Wow Factors...hmmmm

I did it! I survived my first major surgery. I got two teeth pulled. For many, this may not seem like a big deal, but to those of you who know me well, know that I think that my teeth and my legs are my greatest assets. They are what I like most about my body. My legs and teeth are what I like to call my “wow factors.” Ladies, we all have “wow factors.” They may be our breast, abs, buttocks, or whatever you deem wow-worthy; and if anything were to happen to these parts or features, we would trip.

For a little over a year, I was having major pain in my mouth. The pain was so unbearable that I decided to go to the dentist to have them checked out. They told me that I had major bone loss in my mouth. I could have passed out. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I am not 75 guys, I am 25 years old (at the time of my appointment I was 24 years old); so the thought of loosing my bone at this age was absurd. The doctor continued to say that the only remedy was to pull my teeth out. And quite frankly, I wasn’t having that. I left the doctor’s office a year ago with my own game plan. I was going to up my calcium intake and cut back on sweets. My get-fixed-quick remedy didn’t work. The pain became worse for me. In the beginning, there was just pain in the lower part in my mouth, but in recent weeks the pain escalated and was giving me major headaches. On October 19, 2010, was the day of my redemption. I scheduled another dentist appointment. I got a x-ray; and sure enough, the bone loss in my mouth was worse. I settled within myself, I had to get my teeth pulled. But my new dentist office was not playing with me. They were gong to get them teeth out of me that very day if they had to. They made me schedule an appointment for the next day. lol

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t sad. I don’t like pain, for one, and secondly, it was a part of my wow factors. When I went into work that next day, I told a co-worker what happened. I said, “I am single. My smile and legs are all I have.” We all giggled, and I walked back to my office. As I sat down to do my work, I had a moment to ponder my response. Is my smile and my legs all I have? Do these two factors really make up a WHOLE me? And the answer to those two questions are no. They are a part of me, but they don’t make ME up as a whole.

It made me think about women and how we put so much emphasis on a couple of features. My total beauty is not based on one feature, or on two in my case. It is totally great to love parts of you. But our wow factors should be things more concrete like our person, the core you. Is your attitude great? Do you have a good heart? These are the things that matter. I have seen this over and over. You can be a pretty girl and have a horrible attitude. That combination will eventually cause you to loose cool points among men and women. The saying is true, physically beauty fades, and what is on the inside is only thing that is going to really matter. So ladies let’s find our real “wow factors.” Those factors are usually found deep within our core. Then, let's count our number 10 bodies, our smiles, or our luscious hair as a bonus.

Finding the Beauty in the Midst of Ugliness

Have you ever lost sight of who you are? Have you ever said to yourself that the person that I am is not who I want to be? This was me about three months ago. I came to a point in my life where I wasn’t happy or satisfied. I just really lost sight of what mattered in life, and I was feeling the effects of it. I didn’t have a real sense of purpose anymore. The things that I committed myself to were done merely out of obligation. I was just living. When you live your life like that it becomes draining. To live life without a full understanding of your purpose is disheartening. And there comes a point in your life when you get tired of living life that way. I became tired of being sad, tired of being unfulfilled. I hit rock bottom, which was the best thing that ever happened to me. I had a heart to heart with God. I simply said, “I need you to show up in my life and make some big changes. I am not content, and I want more.”

God heard me. I had an opportunity to take my youth group to summer camp. For a week, my kids and I would be disconnected from the world. No cell phones. No televisions. Just God and the bugs. That week was the start of my mind reformation. In that week God really challenged me to look at Him in a new light. He challenged me to look at myself in a new light. He constantly reminded me how great His love is for me, for us! He gently reminded me that I do have a purpose in this world, and reassured to me that I didn’t make the commitment to serve for nothing. So I decided to trust God with my money, my relationships, my time and my whole life.

I came home from camp, and I was lead to read the book of Acts. (This book is pretty cool.) I am amazed at the things written in this book, but there was one passage of scripture that really made me think about life. The story is found in Acts 7. Stephen, a disciple of God, was preaching a sermon. In his sermon he started to explain how life was good for the Jews, specifically during Joseph’s reign. But when Joseph died, I new ruler came and treated the Jews badly. The times were hard; the Jews were oppressed and abused by the Egyptian ruler. Then the scripture says, during that horrible time Moses was born, and he was exceedingly beautiful in his sight. That struck me. Even though there was hate, oppression, and abuse God was still able to see beauty in the midst of all that turmoil. He was able to look past all the junk and focus on something more meaningful. That is really awesome to me.

Our lives can be a living Hell. We can be oppressed by many things. But in the midst of our Hell, can we find beauty? What will you choose to look at or recognize? When we focus on what it happening around us it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. It is easy to become discouraged. My life has not been peaches and cream since summer camp. Life is life. I still go through crazy things. But I am making a conscious decision to notice God’s hand in the midst of my craziness. When “life” is happening I can rely on the beautiful fact that God is God. He is the controller of the whole entire universe, and He loves me. I have to fully trust the fact that God and I have a relationship, and he has my best interest at heart. And that is simply beautiful!