Monday Morning Beauty Buzz

Not ready for Monday?  Me either!   So grab a cup of your favorite java, pull up a chair, and browse through the Beauty Buzz.  It feels good to postpone Monday just a few minutes more. 


Repair Damaged Hair.  Tips to fix your hair after it has sustain damaged. 


5 Secrets to Healthy Hair.  How to keep your hair healthy, shiny, and beautiful.


Care for Freshly Colored Hair. Make the most of your new hair color.


8 Eye Liner Tricks for Defined Eyes  Best eye liner tips for great looking eyes. 


Spring Clean Your Beauty Stash  Weed through your makeup so it is clean, safe, and current. 


Easy Steps to Healthy Skin  Simple steps to keeping your skin beautiful. 

Free Piano Music!

A free piano song for you... just click the "Buy Now" button to download it free. :-)

Or check out my book, Clef Hangers.

Morning Rituals

Do you have a morning ritual?  I suppose we all do.  Mine consists of hitting the snooze button a few dozen times, hiding my face from the daylight, and being dragged out of bed by an excited five year old! After a panicked glance at the clock, I limp to the bathroom where I get dressed, attempt to create something beautiful out of the massive bedhead that is my hair, put on a pile of makeup in a vain attempt to look well-rested, and finally put on some jewelry so I look a little bit put together.  It happens in the same order every single day.  Then I hobble down the stairs, still not awake, with my eyes glued open with mascara to make breakfast for my clan.  And then it's a mad dash to get everyone dressed and out the door for their respective activities.  Does this sound like you?  Oh, and there is coffee.  Lots of coffee.  Every step of the way, or I would still be in bed, smacking away at that awful snooze button.

But there is something missing from my morning ritual.  Did you catch it?  Instead of starting my day with the things that are most important, I am barely getting my day started at all.  It is an act of sheer will power just to get out of bed and get going.  Someway, somehow, I need to change that.  Part of what I need is more sleep and a better diet. But what I would really love is to start my day with some quiet time, some Bible reading, and some prayer and meditation.  I need to start my day off right so that I can help my family start their day off right.

I am guilty of spending far more time prepping the outside of me for the days events than I do even thinking about the inside of me.  Both parts of me are important - the inside and the outside.  I need to find the balance of making both the inside and the outside beautiful.  And somehow, someway, I want to make my morning rituals reflect that.  How about you?  What are your morning rituals?  Do they reflect everything you want them to reflect?

 

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I want that!

I want that.  Heard all too frequently in my house, usually in an unpleasant, whiny tone.  If you have - or had- or know - small children, big children, teenagers, or adults, I bet you've heard it, too.  It's not something we typically encourage in our home, rather, we remind our wee ones to use their polite, big kid voices.  And that has a success life of about, oh, 2 seconds.  But they are learning, and so are we! 

 

Truthfully, though, how bad is it to want something?  What else drives us, but a desire for something bigger, better, or different? Were it not for desires, wants, and needs, we would linger and stagnate when we need to move onward and upward.

In my studies towards my seminary degree, there is no time to linger over things which deserve to be lingered over- a scripture, a theology, or a thought -provoking moment in history.  There is much to learn in a very short amount of time.  The more I study, and the more I learn in this whirlwind of course materials, is that I want an awful lot of things.  Some things I want are just, noble, and beautiful….others maybe a bit vanity related, greedy.  I suppose I can sound just as whiny as anyone when I want something I can’t have.   

Getting back to seminary…I truly love character studies, where I get to look deeply into the life of a person from the Bible.  They remind me of Bible celebrities, whose lives make an impact thousands of years later, whose downfalls and shortcomings are as gossip-worthy as any other A-lister.  To get a peek into their lives, relationships, weaknesses, talents, and ministry is a privilege and a challenge.  It shows me how God works in and through the lives of His people.  It shows me how God can transform a life.  It shows me how He is strong in our weaknesses, and it shows me what I want.

What do I want?  Here are a few thoughts from the lives of some of my favorite Bible celebs.

Moses whined when God called Him.  I so don't want  to do that. 

He was considered a friend of God: I want that!

King David was an adulterer and a murder.  Need that like I need a hole in the head.  But being a Man (or in my case, woman) after God's own heart?  I want it.

Ezekiel, prophet during a time of exile, and a young widower.  No thanks. 

Felt the word of God was like a fire in his bones...I. Want. That.

Paul, persecutor of Christians.  Nada.

Paul, willing to die for his faith, yes!

Peter, betrayer.  Not me!  (Oh, I hope not me)

The rock on which church is built, what an honor, a challenge, and a blessing.

What do I want? To know God and be known by Him.  To have a fire in my bones to share Him.  To be His friend, and to be after His heart. To have a faith willing to die for. To be the person that God has made me to be. And most of all, more of God.  That is what I want.