Upgrade (Monday Motivation)

Originally Posted on FruitOfMyBranches.com

It’s been a “minute” since I’ve blogged. Sorry for the prolonged M.I.A. status! The last time I posted I shared details of my experience living out a vow of purity. It seems only fitting to pick up where I left off, especially since today is my anniversary. Yes, today marks 20 years since I promised to save myself for marriage. I’m going to be honest with you, at the moment that I’m writing this blog post, there are no potentials, no options, no crushes, no secret admirers (unless they’re REALLY good at keeping secrets), no hey-how-you-doings, no let-me-take-you-outs, no nothing…and, I’m okay with that (for real). So, how is it that I’m okay with celebrating 20 years of purity without an end in sight? Purpose.

I’ve been blessed enough to “stumble” across my purpose this year. I say “stumble,” but I know it was strategically revealed to me by my mastermind Father. I was completely oblivious to it, but turns out He was dropping hints for years. Thankfully, He picked this year to piece everything together for me. And, now that everything makes sense, I stand back and look at my purpose in awe, simply amazed that He chose me. My heart is overwhelmed with wonder and excitement at what I’ve been chosen to do. I am called to “pursue the rejected and love the broken” – two things I’ve been for years, rejected and broken, but now He’s healed me so I can help heal others. Wow! How beautiful is that? Tears are streaming from eyes as I write this….

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Hair And Makeup Artists And etc.

Koral Beauty

I am always on the lookout for fellow believers who are into beauty, hair care, healthy living and the like so I can share them on the blog. And I just so happen to stumble upon Koral Beauty on IG and wanted to share. Koral Beauty  is by two Ghanese beauties who live in Switzerland named Anaelle and Abigail.

If you are a fellow believer and would like to be featured whether it’s a video or picture please click the contact page to contact us. Thank You.

Good concealer for your tired under eyes and blemishes

© Alenaphoto

I usually stick with drugstore brands because I am on a budget so right now Maybelline is my go to. On rare occasions when I do purchase a high-end makeup, for instance my Bobbi Brown highlighting bronzer, it is because it’s something I can’t find anything similar to in the drugstore, it works extremely well and little goes a long way. So if they have all of those attributes then the price to me is worth it.

Balancing Beauty and Living a Virtuous Life

3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, 4but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.… 1 Peter 3:3-4 

Unless you are a single woman  who has never had an interest in the opposite sex and plan to stay that way forever (God Bless you because God has decided to keep you all to himself) all of us women have most likely at one point or another have gotten caught in up in beauty and vanity,  up to varying degrees. For others it may have nothing to do with your beauty but more to do with your achievements like the house you own, the car you drive, your college degree or your high paying job, etc.

van·i·ty

Excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.“it flattered his vanity to think I was in love with him”synonyms: conceit, narcissism, self-love, self-admiration, self-absorption, self-regard, egotism;

Because of past hurts and pains and even abuse, people are now turning more and more to self-love and self admiration. This is to fill in voids and try to heal wounds from the terrible things that people have said and or done to them. BUT this is also leading to more selfishness, self-centeredness and self-absorption. I am seeing  children being neglected  more than ever before because of their parents need to love themselves and focus on themselves vs their children. Children are just being left to themselves with many of them acting way older than they should. Loosing their innocence and using foul language that I myself wouldn’t even say. The cycle must stop and God’s love and healing needs to be allowed in to fill in those voids because everything else is just temporary.

NOW God is not against us having confidence and taking care of ourselves, looking nice and etc. For those of us who have husbands, the way we kept ourselves is one of the things that attracted them to us. My husband loves to tell about how classy I dressed being what stood out to him. And to this day he loves calling me the beautiful school teacher when I have on my fabulous glasses (they really are) and my hair is in a bun.  But the key here is balance. So when I read the above scripture, I don’t see it as Peter telling you not to look nice and that you cannot do up your hair and etc. (as some have used to justify why they don’t like Christianity). What I see him saying is that this should not be your first priority. That we should work and focus on the beauty of our spirit which is unfading. When we focus on that, even when our outer beauty fades away, we will still have the beauty of being a virtuous women glowing from the inside. The love we share with one another. Putting others first and living Christ like. That is what is precious is in God’s sight.