Pretty ain't so Pretty!

I often wonder why girls and young women go through life focusing so much on exterior beauty ignoring their inner beauty. They look in the mirror thinking, “I wish I was prettier.”

I have never been a girl with stunning beauty nor have I been a plain Jane. I have just been pretty. In fact every challenge I have come against, people have said, “Well at least you are pretty” as though pretty got me privilege. I realized that focusing primarily on surface level is pointless. It is deceitful, creates false expectations and upsets priorities.

There is a dark side to pretty.

As a little girl, pretty got me preference but preference isn’t so precious when you are preferred by predators. Gazing at you, hovering around you like a vulture waiting to seize the perfect opportunity to devour you. Pretty made me prey.

As a pre-teen pretty came along with harassment and threats. If I spoke to a boy, girls would threaten me and call me all sorts of vulgarities even though they were unmerited. Pretty took my pure intentions of friendship and turned them into paranoia. Pretty made me prisoner.

When I gave up the only thing I ever had that made me feel of great value to a boy that told me he loved me and called me pretty, as soon as I told him I was pregnant, he found someone prettier. Pretty didn’t keep him around. The priceless gift that I gave was pitched in the trash never to be seen again. Pretty wasn’t so priceless.

As an adult, if I got a promotion, people assumed it was because I was pretty; not because I gave 110%, not because if they asked for eight hours, I gave ten; not because I worked with good cheer and an attitude of gratitude. No, it was because I was pretty. Pretty got me prejudice.

As a single mom looking for a complete family, a husband to call my own and a father figure for my children; pretty attracted those who wanted a taste of pretty. To get what they wanted but as soon as they seen that pretty came with a package of three kids, Pretty was too much pressure.

Pretty has made me too plain for the polished and too polished for the plain. I never feel welcomed by either, no matter how hard I tried to blend in, I felt like a pretender.

So before you prefer pretty, remember that pretty brings a whole lot of problems!


“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30


“Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3-4

© Copyrights – All rights reserved

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Fall 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Securing your cargo

Security - The state or feeling of being safe and protected against loss, attack, or harm; the assurance that something of value will not be taken away.

Isn’t it funny how an attack can make you more aware and alert? It makes you want to be more protective of the unborn baby that you're carrying, providing nourishment and keeping safe so that it will be healthy and vibrant when it is born.

You may be working hard on the purpose that God has called you to do and just like a pregnant woman, you can become frustrated when it isn’t moving as fast as you would like. You find yourself anxious, overwhelmed and restless. It seems like you have been waiting for so long.

Then out of nowhere you are attacked or robbed and it makes you realize how much God and the enemy is moving in the midst of the discouragement. God kept it in place for a reason. The time wasn’t right as the baby is still growing and is vulnerable and needs more security and protection.

My blog was recently hacked into by someone all the way from Vietnam. I was shocked because I thought I had a pretty strong security. When you are working hard on making something come to fruition and you are attacked, that just further validates your mission. A bank robber typically doesn’t rob a bank with an empty vault, just as Satan doesn’t attack a ministry that doesn’t have the ability to spread the gospel to the masses in a society where sex sells. I find it disturbing that pornography, relationship advice and celebrity gossip sites get 20 million times the webhits than the ministry so naturally it can be very frustrating but to know that the blog was hacked by the same target that I am battling really put things in perspective.

My cargo is precious and I must carry it full term to keep it safe from harm.

Although this was a small inconvenience to me, the attack actually made me stronger. It has made me take a deep breath and wait on God to let me know when this baby is ready to see the world. This isn’t my ministry, it’s His ministry. God knows that I have more things to get in order so He will help mold me and shape me into the mother that He needs me to be to this ministry and until then I need to be patient and be on guard against attacks. I expect a lot of pain in birthing this child, but the miracle that it will produce in the end will make me forget all about the waiting and pain and focus on the blessing.

Be careful who you seek to gain understanding or advice from such as those marketing themselves as advice experts.

I write for broken women like me to encourage them to seek answers through CHRIST, not advice.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” Hebrews 6:12


Be blessed this week!


© Copyrights, All rights reserved


Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25