What Makes Me Feel {Beautiful}

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Lately my social media feed has blown up with the #20beautifulwomen hashtag where you post a picture that you feel beautiful in.  I have mixed feelings about it, but I'm the kinda girl who loves to take selfies and try new eyeliner pens, so it wasn't too hard for me to oblige with a picture.

It got me to thinking about the concept of feeling beautiful. 

Girls, I know we all have our days when we don't feel beautiful.  And I don't really want this to turn into a ranting post about how OF COURSE YOU'RE STILL BEAUTIFUL EVEN WHEN IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT because I'd be a big fat hypocrite if I went shoving that in your faces.




You is pretty.  You is kind.  You is important.

You know that, and I'm sure you've been told it a million and one times.  It's just that some days, that can be a really hard thing to remember.

Sometimes I think that being a girl is frowned upon by our world, and so we try to squash that part of us.  I'm here to stand up against that and say that I believe that every one of us has a desire, no matter how small or how big, to feel and look BEAUTIFUL, and I think that that's okay!!  often the ways we try to fulfill this desire can be wrong, but the desire itself is not. 




So I have my girly moments.  Actually, I think I'm more of a girly-girl then I care to admit. 

I'm very slowly learning what it means to find my hope and my beauty in Christ Jesus, who died so that I wouldn't be chained to those feelings of self-hate or ugliness.  and sometimes, the ways I see him and his hope is through the little things and little feelings of beauty, almost as though he is whispering to me.....

Chloe, I find you oh so beautiful, even more beautiful than the ocean or the mountains or the daisies that I tenderly fashioned with my hands.  Imagine how beautiful I find you!  So come on. let me show you in these little ways today. 

  • When my eyeliner is on pointe
  • Little children telling me that I am
  • When men are gentlemen and do the little things like holding the door for me or letting me take their seat
  • You know that moment when you're having a really good hair/makeup day and you happen to capture it on camera?  Even something like that can make me feel beautiful.
  • My nerdy glasses
  • When I don't have any makeup on and somebody tells me I look cute
  • My blue sweater
  • Wearing dresses and twirling in them
  • Straightened hair
  • Isaiah 43:1-4:


But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you....




-all pictures courtesy of Pinterest-


What makes you feel beautiful?

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor Aenean massa.

You Might Also Like

16 comments

  1. autumnFebruary 15, 2015 at 4:02 PM

    ah...yes. this post was so true. i myself, being the avid Pinterest addict i am, often find many quotes and pictures scattered abroad with little inspirational messages such as "you are beautiful." and whatnot. and yeah, yeah, those are so true and whatever, but it's when the pain really hits and the going gets hard that I really need to remember those messages. i've found over time that the Bible is probably the only place where I'll receive true comfort. what makes me feel beautiful? being dressed all Pinterest-y :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chloe February 17, 2015 at 6:27 AM

      Amen, Autumn;) the Bible is our best bet and resource for true joy!!!
      Oh you know it!! I'm going to start using that now; 'dressed all Pinteresty'.

      Delete
  2. Aimee MeesterFebruary 15, 2015 at 5:09 PM

    Oh, we all need this reminder. It's something we all deal with in various degrees whether we admit it or not, and sometimes we just need a reminder that yeah, it's okay, you're beautiful no matter what!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chloe February 17, 2015 at 6:28 AM

      Yes! Even though the degrees to the feelings of self-consciousness are different, there's still the common ground I think in every girl's life to look pretty ^_^

      Delete
  3. EveFebruary 15, 2015 at 5:26 PM

    "You is pretty. You is kind. You is important." Ah, gave me chills.(I love The Help!)
    This post is amazing, Chloe. It is such a nice reminder that we are all so beautiful in God's eyes. <3
    What makes me feel beautiful?
    1. Reading this post.
    2. When little ones look up to me.
    3. Capturing a person's true beauty through my camera lens.
    4. Wearing sweaters.
    5. When I begin see God working through me in my life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chloe February 17, 2015 at 6:30 AM

      I know!!!!! I devoured the book and loved the movie ;))
      Aww, what a great list Eve! I can relate to all of these.

