It’s all in the eyes

          One night my cousins and I got together we began arduously searching through all their movies and none seemed to satisfy our current mood (mind you it was five girls trying to figure out what to watch, THAT is always a mission jeje!). We found nothing that caught our attention, so we began to flip through the channels, one show after another and yet we seemed to find nothing. Boy was it getting interesting… After quite the search we stumbled upon a show called “The Price of Beauty by Jessica Simpson”… hmmm now that sounded interesting! We watched as Jessica visited France and submerged herself in French culture trying to discover what beauty meant to French women. The episode ended and then came the Philippines. We watched intrigued at what beauty meant for each country and how drastically different each countries beauty standards were. (Might I add, we all loved the show; it was interesting and exploratory) So we all began to watch the season, we all wanted to know what beauty meant to each country, there was; Uganda, USA, Japan, France, Brazil, Philippines and Morocco. All were intriguing BUT Morocco’s definition of beauty was one of my favourites because it had so much meaning! Beauty for Moroccan women (& men I guess) was all in the eyes, they said they covered up and what you saw was their eyes.

Hmmm… I thought how so, why just the eyes? Then I remembered a quote “the eyes are the window to our soul”. Eyes have a huge significance! I once was told by a guy friend, you’re smiling but your eyes aren’t. I thought that was the most intriguing thing (of course until after, at the moment I wasn’t too pleased); you see your eyes reflect what you are or are feeling deep inside, there is something about the eyes, if you’re sad they show it, if you’re happy they do also. I once watched “America’s Top Model” and one thing I heard the camera people repeated over and over again was smile with your eyes. It’s all about the eyes… interesting*… Oh yes, & I sort of paid much attention to one thing… I noticed (on public transit) that when a guy wanted a girl to notice him; his mission was to get her to look at him, to catch her eye. If she was not interested she simply did not look at him, she looked at everything else but him (it was a few that I saw loll… use your life for good n’est pas?). If he did catch her eye then he’d conquered part of his mission.

There is a story in the bible about two sisters named; Rachel and Leah. The bible goes on to describe that Rachel was beautiful BUT it stops at Leah and all it mentions is her eyes, Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance. Genesis 29:17. There was something in Leah’s eyes that Rachel did not have.

The perception of beauty in North America is far off & very different to that in Morocco. While in Morocco it’s about covering up and letting your eyes do the talking, in N.A .it’s all about being exposed and letting all eyes be on you. Now I am not saying you have to cover up. However there is one saying I hear often “why is he looking at me like that, why can’t he look at my eyes or into my eyes”. Women want to fall with a man who gazes into her eyes and will tell her he loves her… but is it possible when your bringing so much attention to other areas?.. The question here is what are you emphasizing?

That’s where modesty kicks in! I was once talking to a group of my close female cousins and friends about how our faces really count, because young men when they meet us will go by whom we are and how pretty our face is jejeje! They look at our faces and not all else because we are dressing modestly, making the focal point our faces… our eyes… You see modesty promotes you being looked at exactly for whom you are; personality and character. Not at what you have to offer. The young man who will love you will fall in love with the ~WHO~ you really are as a person and with those eyes, as Jacob did end up falling in love with Leah and spent eternity with her! (from the book Cheated- DO READ!!)

The last story I’d like to tell you… so you may see how important modesty is; about one of my young aunts. She mentioned she had been discussing modesty with some female colleagues at work but she said she wanted to investigate further; she wanted to know what the men thought about modesty, so she went to ask one of her friends at the office. When she asked him he mentioned to her these words “you think you’re not attractive the way you dress, you are, men wonder what you look like, good gifts come well wrapped”. I mean his words aren’t the easiest to soak in, a bit blunt much!!!! BUT they have a great truth! Modesty is beautiful, not ugly! It makes you stand out in a crowd and shine with great difference. As he said, which is true... GOOD gifts come well wrapped!! Something worth keeping is beautifully kept and packaged!

In essence… Beauty is in the EYE of the beholder, beauty is not about what your showing and what you have to offer, it’s about YOU, who you are inside. With age we all change and the beauty of youth leaves us, but who we are inside & those eyes you have stay with you forever. In youth Modesty makes you shine in a different light and makes you stand out in a greater way, not just for men alone but for our God, who loves us even more!!

30x30 Challenge!

DO YOU DARE?... :)

How to take the 30 for 30 challenge:

1. Take 30 items in your closet.
2. Make 30 outfits.

If you'd like, give up shopping for the duration of the challenge. Then take that money you've saved and take a bath in it. Or put it in a savings account, whatever you think is the more responsible choice.

_______________________________________________________________________________

My 30 for 30 Story

In December 2009 I started a style blog to document my daily style journey. By April 2010, I’d run out of funds and had lost the original intent of my blog: to remix the contents of my closet. I introduced myself to the idea of remixing by coming up with the 30 for 30 Remix Challenge (You can read my original post here.). "30 for 30" simply meant that I would take 30 items and remix only those items into 30, (hopefully) stylish outfits.

