Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Convo’s with my Kids

I absolutely adore the convo’s I have with my littles {and family}. Normally, they have me in stitches. And Miss Jade, oh Miss Jade, always so innocent. I want to remember every single thing about our conversations {and let you enjoy them too}. That’s why I document them here 🙂 Someday, I’ll look back on these days and, with tears in my eyes, appreciate these times.

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Jade: I get so hungry at school that my spine hurts.

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Joey: A boy at school told me I should set my parents down and tell them I’m nearly 18, I should be allowed more freedom.
Me: What did you tell him?
Joey:  Have you ever met my parents?

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Jade:  Sometimes I get prosecutors and prostitutes mixed up.

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Jade:  Is Los Angeles in Nevada?

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Jade:  Tell Joey to stop making me laugh when I’m mad at him.

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A Proverbs 31 Woman {Week 5}

She opens her arms to the poor 
and extends her hands to the needy. 
Proverbs 31:20

In this verse, we see a lady who has definite concern for the less fortunate.

This God-loving woman isn’t so busy in life that she can’t stop and help someone who is hurting or someone not as fortunate as her.  She is as intent on giving as she is on getting, and does it freely and cheerfully.  She is sympathizing and charitable, and loves to extend to others the blessings which have been given to her.

When I first read this verse, I thought it was pretty straight forward.  But once I dug a little deeper, I found there was more to it.

The King James Version of the first half of the verse is She stretcheth out her hand to the poor.  This was described as she her hand stretched out to the poor, with alms in her hand.  The definition of alms is money, food, or other donations given to the poor or needy; anything given as charity.

The King James Version of the second half of the verse is yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.  In this verse, she is reaching her hands out to raise and soothe the poor man.  She wasn’t just satisfied by giving him money, she wanted to exercise the gentle ministries of a tender love.  
She can see these needs because she isn’t focused on only herself. It’s so easy for us to just get caught up in life and put blinders on to those around you.

Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39

It’s so important for us to learn to have a servants heart. After all, Jesus did say the second greatest commandment was to love your neighbors. Reaching out to others, being the hands and feet of Jesus, is one of the greatest callings we have in our faith. Not only does it show the love of Christ for the world, it’s also an opportunity for us to worship God and for us to grow more like Jesus. I not only think it’s important for us to have a servants heart, but to also model this for our littles.

So this week, be kind, thoughtful and compassionate. Serve your husband, family, friends and neighbors with a gentle and loving spirit. Look to the needs of others before you satisfy your own wants.

A generous person will prosper;whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:25

Just Love Yourself

With summer quickly approaching, there is something my Facebook feed is normally filled with…body shaming.  Thin girls shaming big girls.  Big girls shaming thin girls.  Comments like “dress for the body you have, not the body you want”, “I really wish heavy girls wouldn’t wear shorts” and “I can see your ribs, go eat something”.  These comments always break my heart and make me angry.

So very many of us women {and girls} suffer from low self-esteem, no matter what size we are. Normally all our self-esteem issues revolve around our physical appearance. We are obsessed about our weight, hair, skin, facial features and so many other areas. You would be hard pressed to find a woman that would not change at least one thing about her appearance.  Why do we find it so hard to love ourselves?

And yet, we are so quick to cut other women down for simply looking different than us. Just because she has big breasts doesn’t mean she’s a whore, just because she is thin doesn’t mean she is anorexic and just because she’s bigger doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be able to wear shorts. It simply means God made us all different.

I have lived life in a size 12 body and a size 24 body, and every size in between. I have been called fat, a cow and lots of other names. I have been told I have such a pretty face, if I would just lose some weight. Mean words that are said without a second though, but they stay in my head for years. I have carried oh-so-much shame around with me over those years. And it seemed no amount of self-help books, dieting or trying to sort it out in my head ever worked. I had an unhealthy and unfortunate amount of shame and self-loathing toward my body. I could not imagine why God would give other girls perfect bodies then give me this one. And to be honest, I was a little mad at Him for that.

Learning to love myself regardless of my size was one of the most crucial turning points.

Y’all, we need to start helping to build each other up rather than tear each other down. All bodies are good bodies. All bodies are real bodies. All bodies are worthy of love and respect.

Women today are exposed SO MUCH to what society sees as the ideal body. The perfect hourglass shape with no arm flab, a thigh gap, full lips, perfect breasts, and a flat tummy. And if you don’t have those, then you aren’t beautiful. We believe from the time we are little girls that we must have these things. If we’re not the ideal beautiful, then we should be ashamed and not feel like we are good enough.

“I am unwaveringly ME; and the same goes for YOU. No matter what you’re struggling with, embrace what you have to offer, love yourself right this minute and start affecting positive change for yourself and others.”—Whitney

How can YOU learn to love your body no matter what your size?

Don’t believe the lies. Chances are you are basing your actions on lies rather than truth. If you are like most women, you have been told (either directly or indirectly) that your worth is rooted in your appearance. That is an absolute lie. It’s not that pretty and girly things are bad (like make-up, attractive appropriate clothing and a stylish haircut)… it’s that those pretty things are not who we are. We are all made in Gods image. Every single one of us. Do you know what that means? I am beautiful, so are YOU, because we are daughters of the King and we were made in His image. Take a moment and let that sink in. You are perfectly perfect and what He wants you to be. Your value is not in your breasts, hips, hair, lips, eye color, skin tone or stomach muscles.

Buy clothing that fits. And clothes that you feel comfortable, sexy, pulled together and happy in. STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE SIZE ON THE LABEL. There is nothing worse than feeling like you have to starve yourself for a week to fit into that dress you bought a size too small, because you just couldn’t bring yourself to buy a size 6/14/24/whatever. Getting stressed about getting dressed in the morning has an unfortunate way of ruining your entire day.


Get active. Take a stand.  Love yourself.  Be positive. Accept compliments. Don’t buy into the media “image” hype. Talk to your husband about the lies the media loves to force feed us. Enlighten your children about authentic beauty, authentic sexual intimacy and God’s plan for marriage


I can be confident. You can be confident. We can all be confident. We can walk through this world with heads and hearts held high as daughters of the King. Daughters who are messy and broken. With Him, we are transformed into beautiful simply because we are His. Understand your identity in Him and the beauty and freedom He bestows on us and the love He extends to us.