Hey You.
Yes, YOU.
You are Beauty Full.
You are full of beauty in ways you may not even be aware of. You were made to do something with your one rare, precious life; to create art through your life in a million little ways no one else ever could. You are irreplaceable. You are full of beauty regardless of your weight, size, or personality. The scale doesn't define you. Your job, car, or whether you're married or single do not define you.
You are not defined by your history. Not your past mistakes or choices. Whether you're in a relationship or single. Whether you have children or you don't. Nor your career choice or how much money you make.
You are worthy of love and respect whatever of these you have or don't have. Stop buying the BS story lines that you can't be loved as you are. for WHO you are just the way you are. That you aren't full of beauty, that you aren't good enough for a man or for God to love. That your scars are too much a burden. That your heart is frail. No, please stop that. You are poetry.and.You are not a mistake.
You with the baby on your hip at home with little ones running around are beauty full.
You trying to figure out what to do with your life after college are beauty full.
You trying to balance motherhood, marriage, and a career outside the home are beauty full.
You struggling with fertility and desperately wishing for a baby are beauty full.
You dealing with pain and hurt in a relationship are beauty full.
You see because our beauty is not determined by any of those things. You are beautiful because you are a daughter of God. You are His beloved. You are His creation. God does not create, love or redeem crap. God wants you to participate in His story wherever you are and with whatever you have. Do great work, create beauty wherever you are. There is purpose and a plan for you wherever you re on the journey. Dream big dreams and do great things with God.
You are beauty full right where you are. Remember that and whisper it to yourself for those days you will struggle to believe that. I know I do too sometimes.
But no matter what, our beauty is not defined by anything the world wishes to measure us by. Rather we are beautiful because a really big God created us because He recklessly and passionately loves us.
You are full of beauty because you were created by love to go and be love out in the world.
Ring your freedom bell loud and strong...
Knowing you are ravishing and full of beauty right where you are.
One of the thing about heading to Philly I really excited about was attending a talk with Dr. Gianna Emanuel Molla. She is the youngest daughter of St. Gianna Beretta Molla - the saint who gave her life in order that her daughter (named after her) could live, when she was given the choice between dying herself from a tumor or having an abortion.
Dr. Molla was in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, and is very good personal friends of the owner of the travel agency we went with, so they made this available to our group.
Gianna looks exactly like her mother, it almost felt like I was meeting St. Gianna personally at the church we were at. In her wonderfully thick Italian accent high-pitched voice, she gave a beautiful testimony to the life of her mother and the holy, beautiful marriage between her parents (who would have been married 60 years if they were still both living today).
Throughout her talk, it was so cute to listen to the daughter of this saint refer to her mama as "my saint Mom". Seriously. How often do you hear something like that??
While I have read and own several books on the life of St. Gianna, I was struck throughout the talk how St. Gianna truly is a saint for everyday life. The life of this adventurous, fun-loving, doctor, wife, and mother is a reminder that holiness is available to everyone; that it is a truly simply, accessible path and will look different for each one of us...we're just the ones that over-complicate it. For St. Gianna "the secret to happiness is to live moment by moment." Her daughter said several times, "For mama, everything was God's gift."
What I love about the many saints of the church, is that there are SO many of them with different lives, experiences, and personalities. They are all so unique and their lives remind me that there are many ways to find God and live a life of faith. And St. Gianna is no different, and her life bears witness to what mattered most in her life: loving God,serving her patients with kindness, loving and nurturing her husband and small children, and serving the poor.
St. Gianna is the patron saint of difficult pregnancies and mothers. While I do not have children of my own, there is something so beautifully attractive in her life that reminds me I can encounter God wherever He has placed me in my life. Right where God has me in life right now, is where He wants to use me. For a recovering control freak/perfectionist like myself that is very good news...
Do you have any particular devotion to certain saints? What about his or her life speaks to you as a Christian in 2015?
P.S. As we were leaving the talk, my sister Annie who works or our diocese was able to get a picture with Dr. Molla. Sometimes it pays off to leave the church building last. #toocool
St. Gianna, pray for me!
I recently started listening to a new podcast with Kathie Lee Gifford.
Her show interviews all types of famous people in a casual manner, and I was surprised how much I liked it. Her loud crazy laugh and boisterous personality always made me smile growing up. Listening to one of her first episodes, it struck me how we kind of share something in common, we are both loud girl's.
I used to think being a loud girl was something negative or bad, but after one podcast episode it struck me that it is okay I am loud girl and why the world needs more of them.
Growing up, I often got that look parents give to tell me I was misbehaving or too loud. I remember a handful of times getting low grades in conduct because I was too chatty.
Sometimes it felt like being a quiet, soft-spoken little lady was considered good or better.
I grew up hearing sometimes "nobody likes a loud girl" which to some level I think I internalized. No I am not hating on my parents, it is just a way that helps me better understand myself now.
But there was always a "loud" part to my Patty-ness. Whether I got really excited or passionate about something, my volume would often and easily increase. For a long time, I thought that was bad or that piece of me was not so great. I didn't accept or even like that part of me.
In many ways, I'm still coming to accept my Patty-ness, my own way of being in the world, my okay-ness and enough-ness in the presence of God and others. Over the last few years, I have embraced my loud girl ways and came to see that is part of the awesome way God made me.
And you know what? It's damn okay to be a loud girl and I would say I think the world needs more of them. Why? Because a loud girl is excited and passionate about things that matter to her. And sometimes excitement and passion spill out of a person in big, beautiful, even crazy ways. A loud girl is comfortable in her own skin.
One of the greatest life lessons a person can learn is to really love and accept themselves the way they are. It certainly doesn't come easy, and can often be very difficult. But over the last few years, I have learned to accept, embrace, and yes, even love the "loud" part of me.
Whether you're a loud gal or quiet gal, one the best things you can do is love yourself; all the crazy, beautiful, even weird parts.
Be who God made you to be and you will set the world ablaze (St. Catherine of Siena).
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