What Guys Like About Girls

Becoming Beautiful | Becoming Girls Conferences
Intern Bailey asked some Christian guys what they think about girls and beauty. What exactly do they look for? What makes us beautiful to them? How do we impress them? Check out what they said!
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Now what do YOU think?

A Different Kind of Fairytale

We all want a fairytale.
The hero, a damsel in distress, and a dragon to slay. There's the guy in the hall that helps a girl with her books, and there's the classic with Cinderella and her charming Prince desperately searching for her. 

With all these beautiful love stories being crammed into our hearts, we're left asking: Where's mine?

If you're anything like me, sometimes you find it hard to believe that you can even have a love story. In books and movies, it's too good to be true, and in real life, parents are divorcing left and right. It's easier to read the novels or watch the movies because it's better than reality.

I think this is our first mistake: filling our hearts with stories that make us feel like we're missing something. 


I know exactly what it feels like to long for that 'significant other' -trust me- but there is something that I've realized over the past couple months and it has completely changed my perception.

But before I start telling you about love and that it is possible, let me go on and tell you that there's this guy up in heaven who loves us to death. Literally. Jesus, God's Son, died on the cross for me and you because we did not meet the standard of perfection. He made us perfect by that sacrifice!


Now, there's a big difference between knowing that crazy stuff and actually believing it. Now, I can't make you understand, but God can, and I think once we can actually believe it, our hunger for an earthly love won't be so bright. Still there, but not controlling.

Love is kind of like faith. You can have works without faith, but not faith without works. Just like you can have an action without love, but not love without action, because if you sincerely love someone, you're going to DO things for them.

And if you sincerely believe in God's vast love for insignificant, little you, then, by golly, you're going to want to do everything you can for him -not to pay him back; no, we can't do that- but because you love him, and you understand that He so beautifully loves you.

Now, looking back at our little desire for a 'spousal equivalent'. Can I just say that we need to stop 'looking for love'? It doesn't sound right to me. Searching for something we know exists but are too impatient to let become beautiful. We need to stop flirting and focus on the One who showed us that love and is eventually going to bring us that love.



I'll try if you try. Deal? 

Love,
Bailey (The New Girl)




-How have you been searching for love in boys? 
-How can you, practically, put down the Boy Search radar and dig into God's love for you?

*Next week we'll continue talking about Princes & Knights, which one is better?

Samantha (Intern) and Her Prom Adventures

PROM! P is for Prom.

I went to Prom and had so much fun! I had a really awesome night, mostly thanks to my amazing man. I didn't know what to expect cause I'm not a very big dance person and neither is he but we rocked it. We were the best looking couple there ;) Well that's what i think anyways!

Here's how the day went:

11 a.m.-I showered, wanted to be all nice and squeaky clean

1: 30 p.m.- Makeup done by the amazing Crystal-Lee

3:30 p.m.- We had no idea what to do with my hair so we googled!

4:30 p.m.- Andrew and his momma arrived for pictures but I wasn't ready yet!!!! So they waited, and waited.

4:45 p.m- Dress was zipped, make up was flawless, hair was perfectly hairsprayed and curled.

4:50 p.m.- I opened the door, and this was what i saw!

Handsome... is he not?!

5 p.m.-Then came all the pictures. We took pictures for about an hour! Scroll down to see some of them =)

6 p.m.- We headed to Olive Garden to meet up with 3 other couples for dinner... it was so tasty!

8 p.m.- To Wilson Creek Winery where we danced the night away

It was such a sweet night full of friends, love, and good clean fun. Did any of you go to prom this year? 

Unstoppable Love on Valentines Day

Oh Valentines Day. 

What more can I say? It's a day where some of us feel comforted and loved, but for the other half, it's nothing but a hit to the head.

Flowers, chocolate, cliche love poems, the whole "Lady & The Tramp spaghetti" spiel, the list goes on and on. Now, these things might look great. These things might look like you need it, but honestly, girls, ask  yourself, Do these things define real love?

Compared to Jesus, it's a big fat no. 

Why base your focus on someone, even when God is with you always and will never leave you? 

Why get pulled into a "relationship" that is too hard for you to handle? 

Why waste your days heartbroken and in this vicious cycle? 

Why sit on your love for a temporary person when you can't even find yourself, or have a strong, true relationship with God? 

He's there to shape you into the person you are to become, and it is in him only where that feeling of emptiness is filled. 

There is a love greater than a love on here--an eternal love, and that is with the one and only Jesus Christ. What boyfriend would die for you, and die so that you can know our Father even more?

Mmmmhm. That's what we need to see. So, why do we focus on getting in relationships so early? It's not intended for US. Valentines Day holds a greater purpose: remember the love of God and loving those around you. 

