Christian Dating: "Why am I not being asked out?" B=Beautiful part 2: Practical Beauty

B=Beautiful, part two: Practical Beauty

• A complicated subject…but honestly many women underestimate their beauty. 
• No matter what we think we look like, here’s a reminder that we are daughters of God, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
• And here are some things that enhance our beauty in real and practical ways.

Smile

• It’s the simplest thing to put on. 
• I challenge you during the day to check out what your face is doing, and turn it into a grin. 
• It’s also been researched many times over and proven, that it actually helps us feel better.

Care for others around you

• God created us to serve in different ways. 
• Find a volunteer opportunity
• Don’t force your self into something that leads to burn out  
• Find something you enjoy
• Appreciate others
• It’s attractive
• Take the time to thank those who are important to you.

Care for yourself

• Health (Sometimes super easy, sometimes super hard)
• Extremely difficult to blog about, because I don’t always get this one right. 
• Some days I’ve had cookies for all of my meals 
• stayed up way too late
• chosen the elevator over the stairs. 
• So instead of a prescription, just a few hints that help me, but truthfully I don’t always follow.
• Exercise 
• Forgot that thing in the car? See it as free gym time
• If you can take the stairs
• Take that farther parking spot
• Eating right 
• It’s about moderation. 
• Don’t say no to everything,
• For me the food I've wanted but denied my self is all I can think about
•  Drink a cup of water before that third cookie
• Sleep
• I eat non stop when I’m really tired
• Says here lack of sleep can increase your desire for food.
• So take naps, go to bed early, or arrange a day to sleep in late. 
• Brain
• Learn new things
• Play games
• like free rice, vocab questions lead to rice for other countries
• Do word puzzles

• Spiritual life
• Commitment: Spending time with God,
• Community: spending time with others who know God,
• Expanding our knowledge of God: 
• learning more about who he is, from his book, 
• from time with him, 
• or from someone who has been studying his word.

• Who has the time?
• Health and relationships both take time,
• A relationship will not increase the amount of time you have to take care of your own mental and physical health.
• There’s almost always time for the things we want, so figure out what it is you want

• Ask for help!
• Don’t do it alone. 
• If you are having trouble with any of these things, bring on a like minded friend to exercise with or hold you accountable to your goals.
• Set up a practical reward system…
• when I go on three walks, I get to go to coffee with my friend Hillary. 
• Or when I get four quiet times with God, I get to watch Dr. Who with Katie.

Confidence in who God made you to be

• Get to know your self a little better.  For instance:
• Take a Myers and Briggs test like this one: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
• Figure out what you like and don’t like, so that you add your gifts to a relationship
• Ask God to reveal more about who you are, he’ll open up those realizations
• This one’s hard for me but: 
• Ask God what you need to be working on now, that will help with your future relationships.
• Also, figure out your love language 
• Practice loving others around you in their love languages.  
• To figure it out you can buy or borrow the book The Four Love Languages
• By the way, I read the one for single people, and I don’t think it was nearly as good as the original. 
• But if you want a quick look there is this assessment online.
• Part of confidence is humility
• Being humble does not mean shutting down every compliment sent your way 
• Instead accept it with grace, and say thank you.
• It also means knowing our limitations and asking for help
• both from God and others around us

Feeling tired yet?

• This list can be overwhelming, even discouraging...
• So let me say this:
• Nobody is perfect
• I don't practice everything on this list every day
• There is different seasons in our lives when we'll have the time, energy, and motivation to focus on different parts of our lives 
• Look for those seasons, let them come, ask God for them
• Find one thing on here you want to do, and try it.