Welcome to the Buffer Zone

When we were kids, my brother always used to say, "You're in my buffer zone!" That was his way of telling us that we were too close for comfort and we needed to back off. Of course, the rest of us were younger siblings, so we always pushed our luck! But the whole "buffer zone" thing was a concept my family adopted and that we still use, just for fun, to this day.

On a more serious note: We all like to have our comfort zones (buffer zones, if you will) and we like to sit inside those magic little areas of safety and contentment by ourselves for as long as possible. In fact, we stay there until a needle pops it and we have to send it to the shop to get fixed or until someone stands outside it for days on end, just rubbing one little spot and a hole eventually develops, so we have no choice but to slowly exit on our own (or let that person inside the bubble, but really, who ever wants to let other people in their own little bubbles? Precious space!).

The scariest part, though, is that we aren't meant to stay trapped in these bubbles, are we? Just as God called Peter to step out of the boat and onto the water, He is calling us to do the same thing. He wants us to step out of our comfort zones and into a place where we can only survive by trusting Him.

And, get this: it doesn't just stop at us getting out of these zones and bubbles...that's only the beginning. We then have to dare to do two more things:

1. Get inside other people's bubbles.
   We have to want to poke holes and tear down walls if we are going to reach people. There has to be some effort put into it! We have to let people know that we aren't settling for whatever they are giving us on the surface; we want to know who they are at the core and all the things they are afraid to let seep out of those holes. And don't get me wrong...we have to make sure that we aren't going in with axes and baseball bats, but with soft hearts and gentle spirits that will get us invitations inside.
2. Let people inside our own bubbles.
   Oh, boy. There's a scary thought! But it's the truth. How can we expect others to open up and let us inside their buffer zones if we can't open up and let them inside ours? Besides, this isn't ONLY about their comfort; it's about ours, too. It's incredible what can happen if you allow your space to be invaded just a little bit, or allow a couple pokes.

Your mission? Break your bubble and then go help others break theirs. And most of all: step out of your comfort zone and witness the amazing work God wants to do--and will do--through you!

What's beautiful

I've been thinking a lot lately about girls and their body image, self-esteem, self-worth, and so on and so forth. It breaks my heart to know that all these girls, at a younger and younger age as the years pass, feel like something is always wrong with the way they look; they believe they look "wrong" because they don't fit a mold.

So, I ask you this: What is beauty? Can it even be defined? It seems to all be in perception to me...maybe you disagree. If so, what is your definition of beauty?

And how do we get these definitions and perspectives anyway? They don't just pop up out of nowhere, do they? Of course not. There's this website called Six Billion Secrets where people (obviously) post secrets...and if you look under the "Self-Esteem" section, you will find that there are a lot of girls on there posting about their negative body image...and, to my disgust, a very large portion of them got that image of themselves from their parents. One girl said her family couldn't afford much food, so she started to not eat because she wanted her brother to have more food since he was younger...noble act, right? Well, imagine how you would feel if you were in her shoes when her mother agreed that she needed to do that because she was overweight anyway. And then the girl who has only had tea to drink for days because every time she tries to eat anything, her mother says she's had enough...since when is nothing enough?

I trust my parents and if they ever said those kinds of things to me (which they don't), I would take their words to heart, too. So I get it. But isn't that just heart-wrenching? These girls feel worthless, unloved, and lost because of the very people who are supposed to show them the most unconditional love and support. That's just wrong.

But elsewhere on this site, there are the girls who say they woke up this morning and realized they loved themselves, flaws and all, and could be strong and beautiful in their own skin. Some people aren't that happy and content with themselves, but I wish they were. I've never met a girl who wasn't stunningly radiant and beautiful. Nope, not once. But not all of those girls know that they are just as gorgeous as the other girls they see every day...they need to be reminded.

And they aren't reminded by looking in the mirror. There are a lot of girls who fear the mirror; they literally don't want to face themselves and know what's on the outside they can't see of themselves. They don't want to know that they are different...but isn't being different more fun? Being unique is much more exciting than being the cookie-cutter Barbie doll we see day-in and day-out. And who really wants to be plastic anyway? Girls, go look in the mirror and smile because YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.