There's a song that truly exemplifies that, and it's called "How He Loves" by John Marck McMillan. Over and over, there is this one line that truly states that He, God, loves you! 


You have Jesus and the most unconditional love from your healer, helper, friend, and creator. Don't you think that's even better than a silly day about a fake love? 

He is love and is the definiton of it; He is the very truth of love itself. 

Remember you girls are beautiful, powerful, and world changing. With God's love by our side, we are unstoppable. 

Love, 

Valentine Day or Singles Awareness Day?

Photo Credit

Oh Valentine's Day... or Singles Awareness Day. However you choose to look at it. 
Girls over think this holiday WAY to much. Here we are reading into everything he does or doesn't do, everything he does or doesn't say. But why, when in the end, we either end up disappointed or happy for a brief period of time?

VALUE...we want to feel valued, loved, cared for.


So often, we as girls put our value in what the world says or whether boys think our bodies are hot. But what the world offers is straight up TRASH and it does not go beyond the physical.


Look inside, listen to your heart crying out. It is telling you, "You deserve more than this. there IS more than this!" It may not be easy to understand and some us don't understand (or don't want to understand) because we like how the physical makes us feel. But take a step back and see it is destroying you. You will leave a trail of broken pieces of your precious PRECIOUS heart until there is nothing left, until you hit bottom.


S T O P!


Run! Run full speed into the arms of your heavenly father
he finds value in us in our everything.

In our weakness
In our greed
In our lust
In our pride
In our joy
In our contentment


WHY? It's not like we deserve it or He owes us. No, it's simply because He LOVES us. He finds VALUE in us. He created us as His children. He finds our value because that is just who He is. And that should be ENOUGH.


He is and always will be what we need!!
So don't be disappointed if you don't get a Valentine from that certain guy, because it doesn't matter. That high will only last for a short time BUT the love Chirst has for you will last forever, through all circumstances.


Love always <3

It's the Gospel: Love + Movement

 Think on this lovlies-

All we did was nothing and love still came...

What love? Jesus' love. God's love. 


How true is that?!!! While we were in our sin, consumed with ourselves and everything the world enticed us with, Christ put himself upon that cross and suffered so much pain FOR US.

So we would KNOW His love beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The days we are struggling with inadequacy, with feelings of lonliness, with those thoughts that nothing we will or can ever do is good enough REMEMBER that Christ loved us as the ugly, faithless, disgusting sinners that we WERE. We WERE...

But because of the love that came, we are seen as beautiful and pure daughters of God! We do not have to do anything ever... it was all paid in blood, an action that can never be revoked or taken away. 


He loved us then, He loves us now, and He will love us in the future no matter what happens.

Now GO! Let's move forward into the world and freely give love to others unconditionally because that is what was done for us.

1 John 4:17-18

"By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."

Until next time beautiful and redeemed girls <3

THAT Four Letter L- Word

Well hello there...fancy meeting you here! haha =)


*So life has been SO crazy the last couple of weeks and i'm exicted to be writing again! (and may i just say how exicted i am to be writing with Madi!)*

So... that word that floats around all throughout our lives- Love. 
What exactly is love? 
is it that funny feeling you get when he walks in the room? 
is it a profoundly tender or passionate affection for someone (thank you dictionary.com)? 
is it a desire to see that person for the rest of your life? 
to always have them there? 
i believe that these are all a part of relationships but not love. 
No no, it's much bigger than that. 

When i think about love and those people in my life that i know love me like Christ does, i see love defined as:
       -a commitment to someone through everything and anything
      - a willingness to lay yourself down in order to protect or encourage or uplift the other person
       -accepting them with their flaws and imperfections, and while not trying to "fix" those things, commiting to walk alongside them in those struggles
      - to chose to humble yourself in order for the betterment of another

I have the answer. This is love:


"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." {1 Corinthians 13:4-8}

I know everybody is familiar with this verse but have you ever wondered why the bible says it?

No, not so that there is somthing cute and fuzzy about love to be read at weddings but because there will be times in relationships when patience, kindness, forgiveness will be needed but may not want to be givien. this passage is a reminder of what TRUE self-less, sacrificial and christlike love looks like.

It is not love's job to make you happy, nor is your happiness up to another person. You decide whether or not you will be joyful and CONTENT in whatever circumstances come

Love is not a fleeting feeling, nor is it easy but worth whatever comes?... i would say MOST DEFINATELY so.

Until next time lovelies!

So, what exactly is L-o-v-e?

What do you think of when you think LOVE?

True Beauty

Who ever coined the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" was very wise, but sadly whose "eye" has been debated for centuries.

Webster defines beauty/beautiful as the following: generally pleasing, excellent aesthetic pleasure.

Our world defines beauty as something quite different. So I would ask this question....What does the world say beauty is?

