Style!

I've been thinking a lot about "style" lately.  I suppose that is what happens when you put yourself and your blog "out there," and join Circle of Mom's search for the "Top 25 Moms with Style."  You look at all the talented and lovely mothers you are competing with, and you start offering cookies for votes.  You harass your family via text messages:  "Hey!  Vote for me!"  You email your friends:  "Hey!  Vote for me!"  You contemplate those fine lines starting to develop around your eyes, and wonder, "Am I stylish...or do I just look plain ol' tired?"  (I know you can see those lines, people!)

You take inventory of your closet and consider donating those well-worn jeans you've had for ten years to a local charitable organization.  You wonder about jeggings.  You wonder about your knobby knees and your chicken legs in those jeggings, and figure you'd better stick with the faded, ten-year-old jeans after all.  You try to accessorize more.  

You think about style, and you start to realize a few things...

My beloved and trusty friend, the "Merriam-Webster Dictionary," offers more than one definition for the word, "style."  The first is clearly stated: "the prevalent fashion."  Pretty obvious, right?  But, what if--for a moment (and for the sake of this post)--we put aside the clothes, the shoes, the "trends," and skim a couple of lines down from that definition.  Do you know what we will find in my trusty Webster?  This little gem of a definition of style:  "one whose appearance is distinctive."

I love that!  One whose appearance is distinctive.  Or, one whose look is unique.  Original.  One-of-a-kind.  Novel.  Different. 

By that definition, don't we all have style? 

We're all different.  Not one of us looks exactly like another.  And isn't that wonderful?!  I sincerely believe those distinctions make each of us interesting and special.  We are extraordinarily diverse.  We're individuals.  We are important.  We're exquisitely unique.  We are irreplaceable.  We are worth so much more than we can comprehend, whether we wear jeggings or not.  Sometimes, we get caught up in "fine lines" and trends and noses shaped like butternut squash (yes, mine), that we fail to see how divine we really are.  We forget to stop, reflect, and step outside ourselves for a small moment in an effort to really see ourselves.  We forget to try to see ourselves through God's eyes, as He must see us.

But what happens when we remember?  What happens when we remember to try to see as He does?

We see how beautiful, beautiful, beautiful we truly are!

Now that's style.