Something to Think On

So as a 17 year old girl, I think about guys. Don't we all? Some of you might say no. But I think you probably do, even if it's just in the back of your mind. Guy are intriguing, and sometimes wonderful, right?

Sure. They are. I think that I'd have to agree. Guys are fun to hang out with and talk to. I don't have too many guy friends, but when I do get a chance to hang out with guys, I really enjoy it. They are so much less dramatic than girls, and you don't need to worry about looking your absolute best when around them because they probably don't care what you are wearing or look like. They're guys.

But oh, there was a point to this post.

Right. Girls like to think about guys.

I don't want a boyfriend. I'm almost 18 (in about 4 months), and I just never had the desire to have a boyfriend. I want to be able to look back on my life and say "My husband is the only man I ever loved." Wouldn't that be amazing? To be able to say that? To be able to look back and know that you never gave your heart away to someone else?
I'm not here to say that dating is wrong. It's not! I'm not one of those Christian girls who "Kissed Dating Goodbye", even though I did read some of the book by Josh Harris. (It was good, but not my cup of tea.) I think there is a certain age range of girls that shouldn't be dating - like young teenagers, but I'm not trying to tell you that you shouldn't date. Because I'm not like that.
I'm just trying to make you think about your decisions in life. Are you dating someone just to say that you are dating? Are you dating just because you can? Are you dating because you feel pressured into doing it (peer pressure is the worst).
Or maybe, just maybe, you're dating because you feel God has called you to a certain person. Maybe you prayed for months and months before ever dating someone, making sure God was at the head of it. If so, I commend you! This is what I want when a relationship finally comes into play for me. I can't wait to be able to say to a guy, "I like you, but we have to pray about this. I don't want a broken heart, and I want to make sure this is what God wants for my life."
God has someone perfect out there for us, you know? A guy that's going to love us unconditionally, and forever. God doesn't want us to give our hearts away to every guy that we meet, because he made someone special for us, that's JUST for us. And doesn't that man deserve to have all of us, and not just some of it?
Actually, Josh Harris' book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" talks about this in the first chapter. It starts out with a dream. A guy is getting married. He loves his fiance, he's about to marry her, when all the girlfriends from his past come up and stand beside him. They say how they each gave part of their heart to him, so they should be standing there with him. (Or something roughly along those lines.)
Wow, so we know that'll probably never happen. But it'd be awful if it did!
I've never been in love, so I don't know how it feels. I'm sure it's great. But I want to wait. Save my heart for the man I'm going to marry.
I hope that you choose to do the same. I know that it will be worth it.
You're beautiful, girls. Wait for the right one to come along and then give them your whole heart.

The video is The Right One by Stellar Kart. This song is SO amazing!



~Ashley

I AM Beautiful

I am going to be completely honest...I am constantly comparing myself to other girls. 'Not pretty enough', 'not smart enough', 'not tall enough', 'not skinny enough', etc. 


I was doing this just the other day while talking to Kylie. She - being the best friend that she is - yelled at me. 
"Ashley! I hate when you do that! You should never compare yourself to other girls! Stop doing it!" 
So I did.


I've grown to realize that every person is made just the way they're supposed to be. God made us all different so that we'd all be unique. It's not a curse, it's a blessing. 


If we all looked the same, we'd wonder why God made us the same. So my best advice for you is...look at yourself like you're a treasure, which is exactly what you are.


"For I am fearfully and wonderfully made." 

~Ashley

Why "Beautiful in Christ"?

Beautiful in Christ (BIC) is founded on the idea that everyone is beautiful. It sounds cliche, but it's true. You are beautiful.

I've had many days where I don't believe that I'm beautiful. It's hard to feel that way in our culture today, where everywhere we're bombarded by "fake" beauty. So what's a girl to do?

We have to listen to what God says. That's the foundation of everything else. Once we listen to God's voice and hear what He says, our thoughts will begin to follow. We have to believe we're beautiful.

Why?

Because Jesus says so.

We may not be perfect. But Jesus is, so we don't have to be. I once came across a blog. The URL was misspelled as "inperfection" rather than "imperfection." Upon further inspection, I noticed that someone had left a comment. This person commented and said, "I know you probably meant to type 'imperfection' in your blog URL. But I think the way you typed it is really cool, because we're in Jesus, and that means we're in perfection."

Jesus is beautiful. His love, his grace, and his mercy are beautiful. Christ has made us new creations, and therefore, we are beautiful.


That's the point of this blog. You are beautiful. Why? Because Jesus says so.

Introducing Beautiful in Christ...again

Beautiful in Christ was a "ministry" that Kylie and I decided to start in October of 2009. We thought that it would be a great way to reach out to girls who were in need of help, or an encouraging word. 
As writers, Kylie and I love to write anything. From blog posts to full-length books. But we also feel the calling to write to teen girls to help them get through their hardest time in live - their teen years. 
We all know how rough it is to be a teen - especially when people are constantly making fun of us for being different, or being Christians. We get discouraged and feel like we have to live up to everyone else's expectations.
But the truth is - we are all different. And because of that, we are all unique. We all have amazingly unique characteristics that set us apart from other people.
And guess what?
That's perfectly okay. 
You are GREAT just the way you are.
And that's what Kylie and I are aiming to tell you. We are trying to keep you encouraged through your life. And sometimes she and I need some encouragement right back. 


In the past we had some trouble keeping our ideas flowing and our blog posts coming. We got stuck at times and weren't sure where we were going with Beautiful in Christ. Actually, we still don't. We had no idea that God would call us to start Beautiful in Christ over again, so this was as much of a surprise for us as it was for you. Maybe even more so.
But as we reevaluated the whole thing, we realized that God still wants us to write on this blog. He still wants us to give an encouraging word here and there.
We aren't going to set any type of schedule. We aren't going to push ourselves to write. But when we feel the need to come on and write a blog post, we will.
It may be weeks at a time that we don't post and then sometimes we might post more than once a week. We just don't know. That is up to God to figure out for us - and to lay posts on our hearts.


So be sure to check back soon and see if we have a new post up. Also, Kylie is working on a new template for this blog, so be sure to check back for that as well.
~Ashley

A Makeover

Hang tight - BIC is getting re-vamped! Ashley and I want this to be a place we can connect with girls who love Jesus and need to know that He is their source of identity. We want to share our thoughts here, vent about the lies the Enemy tells us, and encourage you with what God says.

So, hold on for the ride and sit tight - we'll be back really soon! :D

-Kylie

Beautiful - by Bethany Dillon

Beautiful
{by Bethany Dillon}
I was so unique 
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me

Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

Have you ever....

....felt like you weren't beautiful? Felt like you weren't good enough? Felt like you're going through such a rough time you're sure you're never going to get through? Felt like hurting yourself would be WAY better than hurting someone else? Physically, mentally and emotionally?

There have been many times in my life when I felt the ways that I listed above. And if you are being truthful with yourself, I know that you have too. Sometimes it's hard to admit that we're angry, we don't want to tell anyone what's been going on in our lives, don't want to even think about what we're doing to ourselves.

I found a verse in 1 Corinthians that has really helped me through the times when I didn't feel good enough. Didn't feel like I was doing what was right; felt like the outside of myself wasn't good enough. God tells us that our body is His temple. One that we should respect, for Him. He bought us with a price and we should be able to learn to live with the outside of ourselves as we do the inside. I know that at times that can be hard, we all struggle with the fact that we think we're not pretty. Don't all girls go through that....like every day of their lives?
This is not the thing that we should be dwelling on. We should be dwelling on making our insides better and eventually that will go through to the outside, making us even more beautiful than we were before.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body."

~Ashley