Have you ever thought about who we are?
That we are really souls living on earth in what one of my therapists calls "skin suits"? I have to admit I though she was a freak the first time she said it but then it really hit me. We are pretty much that. God created us to live on this earth. God has given each of us a soul and a body to live life in. The bible says we are created in His image. So many times I would sit in church and hear how we are temples of Holy Spirit, God living in us. I would hear about our souls longing for a relationship with our maker. But I never really connected the two...or maybe I did but dismissed it. Yet lately, this seems so much more real to me than ever before.

When we die, our spirit (soul) departs from us. What is left on the earth is an empty shell of who we once existed as. Yet that body isn't who we are. Who we are is on the inside! I've been thinking a lot about this lately for some reason. Especially as my grandmother's get older and having lost both my grandfather's in a part of my mind I keep thinking they are buried in the ground but only their bodies are. I believe both my grandfather's are in heaven and that is where they are.

So about me...
As I have been thinking about my life and how there is so much more to me than my outward appearance, I started to think about how I spend so many days fretting over my appearance, my weight, what I can eat, what I will allow myself to eat, what I can't eat, exercising (sometimes excessively) and clothes and what I have and don't have...IT'S INSANE!!!
Don't get me wrong it is important to take care of our bodies to be healthy, yet there is so much more to us. We are complex and unique! We are fearfully and wonderfully made! God really cares more about who I am on the inside than what I look like on the outside.
IT HITS ME...if I took more of that time that I spend working on my outside, to work on my inside, I would be a pretty amazing person. Not that I'm not already ;) but I do spend too much time on the things that really won't matter when my time is up on this earth! As I type this, I can hear my inner voice saying...yeah yeah, it all sounds good but can you really put it into action. Can you really stop focusing on the material side of you and focus on the inward you? Hopefully, with God's help...YES!!!

Aside from it being about me...
So since I have been trying to look at myself differently and asking God to show me who I am through His eyes, I am starting to see others a little differently. For example, I was sitting in a public restaurant the other day watching people. I love to analyze and people watch, it is one of my favorite things. Typically, when I am in a restaurant I watch what others are eating, counting their calories, sometimes I even judge other people (which is terrible). Yet on this particular day, I started looking at people as souls that God loves. Wondering if they have any clue as to why they are on this earth. Are they lonely? Are they happy? Are they hurting? Then I realized how mind boggling it all was, so many people just in this one restaurant and yet God sees each of their souls. Beyond their hair, makeup, style or lack there of. He sees into their hearts and he knows exactly what they are all thinking and feeling. Pretty amazing!

Just my thoughts for today...