Hi, friends. Fall is upon us and I love it. Friday football games, watching both of my kids play in the marching band. Leaves beginning to change. Crisp, cool air. Cider and donuts and pumpkin bread. The fragrance of apples and burning leaves.
I know nature will soon fall into a deep winter sleep, and yet it does not fade away quietly. The bounty of the harvest, the beauty of the color. Fall reminds us that being past the prime of summer does not mean that we are past our ability to offer the beauty within us. In fact, the older we are and the closer we are to Christ, the more vibrantly beautiful we become.
No matter what season of life you find yourself, may you radiate the beauty of Christ all the more deeply with each passing day. May you remember that God is completing a work in you. It is a good work, and He is faithful.
May you turn to Him, trust Him, and treasure Him today and every day.
I have some thoughtful links for you this week, if you have a few moments to read.
We tend to associate immodesty with the quest for celebrity through the inordinate visual exploitation of that which should remain secret. And when all other means of celebrity fail, this particular form of immodesty remains the best way to generate celebrity (ref. Miley Cyrus). But immodesty is not limited to the exploitation of one’s visual qualities; it really encompasses in its scope every inordinate exploitation of self designed to accelerate personal celebrity. And it is a virus that infects us more deeply than any of us imagine.
Lay Aside the Weight of Prideful Comparison
We can tell this is happening in us when we look at others and don’t see the grace of God, but reflections of our own inferiority. We don’t see them as windows into God’s glory, but as mirrors into which we are asking, “Who’s the fairest one of all?†— and we know it’s not us.
About Shelli Bourque