I finished my animal letter “B,” adding a touch of color with colored pencils and copic markers!
#004 Letting it “B”
One of my goals for this year is to work through the thoughts and emotions causing me to feel anxious. I no longer want to accept worry as a part of life or give it the “we all do it” power.
For me, whenever I connect an action or habit to something the majority is doing, I give myself permission to NOT change it. It becomes an excuse for me and then a real problem later.
I’m declaring right now that I take back that authority and refuse to let anxiety consume me! I wasn’t born a worrier, none of us we’re. I didn’t come into this world programmed to worry. It was learned.
I’ll be using the word of God as my sword to cut through these lies and UNLEARN this habit of worry.
My plan is to delve into scripture verses to help me uproot these weeds, many of which are connected to my appearance, my work, and people pleasing.
Starting with a verse from first Samuel.
“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Everything the Lord teaches is SIMPLE and yet so profound AND still so frustratingly hard to accept.
I can’t actually SEE my heart, but I can see my face, and stomach, and legs. I can create an image in my head of what my heart looks like based on how loving and kind and empathetic I am, but I don’t have to guess at what my body looks like.
People are many, but God is just one God. People are so quick to judge and speak poison over us. How can I rest when people, often the majority, can leave wounds like this based on appearances alone?
This verse both annoys me and reassures me. I think the ONLY way to swallow this verse is to first really trust the Lord.
And that’s where my worry comes in.
I’ve lost the trust of people when it comes to my appearance because a handful of people from my past, those I cared about so deeply, judged my body so harshly. Ever since then I assume everyone sees me this way.
So to believe what God says about my appearance compared to what I’m hearing and seeing in this world 24-7, that’s HARD for me.
Interestingly enough though if you think about it, out of my fear of rejection I’m actually placing ALL my trust in what people say about me. I’m actually subconsciously handing them my trust, when I’m the one who can take it right back!
He made my body in the first place, shouldn’t that trust be owed to Him? The one who does NOT judge my appearance, but my heart alone. And that heart, MY heart, has a heck of a lot of jumping jacks and push-ups to do if you know what I mean! It’s not in great shape, and yet still God approves of me.
Today my prayer is that I can continue to take back that trust, lay it in the loving hands of God, and Let It BE!
Actually letting it be and ACCEPTING that He does truly loves me, flaws and all.
Daily Creative Quiet Time
Here I go! All through 2022 I’ll be sharing my daily creative quiet time routine for stress management. I’ll shoot for 10-minutes a day (at least) creating anything I please using one or more of the materials listed down below. Some days I’ll be progressing through a pet portrait commission, or an Online Animal Art Masterclass tutorial, or a Youtube tutorial, or a random idea I need to get down on paper.
The other huge and vital part of my creative process involves spending time in the presence of God and meditating on His word. Most day’s I’ll be pulling straight from the YouVersion bible app, or from one of Rick Warren’s bible teachings, or a scripture verse I found and want to unpack.
Most Used Materials:
