You Are A Delight

"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” – Psalm 149:4 (NIV)

This past weekend was a weekend of delight. I’m writing this while on the plane flying home, and my mind is full of thoughts of the last few hours and days. Over the last three years, our family has been pulled to New York City for business, media and promotion for our television show and has been left with very little personal time. However, this trip was much different. This was all about having fun, enjoying our lives and being very girly. We went to Alice’s Tea Cup and had four different kinds of tea, sandwiches, scones and chocolate mousse, all served to us on mismatched china. We bought a beautiful flower at a flower stand on the sidewalk and did lots of window-shopping (ok, we did a little real shopping, too, at Anthropologie). We saw the Lion King and marveled at the creativity of all the animal costumes, music and lighting. We had brunch at Serendipity 3, which included their famous frozen hot chocolate (don’t judge me until you try it!). Then we went back to the hotel where Korie arranged for all of us to have our hair and make-up done. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, a girl will always be excited about getting her hair and make-up done. We all put on pretty dresses and were whisked away in a chariot (well, a large black van – but still) to go see our sweet Sadie walk the runway for her Sherri Hill prom dress line. To finish off the weekend, we celebrated at John’s Pizza with pies for all and even a birthday cake from the famous Carlos’ Bakery (Sadie’s favorite) for Mia and Bella, whose birthdays are four days apart. You might not believe this, but by the time we finished singing Happy Birthday to the girls, the entire restaurant had joined in, singing in harmony! I understand that the pizzeria is right in the middle of Broadway, but get real! It sounded like all the actors were there eating pizza last night! It was truly magical and a delight for all of us girls.

Sitting here on the plane now, relishing in the memories, I find myself smiling while I’m writing this. We enjoyed just being girls together, oohing and aahing over each other’s dresses and doing lots of laughing. What a delight for me to be able to enjoy all of this with my daughter, nieces, sister-in-law and her mom and grandmother, who have known me my entire life. Our ages range from twelve to 84, and we all delighted in each other!

Do you know that our Father in heaven feels the same way about us? He delights in us. We bring him joy! He created us and wants a relationship with us. Genesis 5:2 says, “He created them male and female and blessed them.” Girls are unique from boys in our femininity, desires, wishes and dreams. Oh, how our men would have loathed participating in these things with us this weekend. Can you imagine Jase and Willie sipping tea at Alice’s Tea Cup?! But even as girls, we enjoy different things. Some of us love to drink out of china cups while some of us like to drive Harley’s. We are all uniquely created after Eve. God looked at Adam and decided that he should not be alone. He knew that Adam was not enough for this world. He knew that women were vital to His plan to replenish the earth. He knew that women would bring a caring touch and would show love much differently than men. He also made Eve to be beautiful.

Beauty does not come from things. Beauty is not something you can put on. Sure, things can make us feel beautiful for a while, and people may compliment us on looking beautiful in our new dress or new hairstyle. But true beauty radiates from the inside. True beauty is how you treat people. True beauty is showing gratitude for your blessings. True beauty is being humble when the world is telling you to promote yourself and your personal agenda. True beauty is being kind to those who do not deserve it. True beauty cannot be contained.

When the Sherri Hill models walked out on the runway, they were all young and beautiful on the outside. Gorgeous, actually! Being professional models, they are taught not to smile. But when Sadie hit the stage, she radiated! She was just as beautiful on the outside as any one of those girls (or more in my personal opinion), but she couldn’t help but smile. And that’s what did it. She glowed with an inner beauty that couldn’t be contained. She has that same glow when she is wearing no make-up, has a pimple on her forehead and is wearing sweatpants. You know why? Because she gets it. Even at her young age, she understands the love that her Father has for her, and her life demonstrates that humility and gratitude.

Do you know how beautiful you are? God created you unique, completely different from anyone else. And he also created you as a woman. A beautiful woman! Much different from a man. When you understand how special you are to your Father, you will become prettier and more beautiful every single day to those around you AND to yourself. No matter your past or pain or bad choices or heartaches, God loves you just the same, and He will never stop. Push past your shame, and ignore the voice of Satan who says you are not worthy. You ARE worthy. You are worthy because of Jesus’s love and sacrifice for you. Romans 13:14 says “Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ”. You can start a road to a brand-new-beautiful now by putting on Christ as your beautiful clothing. If you do, you will not be able to contain your beauty. People around you will start looking at you in a very different way. They may even ask you what is different about you. And you can say with confidence, “I am beautiful, and the Lord delights in me.”

Have a delightful week!