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but more than that, sisters...
we are the heartbeat of the world.
i see a woman's Facebook status rejoicing that she's lost 45 pounds, and multitudes are clicking "like" and it's near-triggering me to check what i'm eating, to hop back on that anorexic train to skinny-ville.
and i think we can be more. more than our weight, more than our looks, more than our jean size, because i have two chubby-faced boys staring up at me as i write and they see me as so much more.
they see me as Mama. as nurturer, as creator of love and life and they see me as HOME. they see me as soother of fears, as prayer warrior, as getter-of-, as lover-of, as hugs.
they call my name always, they never stop calling me, and they smile every time i enter a room. cry, when i leave, and one day, i will stop being their world, but they will never stop being mine.
i have a 52-year-old friend who is single, and stunning, and she wants to get married but God hasn't opened that door and so she waits. pure, and holy, she waits. and she is one of the most radiant women i know because she is more. MORE than what the world says she is. MORE than single, she is steadfast and faithful and prayerful and devoted. she reads the Bible more than anyone i know, and God is currently using her to mentor fathers of daughters. every week, her living room is full of married men, and she helps them get back on track with their families. this single lady is not letting a stereotype define her.
we aren't just the reflection in the mirror, friends. we are what we see in our family's faces. we are what we see in our friends, in the people we disciple or mentor, in the face of the fast-food server, because how we treat others and ourselves is what we look like.
so i implore you, as bearers of life, as vessels of God's creative spirit, be careful what you say on Facebook, be careful what you write on your blogs, be careful how you talk to your neighbors and your husbands and your friends and your children.
because you are MORE.
you are the heartbeat of the world.
*linking with three beautiful women: laura, michelle and jen
This is so beautiful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteso appreciate your words tonight trischa. thank you. may you be filled with peace and hope. e.
Deleteoh, just oh. breathe in, accept all He created us to be. exhale truth, not lies.
ReplyDelete"exhale truth, not lies." LOVE this.
DeleteOh Em. This made my heart beat faster.
ReplyDeletei love you beautiful friend.
DeleteYes, yes, yes. That is what I thought as I read this. And thank you, thank you, thank you. Just the reminder I needed.
ReplyDeletei'm praising God that it met you where you are, friend. love to you. xo
Delete"they see me as Home."
ReplyDeletebeen thinking about this too as my body has been a nest for sick little ones these past few weeks. praying I will find the grace to welcome them, welcome them as they come Home in every stage of life.
"as my body has been a nest"... oh friend. i love how you word the most daily of events in poetic ways. i pray you'll find the grace too... it is SO hard when it's 24-7. love to you.
DeleteXO
ReplyDeletexoxo
Deletebeautiful write. beautiful heart. beautiful you. because you know He has made you so much more (:
ReplyDeleteoh, thank you friend. xo
DeleteTears well up in my eyes as I read this. Tears of joy...that you were able to recognize that you are MORE and that you continue to share it with other women and encourage them to do the same. Praying that all women learn this truth and own it, including myself! Thank you my friend for sharing..
ReplyDeleteyes!!! i am praying this too friend. i LOVE your heart.
Deletewow. true and powerful. I try to be careful. I hope and pray I am...
ReplyDeleteoh me too, friend. all we can do is try. and i think you're a wonderful example to so many.
Deletethank you so much. such a timely reminder.
ReplyDeletei'm so glad to hear this friend.
DeleteMy daughter has been battling an Ed for 2 years and I am sick of the focus on weight. She hears people praise her over and over for how skinny she is and I want to scream at them to stop because it only makes her sink back into the restricting and questioning her worth.
ReplyDeleteoh jenny... oh i would want to scream too. and i think you should tell them. i think we all need to be more honest. say it kindly but truthfully: 'you may think you're complimenting my daughter, but you're only hurting her in the long run." praying for your sweet girl. please let me know if i can ever do anything to help. xo
DeleteThis speaks to me today in such powerful ways, especially as I think of my marriage struggles last night.
ReplyDeleteoh amy i'm so sorry to hear of your marriage struggles last night. praying the spirit would enter those wounded places and heal. love to you.
DeleteIt's all good. So necessary for Him to break through the pride and reveal more of what His grace and love is all about. Really, I'm choosing gratitude. Because, blessings sometimes come through the hard fights.
DeleteAmen...to every word...yes...yes...so much more...world changers...forever life changers...created in God's image...and that has to be beautiful. xoxo
ReplyDelete"world changers." LOVE this ro. xo
DeleteDefinitely careful of postings! Facebook mostly pictures not words speak for me. BREATHE ! thanks-
ReplyDeletethat's such a good point, izzy. pictures are huge triggers too. as long as we are aware of our triggers, though, i find it's easier to stand strong... bless you.
DeleteBeautiful, Emily. And so true.
ReplyDeletethank you dear Laura. bless you. e.
DeleteThis is such a needed reminder, Emily. And I'm so glad you included the challenge at the end. Thanks for your godly wisdom and the courage to share it.
ReplyDeletethank you beth. it's hard for me to include challenges, but i'm feeling the Lord convicting me to do it more. all in love, of course. so appreciate your words tonight.
DeleteWow. Just...wow. I'm crying again at the screen of your blog. You strum chords I didn't know I had. Beautiful cry to arms of a post.
ReplyDeleteCatherine Denton
oh catherine. the Lord knows you have those chords. he loves you so much friend. may you know his arms wrapped tightly around you tonight and always.
DeleteSo beautiful! Thank you for the much needed reminder Emily! We are more and we need each other to keep speaking this truth over one another!
ReplyDeleteso appreciate you friend, and your passion. bless you.
DeleteNope. They will never stop being your world--even when they're all grown up and having babies of their own.
ReplyDeleteTrust me.
