How To Be a Glow Girl

Good Morning Sweet Friends!

The advertising agency said the cover would be glossy, like Glamour Magazine.
The premier issue would be calculatingly printed right before the holidays. The media specialist promised strategic placement. They were targeting female executives and research showed that these women were my marketing audience. I stared at the hot pink cover and read the ad copy.

"She is smart, savvy, ambitious, affluent and powerful. She spends time shopping, entertaining, at home with her family, actively engaging her body and mind, connecting with friends and reconnecting with herself...She is a key decision maker...She strives for greater success and personal fulfillment."

I couldn't pinpoint a reason right away for not being in the magazine. The world was attracted to a "Glow" reader.

I considered the following words that sounded something like Proverbs 31.
"She has the motivation and means to buy products and services that make her and her family's life easier and more fulfilling." I was beginning to be jealous of this woman.

Then it hit me. All of the attributes attached to this woman involved her head, her body, her energy, and her position. Nothing spoke of her spiritual life. I became fascinated with reinventing the "Glow Girl."

"She is a light and a prayer warrior. She is a prioritized, and purposeful evangelist. She is uplifting and encouraging and committed to those around her. She is not self-reliant, but reliant on the Holy Spirit. She is confident of who she is in Christ and sure of her position in his kingdom. She is full of integrity. She is a woman who glows."

Satisfied with my new demographics, I went to the Word. Romans 12:2 says,
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will."

As Christians we are "under new management." 2 Corinthians 5:20 states,
"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." Our lives should be an ad that says, "You want this."

There are many talented professionals in the workplace that are successful, influential women. Many Christians. They have been given an opportunity to effect those around them. I have a beautiful friend who is a hard-working, skilled individual. She is striving to have a marriage retreat leaflet allowed in her office. I hope she is triumphant.

Going back over the ad copy, which was used as a springboard for today's post, and not as a dissension project, I hope that dear reader you will look at your demographics carefully and consider what is beautiful in God's eyes.

These notes were taken from a speaking engagement I was invited to a few years ago.

God Bless you,
Alis

Atleast A Hamster Knows Where It's Going

Happy Wednesday Friends!

We have reached mid-week and the familiar "hump day". In other words, if you've made it this far, the rest of the week gets easier. I start counting how many bagged lunches left to make, how many trips to school, how many more water bottles needed, how many more lessons to teach...until Friday. You see, I'm addicted to order.

That is why when some people compare themselves to a hamster on a treadmill I envy them-at least a hamster knows where it is going!

Chaos is difficult for me. It reminds me that I am not in control. Despite planning, schedules, and routines, I am not the one who orders my day and that can be scary. Unless, I understand the reason for disorder in my life. And I do.

The reason for disorder is to point me to the One whose order is perfect. If my day was left up to me I might miss every place and situation He had intended for me to go.

A Prayer

When my world is unsettled,

Please come.

When my world is undone,

Please come.

When all seems lost to chaos and storm,

Please come

And show me that I am still in the

hollow of your hand.

c.d. baker

Nahum 1:3 says, "In whirlwind and storm is his way." The book I'm currently reading asks this question, "What's keeping me from trusting the whirlwind?"

For me friends, it's insecurity. As women, we desire pledges from those around us that they will not change or suddenly go away. We long to feel guarded and protected. Chaos threatens the security guard I had posted at my heart's gate! It wants to violate my life's boundaries!

However, as C.D. Baker states, "In the end, God is working out all things for good. (See Romans 8:28). This God of whirlwinds and disruption whom we follow will ultimately prove himself to be 'not a God of disorder but of peace'. (See 1 Corinthians 14:33). And that's a comfort."

I will leave us with another question that Baker solicits, "Where do I think God is when life gets turned upside down?"

Nothing extraordinary is upsetting my system right now. I am in a season of much thankfulness for all that I have. Family that loves me, friends that seek me out and a Heavenly Father who is always thinking about me. I am learning to trust Him with all the results.

I do not know what this day will bring, however I am sure of the One who will bring it. "Therefore what looks like chaos never is." (Baker)

Swinging with you,

Alis

The book is 40 Loaves, Breaking Bread With Our Father Each Day.