      Delete
  4. SophiaFebruary 15, 2015 at 6:20 PM

    This is awesome. I feel beautiful when my little brother says so. :) Haha, also when I just can't stop smiling because God is just so good.
    Sophia
    someplaceinthemidst.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chloe February 17, 2015 at 6:32 AM

      Awwwww what a gentlemen you have!! That's so sweet, Sophia. :D
      God is so good to us and sometimes it's just so hard for me to even wrap my mind around. <3

      Delete
  5. Abigail LennahFebruary 15, 2015 at 7:00 PM

    I've been seeing this go on for so long (#20beautifulwomen). I got tagged so many times, which is weird, because lately I've been so tired with dark marks under my eyes. But for some weird reason, but still say I'm pretty and beautiful... but beauty is what is on the inside, I suppose, which is what the tag does ask!

    xoxo Morning

    ReplyDelete
  6. jodieFebruary 15, 2015 at 8:46 PM

    Thanks for the uplifting post. Beautiful post is beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. MFebruary 16, 2015 at 12:19 AM

    oh man. that #20beautifulwomen thing. For me, I never post selfies, so every time I'm tagged I don't bother obliging. It's not a selfie that makes me feel beautiful. It's a whole combination of things. Being told I am, looking at myself in the mirror spontaneously and thinking 'hey. I look alright.', and just feeling appreciated really, because beauty is an all round thing. This is a lovely list of things that make you feel beautiful, and I guess we're all a little too girly for our own good.

    -M
    The Life of Little Me

    ReplyDelete
  8. Susanna February 16, 2015 at 5:53 AM

    Such a sweet post. Things that make me feel beautiful:

    1. Playing with children
    2. Wearing new clothes
    3. Enjoying Christ

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hannah MaryFebruary 16, 2015 at 2:15 PM

    Oh man, this is so good, Chloe! It's so important to remember what beauty really means. I've been thinking about this, too, because of the #20beautifulwomen tag. I really like your list :) Here's mine:

    - When I'm with people who love me and who I'm comfortable to be around.
    - When I'm wearing a favorite dress or sweater.
    - When my hair is down and it doesn't look like Merida's from Brave. (trust me, it sometimes does)
    - When I remember that the same God who made this beautiful world also made me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. FaithFebruary 17, 2015 at 11:14 AM

    I LOVE that verse you quoted from Isaiah! I just shouted to my mom to grab me my bible asap and my highlighters so I could mark it down and not forget it. lol thank you!

    things that make me feel beautiful:
    red lipstick or well done make up
    wearing "that outfit." you know, that one outfit you own that boosts your confidence whenever you wear it.
    having a good hair day
    eating healthy foods
    reading through texts I have saved in the past specifically for bad self esteem days

    I love this post a lot a lot a lot. thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Emily TjadenFebruary 18, 2015 at 8:25 AM

    Things that make me feel beautiful:
    - Listening to beautiful music
    - Wearing red lipstick
    - When my boyfriend tells me I am
    - When I straighten my hair
    - Winged eyeliner (dang!)
    - Wearing clothes that I know are attractive and classy
    - When selfies turn out looking semi-hot instead of 100% ridiculous
    - When children tell me I am beautiful because they say what they mean

    Also, just a story that made me feel beautiful: After my boyfriend and I wrecked in the snow a couple of weeks ago, and were stranded at a Waffle House, this girl came up to me and said, "Whoa, your hair looks AMAZING." And I was like, "Wow, really? We just...like...wrecked...and my hair looks good?" Score! XD

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownMarch 1, 2015 at 6:43 PM

    I was thinking about this the other day actually (on a day I didn't look particularly beautiful on I might add). There's definitely nothing wrong with wanting to feel pretty. It's the ways you try to make yourself beautiful where there might be a problem. But we all deserve to feel beautiful. Some things that make me feel beautiful
    -Smiling
    -Picking my clothes carefully
    -Wearing earrings
    -Singing
    -Hanging with my sisters

    ReplyDelete

Hey! Person commenting! Yes, you. Wanna know something?

You're kinda awesome.