I Am More
12June 10, 2012 by agirlikemee
Well here we are. Thirty days ago in this post some of you embarked on a journey with me. A journey to discover if we were more. I asked you to write the phrase “I am more than what I see” on your mirror and leave it up for thirty days. The goal was to determine if we could see that phrase every time we looked in the mirror, would the truth of it change how we saw ourselves. And today is the day we decide that.
The struggle to accept who we really are in Christ is, I feel, a life long journey. But every journey starts with a step. These past thirty days was one such step. For me, it didn’t bring about any huge conclusions, but reaffirmed in me some long known truths. So here is what I learned these past thirty days:
- I am more than a cute outfit w/ good hair and makeup
- I am more than those extra stubborn little lbs I’d love to lose
- I am more than the girl that was in my past
- I am more than the things others say about me
- I am more than the mean things I say and the way I can hurt others
- I am more than my fears, my hopes, my insecurities, and my pride
I AM MORE
So what am I then?????
I AM:
A mother
A friend
Beautiful
Loving
Forgiving
Forgiven
Broken
A wife
A daughter
Loved
Cherished
Humbled
Stretched
Saved
Set Free
New
I AM HIS
That is what these thirty days has affirmed in me. There will be days I still choose to believe I am the things I am not, but hopefully I will now have the strength to battle past the lies and speak God’s truth over me. For those of you who had not been able to join us in this venture, it’s never too late to try it out. And for those of you who had, I know Kelly and I would love to hear about the ways that the Lord has shown you that you are more than what you see in these past thirty days. So…I guess the question is…. ARE YOU MORE? I know I am.
I wrote this on my mirror. To be very honest at first, I just did it because it sounded cool, and I needed a new challenge. I never expected it to change the way that I look at myself. I didn’t have this huge, emotional change, but it did teach me a lot about myself. I guess I never realized just how insecure I was. But throughout these 30 days Jesus has been teaching me how to love myself, how to embrace His acceptance of me, rather than turning to other people for security. Will I still look to others to be sure that I am beautiful? Yes. I am sure that I’ll still struggle with accepting myself, and choosing to find my identity in Jesus. But Jesus has been showing me day by day that I AM MORE. I’m not the girl that screwed up. I’m not the girl that let her parents down. I’m not the girl that Struggles with stuff longer than I should. I’m not the sum of my failures. I have been made new. I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ. I am a girl washed clean of my sin. I am beautiful in His eyes. I am more than my screw ups. I am more than the judgement of my parents. I am more than how many times I’ve not trusted God. I am more than a girl that still struggles to love people. I am more than all of this. I am more. Thank-you for this Blog. I always look forward to new posts…I still need assurance that I can Struggle. Just today I was feeling bad because of how much I’ve been struggling lately. And I instantly thought about what Mike said, and what you’ve been saying, and the new record. I am free to Struggle. And it’s okay. I don’t want to use that as an excuse to mistrust God, but I want to be challenged to trust Him more.
My challenge is far from over. It still remains on my mirror, and if I could have my way, it would be on every single mirror in my house. It’s something that is just beginning to permeate. I still need to internalize it. Through this time, I have learned that I am more pathetic than I thought, but I have a God who loves me fully and that includes all of the ways that I am pathetic. I have a God whose love is so powerful that He resurrects me daily. I have a God who knew all the ways that I would screw up and still said to Jesus, “You are going to die for everyone in the world and that includes Anna.”
Every time that I see in the mirror “I am more than what I see,” it refocuses me. I typically look in that mirror to look at the pounds I feel I need to lose, but once I see “I am more than what I see” written in the mirror, it stops me. Those words allow me to remember that I have a God who cares deeply and wonderfully for me exactly as I am. And while that message does not always last in my head, I can always see it as a visual reminder about how much God cares for me.
I AM MORE
I am more than the zits that pop up at the worst
possible time
I am more than the lbs I feel like I need to lose
I am more than frizzy hair
I took this challenge and posted a piece of paper in every mirror in the house and it has changed the way I see myself.
I am God’s and I am beautiful to him
I am fearfully and wonderfully made
I was made in His image.
Thank you Heather for encouraging us to do this.
I put this on my mirror, and I think it’ll be a while before it comes off. I didn’t really realize how low my body image was until I put that there. Every time I would analyze and criticize the body God gave to me, that phrase would pop out from the sticky note on the mirror. I still need to digest it completely, but it has definitely helped a lot!
Tank you!
Negative
I am More than a Cutter
I am More than a victim of physical abuse
I am More than Drug users
I am More than My Depression
I am More than Outcast
Positive
I am a Child of GOD
It’s does not define me where i been to but remind me how far i had come to Jesus Christ
Need to cling on to Jesus instead on Drugs
Need to listen to The Truth instead of The lies
I am unique, different, i am a skater, i am not a outcast
Leyanet
I still have my up and I think I’ll keep it up. I have a mirror (which is my sister’s) in my room I look at it every now and then. I do remember that I was mad at my little brother, but I didn’t look at the mirror and tell myself I’m better then this. I don’t need to cut myself. When I did look at it I remember what it was about and why I was doing it. I am more then all the things that I’m going through. Thanks Heather! This really helped and I will be able to remember I AM MORE!
