Pearls & Tunes Vol 8.

{Via}

If I try and be honest with you, I will tell you that I hit a big low with blogging last night. 

I felt ready to forget the whole thing, to close my blog and never look back, for many reasons.

Feelings of inadequacy mainly, of not being an inspiration to others because I'm not an awesome mommy, open about marriage, great at DIY, sharing home decor tips that rock everyone's world. 

I'm never going to be that blogger who starts trends in the fashion world or has thousands of followers. 

Or even one that feels as though she fits in a lot of the time. 

Most of the time, I don't. 

I appreciate feminine mystique, of keeping things to myself at times. I'm not one to be a completely open book because I seek to encourage and uplift others. And honestly hearing people complain is never helpful to me, so I try never to do that on here.

And true enough to the quote by Theodore Roosevelt, comparing myself with others, which is what I have been doing.....has robbed me of joy.

Joy in my identity.

Joy in Christ.

Joy about the plans He has for my specific life.

Not anyone else's. 

And it hit me yesterday just how careful I need to be.

Because if I continue with a habit of comparison, I will breed something else.

Jealousy.

{via}

How easy it is to see someone else's life or even blog and think it is so much better than your own.

How easy a little bit of comparison in number of followers or fashion can lead to jealousy. 

And jealousy, is plain ugly.

Appearances are also so misleading, as I saw so clearly from the Influence Conference.

That girl that looks amazing in her sock bun, skinny jeans and chambray shirt....is probably just as insecure as you. She doesn't feel she has it all together, even though it may seem that way to you.

A lot of times we are each going through things that we don't share with others,

things that would reveal just how imperfect each of our lives are, no matter what they look like online. 

So while typing out a post that I will probably never publish about my feelings last night. 

The words to an old familiar hymn came to mind.

'Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.'

{Words & Music: Hel­en H. Lem­mel, 1922} 

And I realised that I had lost sight of what was important.
I had taken my eyes off of my king, to look at what He had given to me and compared it to what He had given to others.

 Song Lyrics: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Old Hymn

And I hope it won't happen again.

But I'm thankful to have been thrown into the open waiting arms of my Savior. 

And reassured that even if I never am like anyone else.

That is ok.

Embrace being different. 

{Via}

Trust the one that has perfect plans for you!

Much Love,

L

Long Sleeved Ruffle Top: Old Navy

Layered Cami: Old Navy

Hairband: Old Navy

Skinny Jeans: Aeropostale

Boots: Old Navy

Owl Necklace: Claires

Earrings: Kassie Rew

A day of Reflection.

At the beginning of this series, I mentioned how Fall was hard for me.

How I felt in a funk about saying goodbye to Summer.

Honestly, being thankful and seeing the Lord's goodness has been helping me tremendously overcome my little pity party.

Because that's what it was.

Ugly self-pity. 

There are a lot of things I really loved about the Influence Conference, and many things which did not go as expected.

And that's ok.

God met me there in my shattered hopes, overwhelmed feelings (ever been in a place with 200 people you've never met before) and blessed me beyond what I could have imagined in meeting some incredible women who want to make more of Jesus online.

I went back and forth several times on whether or not to attend.

And to be honest I will probably do the same if Lord willing I consider attending next year.

Today was a beautiful day of sitting and processing.

I will probably need so many more of those in order to even scratch the surface of everything I felt the Lord was trying to teach me through the conference.

How many ways He has been trying to tell me things.

There are several big projects which I have been dreaming of for a while which thanks to several encouraging bloggers, I am now thinking of pursuing.

I am so excited to share those with you beautiful sisters and have you be a part of those.

So today I am:

Thankful//for space to hear from the Lord.

Thankful//for dreams which others do not consider silly.

Thankful//for people who encourage me to pursue dreams.

Thankful//for the peace that comes from listening to the Lord.

I am excited to see what this series becomes a springboard for in the future.

I have considered how this has given me a different purpose for blogging and how I may just continue with this theme of thankfulness for longer.

I would love to hear your thoughts on that.

Would you like a link-up on the last day of October to share this walk through Thankfulness? Or what this topic means to you?

One of my goals after the conference is to continue working on building community on this space here. So I will make more of an effort to reply to your comments once again.

Should I not be able to do so, I may turn them off for a season.

Please be gracious to me as I can't always reply.

(As I have added to my comment box, you can find me on twitter @GloriousWithin

and email me:

allgloriouswithinblog@gmail.com)

For those I make a priority to reply.

Much Love,

L

[Letters on the Power of Words: Part 4] The Heart of the Issue.

Dearest Little L,

I'm so glad you are at least reading these letters and continue to wish that you knew their content years beforehand. This is the last letter I will be writing to you girl on the topic of the power of words. You can find the others HERE, HERE & HERE.

I have probably saved the most important issue for this last one as it deals with the root of the issue around your words.

Ever been sitting having a conversation with someone and before you have a chance to think, you say something you wish you hadn't. That inappropriate comment which was just a thought in your head is suddenly out in the open. You've said something you didn't really mean and now you can't take it back. 

Ever been in the middle of an argument and in the heat of the moment you've said something you promised yourself you would never bring up again. You've said things in anger to try and hurt the person in front of you, whom you love dearly.  

Your speech reflects your heart about a topic, girl. As a person talks you can hear in their tone, actions, facial expressions and words how they truly feel about something or someone.

'When you examine your words, you'll discover your heart.'

~ C.J. Mahaney, Humility

While reading his book, Humility, it stuck with me the fact that destructive words tend to reveal pride within a person. Your words show how you feel towards an issue or person and reveal more than perhaps you would want revealed.
Do you tear someone down because you think you are better or wiser that them? Are you jealous of them for whatever reason? 


Edifying words show evidence that a person has been truly changed by the Gospel and has a deep relationship with Jesus.

'Only the humble are genuinely concerned about edifying and encouraging others.'

~ C.J. Mahaney 

What a challenging thought, right girl? The opposite of humility is pride. So if you aren't seeking to encourage others, which would be clear from your words....maybe its because your heart is full of pride or selfishness (self-focus). Are you seeking what others need because you are self-righteous? Do you genuinely want to help them or do you just want to be liked and needed by them? Do you consider yourself better than someone else?

Your words reveal a lot about your heart.

We may be able to hide behind a mask of doing all the right things in life like Emily Freeman talks about in her book, Grace for the Good girl. But our words can give us away.....Even if we never slip in front of others and our words are never spoken out loud, our thoughts can tell us a lot about ourselves.

In the near future Little L, you will do a study on Proverbs and the many times it mentions the connections between the tongue and the heart. 

What you learn will be so valuable.

'One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.'

~ Proverbs 17:20

'Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.'

~ Jeremiah 9:8

'Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope...'

~ Acts 2:26  

Being careful with our words is so important and as these verses show, we can start change by examining our hearts. 

All is possible through Christ who gives us strength girl! 
You can't do it alone.


Much Love,

An Older L