The whole point of the remix is to show myself and readers that with a little bit of creativity, you can make what you have work for you.
Interested in joining in? If you don’t have 30 items in your closet, no problem. The best part of remixing is working with what you’ve got. If you’ve got it, let’s remix it. If you have more than 30 items, pick the items that make sense for this remix. This is a challenge to help you learn to shop your closet and to shop smartly. By being well-versed in what you already have, you will become a better shopper. No worries about getting the challenge "just right" -- you cannot mess this up. (Unless you accidentally set fire to all of your clothes, then I don't know. That might be messing it up.)
If you decide to not shop during the challenge, I applaud your efforts. Two reasons I decide not to shop during the challenge: 1) so I learn to shop my own closet and 2) so I actually appreciate said-closet. So many times I've run out and bought a new dress for one event or I bought something because I felt lacking and not what was in my closet. Obviously, this is not the best solution to a problem. I have found that when I limit myself with shopping, with 30 items, I become so much more aware of what I have versus what I need. By the end of the 30 days, I am ready to shop, but with new eyes of what I really need.

This challenge can be taken at any time. I tend to take on the 30 for 30 challenges to reset my brain or to shake up my closet.

Reference:

Challege- http://www.kendieveryday.com/p/30-for-30-remixes.html
Outfit- http://julesnoemi.polyvore.com/

Greenery :)!

The Unseen

By Julie Noemi Benitez
It is said that not forgiving someone, being jealous, bitter, mad, etc... Against someone is like You drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
These negative things kill slowly and ruin all that is good within you!
The problem with such emotions is that, they can creep on you without you even being aware; they are the things we ourselves don't see sometimes. Maybe that’s why King David prayed

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. ~Psalms 139: 23&24"

David realized that there where things in him that where unknown to him and where dangerous for his spiritual life. Things he could not see, others could not see, ONLY God!!
I get it... Sometimes, people do things which make us justify these emotions, thoughts or actions... Unfortunately they cannot be justified...
An admirable friend once told me as we talked on and on about her testimony, that there came a point in her life where she didn't care about anyone, she was hurt, she wasn't going to forgive, after all she was hurt and it was her right, But someone told her..

Who do you think you are to not have mercy? Do you think you are more than God not to forgive?

Firstly, I’d like to say I am happy that she chose to have mercy & chose to forgive and now she is serving God greatly.
But think about those powerful words... who do you think you are? ...It’s true, who do we think we are, God forgave our sins, He died for us, willingly He forgave us. Isaiah 53:7 says;

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

MERCY & LOVE overwhelmed Him, that He went to die for sins He did not deserve. Later on in the chapter in verse 10 it says "it pleased the LORD” to do this great sacrifice to bare something He did not deserve.
I understand it’s not easy to forgive something or someone, but you see love and mercy belong to Him and if you ask Him, He will surely give it. Proof?...

In Daniel 9:9 it says; “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness” & in Matthew 7:7 it says; “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you”.

His LOVE & MERCY does not stop there for God knew it would be hard for us even if it was available to us; Matthew 26: 16 says; “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” & in Luke; “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (18:27)
All we need to do is have a humble heart and ask God for help. David did so in Psalms 51 (my fave!) He said:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7)

We need to pray like this, we need to ask God to come in and clean, to purify our being.
God said “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” Ephesians 4:31.
God has sent us to Love each other & to forgive each other, to not let bad things eat at us and destroy us, because in the end if we choose to live with these unseen death sentences we are hurting ourselves while the other person lives on in peace.
In an article from familydoctor.org it stated this: "Your body responds to the way you think, feel and act. This is often called the “mind/body connection.” When you are stressed, anxious or upset, your body tries to tell you that something isn’t right. For example, high blood pressure or a stomach ulcer might develop after a particularly stressful event, such as the death of a loved one. ...Poor emotional health can weaken your body's immune system, making you more likely to get colds and other infections during emotionally difficult times. Also, when you are feeling stressed, anxious or upset, you may not take care of your health as well as you should. You may not feel like exercising, eating nutritious foods or taking medicine that your doctor prescribes. Abuse of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs may also be a sign of poor emotional health".
Scientifically/biologically we can see how we are affected now imagine spiritually.
For one if you are a Christian and you do not love or forgive your brethren than it is as though you do not love God or worse you can lose your salvation:
Galatians 5:19-21 says; "If anyone says, Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God".
To end off I'd like to share two more verses:
"But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:15)
&
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44)
God has sent us to forgive and love those who have hurt us!
So you see, we must let go of all that may be affecting us that is unseen before everyone else & at the very same we must pray and ask God to look at our hearts and clean all that is unseen by us.
Live a life of joy and happiness and let what others do not affect you.
…
Once someone said: Drench yourself in oil (metaphorically speaking) so that all the offenses that are thrown at you slip off… OR think of the ever famous one… Get Crocodile Skin!
I hope this may speak to your heart as it did to mine, Keep working hard towards our final mark which is Jesus!
God Bless You Tons!!
Ps. Thank you to all those who have inspired me and have taught me to strive to know more and learn more in God & those whose testimonies, story, & words of encouragement helped put this together!

Reference:

Familydoctor.org - http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/prevention-wellness/emotional-wellbeing/mental-health/mind-body-connection-how-your-emotions-affect-your-health.html

New King James Version Bible – www.biblegateway.com

Letter from a Mother to a Daughter:

I love this poem its super sweet!

"My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”… Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep. When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl? When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way… remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day… the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you. And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad… just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you… my darling daughter."

Relaxation!

Always take a moment in your day for yourself, relax with any of your favourite hobbies :)