Two years I searched for this answer.....You see here is some history about myself. I am 24 years old and have never had a boyfriend or been kissed for that matter. I have always been overweight and up until two year ago, hated the person I had become. I felt like the ugliest and least desirable person in the world.

I would ask people "When will I EVER have a boyfriend?" "When will I ever feel desired?" "Why do I not have a boyfriend?" And the constant answer, in some form or another was this...."Well Emily, guys are visual people, and if you lost weight and were pretty, you would have a boyfriend."

For years this plagued my soul. I was lost and sadly felt STUCK in the body I was given. I had no hope. I turned to the world to help me identify beauty. Everywhere I turned was another magazine telling me "how to lose weight," "how to get that guy," "beauty tips," and the list could go on and on. I would walk into the mall and see clothes, purses, makeup, and hairstyles that I could not afford, and leave feeling worse and worse.

I fell into a depressed life striving to meet the standards of the world's beauty.

What I realize now, is that I was looking in the wrong place. I felt like I was looking for clothes in the candy aisle and seeking answers from an infant! Clearly I was in the wrong place! So I decided to look into the place that truly matters, God's Word.

Two years ago, decided to write down every Bible verse that talked about beauty. What did God really mean when He talked about beauty, and where did I fit into this plan?

Sure, it is quite true that the Bible discusses beauty in the form of "outward appearance," but I was more surprised with the verses that discussed beauty in such an opposite way that I had ever thought.

Mark 14:6 is a perfect example. Jesus is anointed with oil from the woman with the alabaster jar. The people in the house are mad at this woman because she has "wasted" this perfume on Jesus, when she should have "sold it for money to give to the church." But I was in awe as to how Jesus responded to her. "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me." This woman's sacrifice was accounted as beautiful to Jesus! That means that my sacrifices for the Lord are seen as beautiful to Him!!!!

1 Peter 3:3-4 also spoke to me about where our beauty really should come from. "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." The writer is not saying that it is particularly bad to have the outward adornment, but that our true beauty should come from what our inner self, our spirit conveys. This inward beauty is also an unfading beauty. A beauty that never goes away! God finds GREAT WORTH in our gentle spirit, our kindness and our desire to serve Him.

After reading these verses and MANY more, I realized something

I AM BEAUTIFUL!!!

God created me beautiful! Sure, maybe God's way of conveying my beauty is not in the outward appearance, the nice clothes, perfect hair, perfect skin, and a thin body, but God did create me as His child whom He is well pleased. My Father, has created me to glorify Him, honor Him, and praise Him with my whole heart of hearts, and that is what he calls Beautiful.

So sure, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," but whose eye are you seeing yourself through?

Love,






~Emily Nickerson
The Skinny on Getting Thinny

I Really Like This Boy But...

Joshua Harris Answers a Question
| by Carolyn Mahaney

Taken from Girltalk.com

Also this past Sunday, our senior pastor, Joshua Harris preached a powerful message entitled, “What it Costs to Follow Christ,” derived from Luke 14:25-35. At one point during his sermon, he addressed a question he commonly receives: “Is my relationship with this non-Christian guy OK?” We’ve been asked this question as well, so we have transcribed his wise answer for you here:

“Because of the topics that I’ve taught on in the past and the books that I’ve written, there have been so many occasions when I have encountered young men and women who are in a relationship with a person that is not a believer in Jesus Christ. And this seems to be in particular young women who will come, and they’ll talk about their desire to live for Jesus and to give their life to Him. But there’s this guy in the picture. And there is a relationship that has been formed, and there are affections, and there is a growing love for this person. But this person is going in the opposite direction from their Savior. And they’re often confused, and they’re often distraught and they often don’t know what to do. And when you quote the passage about not being ‘unequally yoked’–this kind of picture from agriculture and cows and stuff, just really isn’t doing anything for them. ‘Yoke. Cows. What? He’s so cute–what does that have to do with a cow, you know?’ And they’ll often have a desire to try to care for this guy. They don’t want to hurt his feelings. They think they can reach him with the gospel, and they’ll just stay in this relationship.”
“And what I say each and every time is: ‘You’re facing a choice. If you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, then you must choose Jesus and you must turn your back on that guy. In fact, if you have a desire for him to see the reality of Jesus Christ, the most loving thing that you can do is show him that you are more committed to Jesus than you are to him. If you want to show that guy that God is real, then obey the God who is real and choose Him over this relationship –with a person that doesn’t know Him, doesn’t follow Him, doesn’t obey Him. Those are hard words, but those are the words of Jesus.’”

Whether you are a new believer or a seasoned Christian, I would encourage you to listen to Josh’s whole sermon. You will experience fresh encouragement and provocation as you follow Christ.
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Happy Spring Break!

~-JM