All growing up my father would seize the moment to say to his three daughters individually with endearing eyes, on many occasions, "you're beautiful!" In the beginning, my mind would race trying to assess what he could possibly see and as I struggled to receive a compliment, he smiled and continued, "on the outside too!" This became a regular phrase (which he still says to this day), to the point I must admit in my teenage years that I would smile and sigh my "yeah yeah yeah" -- but I realize today that it was in these loving father-daughter exchanges that my dad established a priority in my life that caused me to think less of what was on the outside and more of what was on the inside -- the "internal."
My dad wanted us to know the difference of what was truly important to God, as he embraced his God-given responsibility of affecting his daughters' lives for the kingdom. He wanted us to know that our mind and our heart were of utmost importance to our Creator and of a much greater value than any outward beauty. Dad, you already know this, but thanks to you and mom, God has captured my heart and I deeply love Him and desperately want to serve Him all of my days this side of heaven and for all of eternity in heaven after that! And I thought I'd take this moment to publicly thank you, along with mom, for pointing me to God as a priority in my life and teaching me to notice and care about the "internal."
My mom has already gone ahead and awaits us all in heaven. We just celebrated her 3rd "heaven day" on May 20th. I now know what it means to have been left a legacy because much of my mom is still living in me because she cared about my heart and taught me from a very young age what was most important in life! It was definitely not what was on the outside -- it was the "internal" things! I miss her dearly, but in many ways she still lives on because of all that she passed on in me!
By their lives they taught us to "guard our hearts, because out of the heart flows all the issues of life!" Prov 4:23 My parents knew if they could affect our heart and mind, that it would affect our lives -- and that we would live out our days on earth for Him!
God says in Galatians 2:6 that He "does not judge by outward appearance". And another time in I Samuel 16:7, when David was being chosen as king, He said "man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart!" God is looking inside of each one of us and He cares deeply about our "internal"! I want to hear Him say someday, "Debbie you are beautiful...............on the outside too!"
Internally His,
Debbie Harris
QUIET TIME AGAIN in SUMMER 10
www.shadowmountain.org
http://blogs.shadowmountain.org/women
PS Several of you have shared a frustration of not being able to get on the blog, and I fear it may have been my fault on the very first blog. I would like to invite all of you to try again and check out the blog at http://blogs.shadowmountain.org/women -- it is a great way to connect and share what God is showing you. We are all in different places, but giving testimony to God is always encouraging, no matter where you are in the book! Many of you comment to me on email and I love hearing what you share, but always wish that everyone could hear it too. That is the beauty of the blog -- so please check out the blog. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and type in the comment box and click "save comment" -- you don't have to worry about adding a photo unless you want to! See you on the blog!!