Little did I know

Little did I know about the battle of the feminine heart. I am a female and yet I was not fully aware of the war waged on woman long before I came into existence!

"You really won't understand your life as a woman until you understand this: You are passionately loved by the God of the universe and you are passionately hated by His enemy."- Stasi Eldridge (from the book Captivating)

Little did I know the truth of this statement.

Immediately after reading this quote it hit me--this is exactly why the Lord invited us into this ministry with Him. I was awoken to the reality that being created female is uniquely incredible AND uniquely targeted. We are radically loved yet we fight a number of struggles on a daily basis: body image, beauty, worth, being enough or too much, comparison.

As women, we have such a specific revelation of God that He illustrates through the feminine heart. We bring life, we are life-givers!  We incarnate the beauty of God. When God created Adam it was good, but He wasn't quite finished. God had more in mind. He created woman. Being created female has more intention behind it than we will ever realize.

Little did I know that I was a major threat to the devil.

I don't know about you but that gets me pumped up! We have such a power in our feminine soul that the devil is trying every trick in the book to break us down. He is jealous of the uniquely glorious beauty we encompass that he cannot and never will. Next time you are struggling with body image, beauty, or worth and find yourself in the downward spiral of negativity just remember--you are such a threat to the devil that he is actively trying to destroy you.

Isn't it comical that we are created to portray the beauty of God yet we are often wondering if we are beautiful ourselves? As women, we want to be beautiful. This is good. I think this is a question we will ask ourselves the rest of our lives. Single or married, we will always wonder if we are beautiful enough. So, recently I asked my brothers what they found attractive about their wives and the profound response to most all of their answeres was not the physical but the heart.

Women, our beauty surpasses our physical. Our beauty is not containted in the physical. It was encouraging and I wanted to share their responses with you to encourage you as well :) Enjoy these...

"Besides her beautiful eyes and smile, I would say the most attractive things about her is her complete and genuine selflessness, she is always thinking of other people and puts their needs before her own. She is always looking for ways to make me, the kids, and others feel better. I also love her sense of humor, she always makes me laugh. "

"She is devoted. She is patient with me and quick to forgive. She has strength in her calm demeanor which always gives me peace. Her loving devotion to our baby is most attractive. In her devotion I see her love and strength and motherly beauty."

"Physically, I loved her hair. That was the initial physical attraction. Her love for God and the Eucharist made me realize how undeserving I was to love her and lead her. Her subordination and willingness to allow me to lead our spiritual relationship gave me confidence. When a man is confident in his lady's love, just like Christ's love, that is the greatest feeling. That's how I fell in love with her. She allowed me to be the leader and I love her for that because it made me take ownership of our relationship with God."

"Her eyes, her smile, her love of the rosary, her love of family, and her appreciation of living a simple life.

"She is tough and never complains. So when I see her and how tiny she is trying to lift heavy things or take on big tasks, I think that is very attractive, "sexy" if you will."

"Physical attraction was first when we started dating. I also wanted to date someone who from a good family. Then I grew to love her more by the way she was caring for others, her faith was strong, and she had a heart of gold. She was the perfect fit for me and I knew it. I loved her family and she loved my family. Then she passed the "Doe test." That is all I needed! Marriage is a work in progress and I knew she wouldn't quit on me when times were tough."

Be His,