You are beautiful.

Are you living in your full beauty?

I’ve been learning in this recent season that I don’t always “take up space” in this world. I can be shy and often feel like I am unworthy of being my whole self. Yup, this gal who posts all kinds of selfies on her Instagram still feels unworthy to be her whole self.

I’ve been reading Jess Connolly’s book “Breaking Free From Body Shame,” which is so good and rooted in the truth that God made you good - you do not have to “do” anything to be “good.” You can rest in the fact that you are good. Jess did some moving worship sessions for people who had pre-ordered the book, and she talked about taking up space as you move.

It was uncomfortable.

I was moving my arms in bigger circles.

My body was taking up the space around me where it rarely takes up space.

It was freeing.

We are made to be free.

For me, freedom means expressing myself with bold lipstick and big earrings.

For you, it could be wearing bike shorts or giving yourself permission to wear sneakers every day.

I love this excerpt from Noonday’s Founder Jessica Honnegge’s book “Imperfect Courage” 

Before this most recent ambassador trip to Uganda, Jalia had asked if the ambassadors could bring lipstick as a gift to her employees. “Now that I wear lipstick and care for my appearance, my employees want to do the same. They would love lipstick. Preferably red.”

So, one afternoon during our visit, we pulled out the hundreds of tubes of lipstick we had brought and had an all-out lipstick party. If you could flip through the photos in my album from that day, you would see a truly beautiful scene: confident women embracing one another warmly, with both familiarity and affection, all sporting bright red lips.

What was really happening in those photos, and what perhaps you could not see, was that there amid those big, bold lips, wounded women were standing together to say, “In our shared definition of beautiful, we have carved out room for us.”

Jalia, founder and owner of Ajuna Uganda, surrounded by her artisan makers.

How are you carving out room for you to step into your definition of beauty?

You don’t need accessories to be beautiful - a fir tree is beautiful simply how it was created. But when you dress it up with Christmas decorations, it is still beautiful.