And this post is such a beautiful, important reminder. Our words matter.
and your words are always full of such grace and truth dear nancy.
Deletei can imagine it only gets harder, in many ways, this parenting thing. especially as they leave home and you can't take care of them 24-7.
oh Lord, have mercy.
Yes. I hear what you are saying and I hear what you are not saying as well. So much more. Much. Why would we stoop to believing we are more only when we become "less" in the worlds eyes?
ReplyDeleteoh Lorretta, i love that you went deeper and heard what i wasn't saying. thank you.
DeleteI hope you don't mind, friend, but I'm going to read this aloud in my "Esther" class that I'm teaching tomorrow night. We're studying in Chapter Two about knowing who we are in Christ and what "beauty treatments" we use to falsely make us feel worthy and important enough to have a purpose and a destiny. These words fit right in so perfectly. Thank you!
ReplyDeletei would be HONORED friend. thank you.
DeleteI do know what you mean, in my head, but I can't make my heart accept this. I feel fully defined by my weight. I wish I didn't and I try not to do so, but I do. This is such a tough struggle. I know there is no perfection, but I feel like I project failure just by people being able to see me. Oh friend, I wish I could see myself through God's eye. Just for a minute.
ReplyDeleteoh friend. praying for this, for you. xoxo
DeleteYes! Keep sharing this message, Emily. Shout it out from wherever you are. It needs saying over and over and over again.
ReplyDeleteoh i'm so glad, laura, because i keep feeling the need to share it :) love you so much.
DeleteThank you for your bold and beautiful words! This post moves me to prayer for the freedom of all women whose creative power is stifled by the bondage of unrealistic and harmful expectations.
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful prayer, kate. i join you in this. xo
DeleteHaving lived with disordered eating and full-blown eating disorder for 14 years, I understand the triggers. I really do. I also understand finding yourself significantly overweight, to the point where you not only are concerned about the health implications of being that overweight, but you don't recognize yourself in the mirror. I was 8 years recovered at that point, 6 months out from having my second child.
ReplyDeleteI did the only thing I knew to do. I went on a diet. I did it unofficially for 10 days to make sure my head could handle it without falling into eating-disordered patterns (it could). I choose this particular plan because it's not really a diet. No foods are labeled "bad," and you can choose what you want to eat, while being encouraged to eat real foods like fruits & veggies & whole grains and use portion control.
It worked for me - in a way that a decade of therapy and nutritionists and support groups didn't. It taught me new ways to reward myself without using food. It taught me how to eat for health and strength and not for emotional reasons.
I didn't rejoice on Facebook, or proudly declare how much I had lost, except for 1 blog post. I have enough friends with disordered-eating histories to know the dangers of such posts. Plus, this is what I needed to do for me. I didn't need praise. Even in my blog post, it wasn't a "before & after" kind of share. I acknowledged that my life was full and happy before the weight loss, and the only thing I learned from the weight loss was a new level of discipline & time management.
And if I gained it back, or even some of it back, I'd still love life and my family and myself. I didn't need to stop loving myself in order to lose weight. In fact, I decided the most loving thing to do for myself WAS to lose the weight.
I don't know if this perspective is helpful. I certainly hope it's not triggering. Maybe I simply share to say there's a way to rejoice with those who are trying to make healthy choices for themselves, even if those are not the choices you'd make for yourself.
And I say all this, of course, not knowing the context of the Facebook post and/or if this person is making healthy choices in order to lose the weight. I simply wanted to share my perspective.
Much love.
LOVE this perspective friend. THANK YOU. xoxo
DeleteYou're welcome :) Glad it was helpful.
DeleteWe are to be lights for Jesus. This post was rather convicting. Am I letting Him shine through me as I should? Too often I focus on me instead of focusing on Him so that I can make a difference in others' lives.
ReplyDeleteahumblebumble.blogspot.com
oh becca i LOVE that you feel convicted and i LOVE your heart. all we can do is let God in and let him change us. bless you friend.
Deleteyes. and amen.
ReplyDeleteoh, i weep, too, for the things we let define us. and it's not just "them" -- it's ME!
learning to hear myself known by one name: Beloved.
(just wrapped up a post on that very thing, so maybe that's why your words hit me so hard here.)
passionate and pleading and challenging. i loved it, Em.
i love your passion for wholeness and joy so much dear kelli. it's something that joins us together as we walk this life-path. love to you friend.
DeleteSeriously, I don't think I could love this post more. What a calling we have to be "more" than the way society defines us! Thank you, thank you.
ReplyDelete(Visiting from SDG)
i'm so glad to "meet" you janice! thank you so much for stopping by, and encouraging me. bless you. e.
DeleteBeautiful - I loved reading this. A helpful prompt to lift my eyes from the things that so easily sneak in and narrow my vision of who I am, who my sisters are. Like a weight lifting (although I'm sure I'll need it lifting - and I'll need to lift it! - again and again). Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteoh i'm so glad, friend. thank you for these words. you are an encouragement.
DeleteEmily, I teared up when I got to the part about your friend being "more than single." Aaaahhhh, that's me. I want to be so much more. I want to be defined by who I am, not just what I "lack" in life. Thanks for sharing this story.
ReplyDeleteoh friend. may you know that singleness has NO shame to it... in fact, it is something to celebrate. God has such an intentional plan for you. love to you.
DeleteThank you so much for sharing this. Have always struggled with my weight, and although I tell myself it doesn't matter, I know it affects the way I see myself. I remember hearing of a female preacher named Lisa Bevere who went around praying over women "You are more than what you weigh." That has always stuck with me as such a powerful statement.
ReplyDeleteoh emmie, lisa bevere's book changed my life. i believe it's called just that: you are more than what you weigh. i HIGHLY recommend it. may you find freedom, friend!
Delete