BeautyRevealed | The Blog of Melissa J. Dillon

“One generation shall praise Your works to another,
and shall declare Your mighty acts.”

- Psalm 145:4

“This romance is immensely personal… as if it has been scripted for your heart.”

- Stasi Eldredge

“A woman becomes beautiful when she knows she’s loved.

Cut off from love, rejected, no one pursuing her, something in a woman wilts like a flower no one waters anymore. She withers into resignation, duty, and shame. The radiance of her countenance goes out, as if a light has been turned off.

But this same woman, who everyone thought was rather plain and unengaging, becomes lovely and inviting when she is pursued. Her heart begins to come alive, come to the surface, and her countenance becomes radiant. We wonder, ‘Where has she been all these years? Why, she really is captivating.’

[There is a power in romance] releasing her true beauty, awakening her heart. She comes alive. As women we long to be loved in a certain way, a way unique to our femininity. We long for romance…

… This doesn’t need to wait for a man.

God longs to bring this into your life Himself. He wants to heal us through His love to become mature women who actually know Him. He wants us to experience verses like, ‘Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her’ (Hosea 2:14). And ‘You have stolen My heart, My sister, My bride’ (Song of Songs 4:9). Our hearts are desperate for this. What would it be like to experience for yourself that the truest thing about His heart toward yours is not disappointment or disapproval but deep, fiery, passionate love? This is, after all, what a woman was made for.

Faithful obedience to God is vital, but it is not all God draws us to. It is not sufficient for our healing, no more than doing laundry is sufficient for our marriage. And it will not be enough in the long run to carry us through. It is holy, fierce passion. Hearts afire. For the root of all holiness is Romance.”

- John and Stasi Eldredge
From the book “Captivating”

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.”

- Psalm 119:71

There is no longer any doubt in my mind that it is the Lord’s will for me to eat the bread of sorrow and affliction from time to time. (“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10) And there is no longer any doubt that it is the most loving thing He can do for me. It is hard… and at times I hate it, but I know now that there is no other way to bring me back to deeper intimacy with God, than to recognize my own helplessness and neediness for Him.

My friend Gari once told me: “Nothing can touch you that is not sifted through the wisdom of God.”

In each of our lives there is a “valley of the shadow of death”… and not just our literally death at the end of our lives, but death of self, death of expectations, death of the counterfeits that we have been depending on, death of dreams, death of our own pride and ability to do it on our own. Because His will is not for us to live comfortable, shallow and “fluffy” lives. When we have deep issues that need to be rooted out, His loving kindness refuses to let us stay that way. He doesn’t want pride or fear of man or unbelief to remain in us… He sees us with eyes that view our greatest potential. He desires for us walk through that painful valley of death, so we can find our life in Jesus Christ. When we come up on the other side after each valley, we are made more and more into the likeness of Christ. We are more refined because the impurities have been rising to the surface during our journey through the valley, and He has been lovingly skimming them off the top. And the hotter the fire… well, the more impurities seem to rise.

I have always hated the fire, but as time goes on, I am beginning to see the value in them as I come up on the other side. Understanding has been increased, more scales have fallen off my eyes, and I always come up leaning on the strong shoulder of my Beloved.

The one thing we must remember is that He does not leave us during the journey. Just because we are going through trials and tribulations, it does not mean that His blessing and favor and Presence has left us. No! The Lord is intimately involved in each and every step of our journey! His love and deep compassion never fails us. I wish so much that I had learned this truth much earlier in my life… oh, how much more bearable those trips through the valley would have been had I been abiding in His deep love for me. But our tendency is to fall into self-pity, or anger, and grit our teeth and try to do it on our own. The trial may end, but the lessons learned are few and far between because the seeds were falling onto the hard and rocky places of our heart. But when we see the value of the testing in our lives, we can soften our hearts and let the Lord be our comforter and teacher through the tears and the pain. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” When we believe this, then the seeds can fall on the soft and fertile ground of our hearts and begin to take root. When we come up on the other side of the valley, we can see the fruit… the beautiful fruit that has grown up in our hearts through the process of the journey. It is then that we can finally see the value of the Valley.

I can’t believe you’re four months old already, Ava Baby ! You have changed so much in the last month, I don’t quite know where to begin.

You gained quite a bit of weight this last month and you have chubby legs now! Love.them.soooooo.much!

We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow which will tell us your new weight and percentile. ***Update*** You now weigh 13 pounds, 15 ounces and you are in the 50th percentile!

You love to blow bubbles (raspberries). You work up spit in your mouth so you can blow it all over!

We sometimes think you look exactly like Daddy when he was a baby, and the next minute we’ll think you look just like Mommy.

You’ve begun to sleep through the night on some nights. Some nights we still feed you once.

You’ve been loving the sound of your voice. When you play, you like to yell and scream just for fun.

A lot of strangers stop to look at you, touch you, & and ooooh and ahhhh over you. You just smile.

You love to go down to the lake on hot summer days and put your feet and legs in the water to cool off.

You also like to lay in the grass and look up at the trees blowing in the breeze.

You are such a happy baby most of the time now. You smile so much!

You like to spend time out at Marmie and Papa’s cabin and at Uncle Jodie’s house, too.

You still like to be swaddled when you sleep. (Which is so hot this summer!)

You love to stand… you think you’re pretty BIG stuff now!

It’s hard to get pictures of you without your hands in your mouth. You luv to suck on your fingers!

You enjoy listening to Daddy play his new Ukelele.

Your new favorite song is “The Wheels on the Bus”… you especially love the beep, beep, beep part.

You had your first wood tick this last month… we had to bring you in to the Doctor to help us get part of it out. You did so good even though it hurt.

You love to sit up in your Bumbo seat. You sit on the counter by mommy as she does dishes and you blow bubbles and “talk”.

You giggle when we blow on your belly and tickle you. I love to hear you giggling… it makes my heart melt.

You love your bath time. You start smiling when we start running the water now.

Uncle Jamie talked with you on the phone yesterday and you smiled so big and listened intently the whole time!

We brush your hair straight after your bath, but when it’s humid outside, your hair curls up. It’s so cute.

You bring SO much joy to so many people, Baby Girl. You are dearly loved.

Here’s a picture of Ava and Uncle Kogi after her 4 month photo shoot. We are so lucky that he loves to take pictures of his favorite niece! These last pictures were done down at the beach by our house.

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…”

- George Gershwin

* all photos by the amazing Jodie Swan

Mom hosted a Summer Tea Party at the cabin this week complete with Chicken Pasta Salad, Scones with Devonshire Cream, Cucumber Sandwiches, and Chocolate-Covered Strawberries. It was heavenly! It was such a lovely time with friends and family.

“There aren’t enough days in the weekend.”

- Rod Schmidt

“The day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

-  Unknown

… to take life head on.

… to stop being so darn scared of what people might think.

… to let go of the past.

… to be at peace.

… to be who God intended for me to be.

… to live bravely.

… to strive for my full potential.

… to show my little girl what feminine strength looks like.

… to refuse to let my worth depend on the feedback of others.

… to enjoy life.

… to conquer my fears.

… to embrace grace.

… to grasp His love for me once and for all.

… to follow Him instead of the crowd.

… to cast off judgement.

… to refuse criticism.

… to shake the dust off my feet.

… to fight for what I want.

… to cling to truth.

… to answer the deep calling of my heart.

… to appreciate my uniqueness.

… to receive the beauty and blow away the ashes.

… to taste freedom.

… to no longer look back.

… to risk.

Here I go.