“House of Love”

“House of Love” is the name of a nearby coffee shop and is my absolute favorite place to come and tuck away. A loft style upstairs with a generous smattering of windows and fans circulating air the openness inspires me.  At my home I share a room with two amazing women—one from the Philippines and another from South Korea. Our home is made up of seven of single ladies! Imagine the bathrooms in the morning before class and bed time communications! Being creative folk many work into the wee hours. I have nicknamed myself “the little old lady” with a self-claimed bedtime of 10:30PM. I’m thankful for God helping me to sleep regardless of noise levels or light intensity! Sharing this home and season with these women blesses me tremendously.

Today I am retreating to God—He is truly my safe place. Tucked away in this open coffee shop I sit in front of a fan overlooking the first floor beside a window. Each day I find more and more my necessity for complete dependence on God. Now, please hear me, this doesn’t negate the importance of my involvement. I absolutely have things to do and participation is essential in partnering with God. Also necessary is letting God lead in His strength.

A gaggle of photographers just swarmed into the coffee shop—their camera lights flashing and shutter sounds snapping! As they came in the internet connection completely disappeared. As I look at this group of students and the model posing for them I think of creativity and beauty. The model is a gorgeous Thai woman. She fits many standards of Western and Thai beauty: petite, thin, long hair…ect. I wonder if she struggles with her worth? I wonder if she really knows who she is. Isn’t this a curious thing the way we look at others and automatically begin comparing and contrasting ourselves with others? 

God has been challenging me recently to compare me with myself and to speak words of truth about who God says I am: His daughter. Allowing God to transform my thinking in this area has been a journey. Picking up cues from television and magazines is easy, but promotes lies about ourselves. Do you know what I mean? So this challenge I am walking out is one I also want to extend to you.

Maybe you don’t fit the typical idea of what “beautiful” is right now. Then again maybe you do. Regardless your worth is not defined or restricted by your physical and outward appearance. This isn’t what God is looking at, in fact, God is looking at your heart. Consider God’s counsel as Samuel evaluated King David’s older brother:

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at, Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Isn’t that incredible? God is calling us to look at not only our hearts but the hearts of others. Sure, we SEE the outside and finding beauty is an awesome thing. God created beauty!

I want you to know that YOU are beautiful. That despite what the world is telling you, YOU are wonderfully and fearfully made. So my challenge today is to ask God to show you what He thinks of you.