Foreword: When I decided to do the Race, plenty of well meaning individuals handed me their opinions on how well I’d do or if I was suitable for this at all. As those words piled up, I didn’t have anywhere to put them other than my own brain. When I began to lay them at the Father’s feet he breathed life and truth into lies I had believed. I’ve finally managed to get my thoughts typed out and I’m excited to share this moment in my journey with you! Here we go.
1. You must be wearing this much makeup because you’re insecure.
Here’s the first myth I’d like to debunk; Makeup is not an instantaneous sign that a woman is unhappy with the way she looks without makeup. The only thing makeup means is that the wearer has decided to embellish their God-given features. There are indeed plenty of men and women that dislike their physical appearance. Some people choose to use makeup out of insecurity. I love wearing crazy lipstick colors or glittery eyeshadow and that has nothing to do with a lack of self love.
The Lord made me beautifully – he also made me with creativity! I just prefer to express that creativity through what I put on my face.
2. You’re too girly to be tough enough for this kind of travel.
Actually I’m just the right amount of girly for this. For anything, really! However my girly self doesn’t negate how tough the Lord built me. Instead it forms a very unique individual with duality and giftings of all kinds. One of my favorite memories on the Race was unclogging a poop filled toilet (with my hand) in Chile while singing Taylor Swift songs! If that doesn’t summarize my abilities then I don’t know what will.
3. When I saw your *insert any social media page* I thought you weren’t going to do well on the World Race.
I’ll be the first to admit that my Instagram does not look like real life. It’s ideal, full of my best moments and nowhere near reality. I’m not really sure why or where the myth originated that a person cannot have fun with clothes, makeup and modeling while still being fully capable of other things. Within our society we make a lot of snap judgements about other people. We see a girl’s social media and assume that this is all there is to know about her. As if an entire human soul can be captured within a URL. Instead of looking beyond what he or she chooses to post, we find it easier to write them off as self centered and vain. Other times we don’t even pay attention because their social media isn’t entertaining enough. The purpose of this blog isn’t to shame anyone with these thoughts – believe me, I’ve had plenty of my own. It’s to send out an encouragement to the girls with stacks of eyeshadow palettes and dozens of eyebrow products. You can be beautiful and brave. One does not discount the other. If you’re afraid to be both of those things for fear of being too much; you will be. For some people, you will be too much. The beautiful fact is that you can never be too much for the Lord. He’s calling you to be everything he has created you to be. So get out there and be it! Pursue Jesus’ heart with all that you’ve got and each day those opinions will lose their weight. Go on a crazy backpacking mission trip around the world. Get that college degree. Disciple that young woman in your youth group. Join a flippin’ community theatre if that’s what it takes! Just get out into this big world and be all that he has called you to be. All that you are and everything you will become.
