Video - Sunday's ART of Truth - "Exquisite" - 8-22-21

Hello friends,

Welcome to this weeks Sunday’s ART of Truth. Today, I am sharing the process video where I am beginning the construction of my Bohemian Beauty Journal. I had a little snafus and was not quite prepared to sew the signatures in today. I had thought the stitching on all the pages was done, but it wasn’t 😊 It’s all good. I will do a Part 2. I do show you how I put the cover on the cardboard book form and spine as well as a look at the pages in the signature. Off camera, prior to the video, I had already created the centerpiece for the front of the journal.

Now, a little bit about the inspiration for this beauty. I have been drawn to these darker papers and patterns for a little while now, but I was not sure why. It wasn’t until I was mostly through the video that it occurred to me why my heart is drawn to it. I don’t typically like dark things at all. They often seem depressing…

To be exquisite is to be extremely beautiful and, typically, delicate.

Our world has sold us a bill of goods that has damaged our value. It says that, beauty is skin deep. That to be wanted, loved, adored, appreciated, valued & honored, one must meet the world’s criteria for beauty. In my life, I have known so many people who would not fit into the world’s lens of beauty and value, but they were some of the most beautiful people I have ever known.

I Samuel 16:7 – “People look at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”

You see, beauty comes from within. It lights up the face, it draws people in. It is filled with kindness, grace, love, forgiveness, humility & joy. Even our eyes can display the beauty that we carry.

To be exquisite is to be content. To be sure. To be proud, yet humble. It is to know who you are and ‘whose’ you are. When we know our value, truly know it, the exquisite light that is within, burns bright. It fills rooms. It is inviting and accepting. It causes people to look past the exterior and gaze inside. It causes people to wonder where that comes from and how they can have it. I have known many such humans in my life.

I believe that in order to embrace our exquisiteness, we must know who we are. We get to choose to cast down the untruths, half-truths, and flat out lies. We get to seek truth, ingest truth, and announce truth.

It is a daily choosing, I believe. For me, it is often hour by hour, day by day.

True confessions, this is one of the most troubling things in my life. This idea that I have value that is intrinsic. That is not based on what I do, what I look like or anything else. Even harder is the lie that says I am less-than, not enough, too loud, too quiet, too needy, too broken, and the list goes on and on.

What do we do with that? We reject it. We honestly evaluate our heart, our motives and our worth. We replace the lies with truth. We shred the self-imposed measuring tape.

I know when I do that, I come up in a different place. A place where I recognize that I am not a “do”, but an, “am”.

Do you know what I mean?

Our world places values on our bank account, the job we do, the house we own, the cars we drive, and dare I say, the fake fairytales that we believe we must show the world. God forbid, that we be seen as hurting, broken, struggling or otherwise, in need.

I am a child of the King, the Most High God. I am a woman beloved. I am the apple of God’s eye. I am His precious daughter. I am a wife, mother, Grammie, employee, sister & friend. NONE of those I am statements have anything to do with “doing”. I am those things.

I “do” many things. Some good, some bad. I fall short. I struggle. I doubt. I am often selfish and intolerant. These are things that I do, but they are not what or who I am.

As I pondered this idea of exquisite, I was also reminded that I am royalty. They go hand in hand, I believe.

Royalty – To be from royalty is to be of a people of royal blood or status.

Mind blowing. As daughters and sons of the King, we are royalty. We are of royal blood and status. It is our heritage. It is our birthright.

My friends, regardless of what your belief system is, please know that you are exquisite. You are royalty.

You see, those beliefs are a matter of faith & truth. I know that when I can bathe in those two truths, my joy becomes overflowing. My confidence soars. I am gentler & kinder. I am able to proceed through life with compassion and understanding. I can make choices around being full of grace and I can hold my head up high.

Not because I am “all that”, but because I know that, intrinsically, I have exquisite value that man cannot measure. I can embrace imperfection because it is what I do, not what I am.

My friends, do you know that you are exquisite? That you are beautiful beyond comparison?

Do you know that you are royalty? That you can claim your royal heritage?

By peeling away the lies we believe, we make room for the truth of who we are – Exquisite Royalty 😊

Blessing my friends,

Beloved – Reborn

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