Puzzle Pieces

God's time is very specific and I'm just now starting to put the pieces of the past few weeks together - WOW!

1. Summer Camp 2009 - The speaker is talking about beauty and asks us to think of someone who needs to hear that they are beautiful. Sarah waited for the room to clear out and leaned over to me, "Mandi, you are beautiful. Just thought you needed to hear that."
2. October 2009 - I begin reading "Captivating".
3. January 2010 - Sarah and I begin "Captivating" as a study.
4. May 2010 - My boyfriend leans over and says "You are really beautiful right now." My hair was a mess, makeup all smudged after a long day. I was wearing jeans splattered with paint and one of his big sweat shirts. I didn't see things the same way.
5. June 2010 - A line in the book Sarah and I are reading catches my eye: "A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough."

The understanding of beauty has eluded me but these 2 pieces finally fit. In that moment, I was beautiful because i wasn't trying to be. I was enjoying the moment. Being there. Not worried about my appearance. Not worried about circumstances. Not worried about anything. Just enjoying the moment and the company of friends.

A woman who is striving is stressing and stress is not beautiful.

A woman who is beautiful is such because she's not trying to be. She's just following God.