I AM BEAUTIFUL. Well that certainly is a bold statement coming from me.  It sure is not easy for me to write that about myself, especially after decades of brokenness and low self-esteem.  I want to make it clear that I am not speaking of my appearance.  I am speaking of the beautiful heart that the Lord has given me, for which I am eternally grateful for.  I believe when someone has a heart for God, that they are just naturally beautiful altogether. I say that because I can see it in so many godly people around me. 

Ever since the Lord changed me inside and out, whenever I see my reflection in the mirror, I smile because I no longer see the lost soul that used to be looking back at me.  For me to be able to look into the mirror today and actually like what I see is a major breakthrough the Lord has given me.  When I see myself, I see an amazing smile that lights up the room.  It has nothing to do with me.  It is only because Jesus is now in me and His light shines so brightly through my eyes and my smile.  I hear it so many times.  I think it just took a while for me to be comfortable with it.  I learned to pray for the self-esteem of Jesus and I am grateful that my prayer was answered.  So I just do my best to shine His light wherever I go.  One of my constant prayers is that when people see me, I pray they see more of Jesus, and less of me.  I am still a work in progress.

So many things from the past that kept me in the darkness are now being used for God’s good purpose.  There are so many that I can reach out to and help because I have walked in their shoes.  I am grateful to be used by God.  I am grateful to finally be living a purposeful life and I am so excited for all God has in store.  I know there are a lot of people out there who are where I used to be, and I pray that I can be an encouragement to some.  I want to encourage people to seek His purpose for their own life too, if they do, their life will never be the same.  There is so much more to this life than what most are seeing with their human eyes.  

I share such personal stories and thoughts because I believe God has asked me to.  I pray I do the messages that He puts on my heart justice.  It is not like He is giving me word for word to write, so I pray His messages do not get lost in translation. 

I believe that there is at least one person out there that may find hope in something I share.  I believe that there is at least one person out there that just might open their heart to Jesus like I did. I happened to be at the right place at the right time to hear a message that I needed to hear.  Perhaps God will put this blog somewhere at the right place and time for someone out there.  That is my hope.  God can do amazing things with a willing heart. My journey is proof of that.  I want to see this happen for many others.  This is what makes me willing to be so transparent, helping at least one person is beyond worth it to me.  As tough as it can be, I am thrilled to be used by God.  I am beyond blessed. I pray more people will allow Him to bless them in this way.  It is an incredible way to live.  For me, it is now the only way to live.  I realize I may never know if anybody is reached through my sharing and I am okay with that because I know it is not up to me.  I am not God, and that is a good thing!!

Let God turn your brokenness into beauty too!