were created. You were thought of, designed, and created. With your specific face. And your individual body. And your one-of-a-kind personality. And your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations. Your mind, your heart. Your soul.

You were created in the image of God.

And He made you utterly beautiful.

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone knew how special and beautiful they were? Then again, there are those folks who know a little *too well* how beautiful they are 😉

But for you who are doubting your beauty and your worth, know this: you are amazing.

You are a living, breathing, amazing, beautiful creation. You have such worth.

Sometimes when I doubt my beauty or worth, I go to the psalms.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14

God knew what He was doing when He made you.

Now.

Don’t you spend one more second pitying yourself. I want you to get out there and have a great day. I want people to know how warm you are. I don’t want you to be beautiful and cold. Be warm and be light to others. If people can’t tell if you’re warm or cold, it’s because you can’t tell if you’re warm or cold.

So which are you?

Love yourself, but don’t spend too much time loving yourself.

Give God the glory for creating you, and then give back to Him by pouring out love and blessings on others! Being consumed with ourselves is a waste of time and energy. We are awesome creatures, but we gots to share our awesomeness with other people who need our gifts!

As for going outside today, bundle up east-coasters/Virginians.

This turned out to be an interesting post. I love starting somewhere with no particular direction and seeing where it ends up.

Carpe diem & happy Monday you beautiful people.

xxx

<3

V