* Mine. Sorry with the miss spelling!
I am more than those few extra pounds.
I am more than what people say.
I am more than name brand clothes and cute dresses.
I am more than my friendships.
I am more than my fears.
I am more than all of my insecurities (which are numerous)
I am more than this world.
I am a 15 year old girl.
I am a sister.
I am an aunt.
I am a daughter.
I am a missionary.
I am a worship leader.
I am a piano teacher.
I am a musician.
I am a beautiful girl.
I am smart.
I am me.
I have an audience of ONE, and I AM HIS.
I havent put the challenge on my mirror because at the moment I dont have one… My “brother” and “sister” from Uganda have been living with me and took over my bathroom
But unfortunately they leave on Wednesday. 
Its gonna be such a hard day for my family… But when they are gone, I will have my bathroom back and I can cover the mirror in sticky notes! YAY! 
This is a video I made last year when I started the project to bring them over to America to go to my Christian High-school.
I was surprised with the affect this had on me. While it wasn’t a gigantic emotional renewal or anything, I was shocked by how little I cared anymore about what others thought of my looks and my clothes. Probably biggest of all, I didn’t feel as insecure about my tiny chest. It was just…okay. It was amazing how much that little truth could change a lot, and it felt really good. I think I’m going to leave it up on the mirror for awhile. =)
I joined recently n missed this. But I love it! My journey has been so unbelievably uncertain, not what I would have chosen or believed possible. I was emotionally neglected in what most would consider a fairly normal household. Doesn’t mean it was. I longed for love and freedom. This came on Feb 2, 2006, and not until last summer was I truly able to feel lovable, beautiful, worthy, and completely wrapped in Gods loving arms. I believed, but believing in Him was the most indescribably wonderful feeling. I saw a sign while struggling to feel noticed, much less loved last summer battling health issues on top of my lack of emotional fulfillment. The void, the abyss, the pit, the lifelong loneliness was finally removed when totally abandoned by loved ones when I needed them more than ever. I told a friend a few years back, I resented myself for knowing that I believed God (God is or isn’t, right?) yet admitted He wasn’t enough. My 30s have given me Hell, but WOW! My story isn’t boring anymore! He was there and NO ONE else was. I palpably felt his loving arms embracing me. I just turned 39, n said BRING IT ON! One more year til 40. The next decade could not be any worse than my 30s. That’s after a lifetime of feeling unloved, unnoticed, alone, and fighting. The love I received was conditional. In him, it was finally UNCONDITIONAL! I love Jason Gray (Christian musician) whose lyrics spoke volumes…’HE DOESN’T SEE ME THE WAY THAT I DO’!!! Several meaningful tidbits like this have truly filled my soul and what I call our ‘God-shaped hole’. Unless His Spirit fills you completely, we struggle in countless ways to feel loved n worthy. Only He can do this. So despite the sincere longing, my life and self-will were shattered, broken, and rebuilt by HIM! I loved the ‘TA-DA’ concept from Liz Curtis Higgs. You put a sticker where you’ll see it and say TA-DA! A reminder God made me and He doesn’t make mistakes!!! Also, framed in my bathroom is a simple, yet powerful ‘I AM ENOUGH, I HAVE ENOUGH, I DO ENOUGH, AND THAT’S ENOUGH’!!! Embracing these tidbits help me remove self-will and replace it with HIS love. I was finally able to not just have self-confidence, but self love. Whew! What a journey!!! So despite the crap…HE has made me believe in him and in me…not changed by my past or present circumstances or what the world tries to tell me. I’ll admit that my flesh is alive and well and struggles much less than before, but let’s face it! Only JESUS CHRIST can live up to that. So I have stopped struggling most days, and sit wrapped in His arms. At peace. Fulfilled. Not alone. Beautiful. The freedom from the world (that’s for another day’s posting) leaves me loved, fulfilled, forgiven, worthy, and at peace. Thanks for reading and I pray it may help someone, anyone. God Bless!!!
Sorry, one more thing. My daughter just turned 8. Never dreamed she’d be feeling the weight of the world by 1st-2nd grade. Praise God I can let my light shine today. I believe with all I am, MY BEAUTY IS FROM WITHIN!!! She hears this and sees me live it out. I pray that her journey will never include feeling nothing but unconditional love from me and her amazing dad. But, I am ultimately powerless over that. We tell her and our 4 year old son ‘I LOVE YOU ALL THE TIME, NO MATTER WHAT’! And we do. Can only imagine what their heavenly father feels for them, and yes, for me, too.
I am SO going to do this!!