what a tiny little stye can reveal...

It has been a strange past few days, and I have encountered an issue I never thought I would encounter.

I got a stye on my right eye over the weekend, and as much as I tried to ignore it on Saturday morning, by Saturday evening it was telling me, NO I AM HERE AND I AM GOING TO BOTHER YOU UNTIL YOU PRAY ME AWAY. Or at least, that's what I felt like it was telling me. (._. I'm not crazy, I promise...)

So since then, I have been wearing my thick thick thick (I'm practically blind) black-rimmed glasses and abstaining from eyeliner, which surprisingly has made me more self-conscious than I would have ever expected. It was kind of nice at first to be able to rest my eyes, since my contacts were drying out faster than usual and I could just nap without having to worry about whether I would damage my eyes from falling asleep with my contacts in. But then, my skin started to break out like crazy over the last 36 hours and today I kept feeling like in addition to looking tired, I also looked (currently look) super disheveled and unkempt and...rather un-pretty.

Which is STRANGE, because I tend not to worry about things like this, but man. God is teaching me a lesson at an unexpected (but not unwelcome!) time.

I am reminded that my worth is not determined by outward appearances, that I can still be used even when I am not looking my best — praise God that true beauty is found in faith and character!

1 Peter 3:3-5a: Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.

Proverbs 31:30: Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.