A body without Spirit

We just got back from our two week trip to Margaret River where we worked on the service crew for the Margaret River Pro Surf Competition. Such a cool and unforgettable experience. Okay, maybe cleaning toilets and trash bins wasn't all that great, but seeing the worlds best surfers compete in such a beautiful place was definitely worth it. To be honest, I had no idea who the majority of the surfers were, just the big time famous names like Kelly Slater, Julian Wilson or Carissa Moore. But there were times where pro surfers walked right past me and I just thought they were normal people. Anyways, the opportunity was truly awesome and we met some really cool people from the experience. One guy who went by the name of Cracker, was in charge of making coffee for everyone in the VIP tent. He always offered me and my friend Jamie a free coffee, and we learned that half of his body was actually metal because he was attacked by a shark a while back. We met some other cool people involved in the behind the scenes media field and the security people were so friendly and always thankful when we brought them lunch. On our last Saturday in Margaret River, our team had our Surf-a-thon. We surfed from 6:30 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. to raise money for our outreach, which we will be leaving for in just two weeks! AH SO EXCITED! But being on the beach and in the water for that long was a little tiring, but such great fellowship spent with my beautiful family here in Australia. We were a little bummed to leave Margaret River and head back to Perth, but we're just getting closer to leaving for Bali which is an indescribable feeling of excitement. 

As classes are almost over, I've spent a lot of time recapping all the things I've learned. What has stood out to me, what's changed me, what I do or didn't understand, and I've noticed how everything that I've learned all intertwines. Every concept and conclusion has me thinking about the same thing. It leads me to the question, what do we really want people to see about us? We all have this desire to be known. Not just by our names, but by our dreams, our hopes, our wants, our needs. We crave to be understood. And that's why I've learned that it is so important to treat everyone as worthy, and to look at everyone with value. Everybody has a story. It's easy to make assumptions or expectations about someone from a distance. You look at someone you don't know and without knowing it, you basically introduce that person to yourself without even meeting them in the first place. You create this idea in your mind of who they are just based on what you see, not what you know. But once you get to really know that person, you see them with a different set of eyes. And you begin to see and like a completely different person. Someone maybe entirely different than who you thought of them to be, not your expectation at all. And that's what's so beautiful about people. There's always more to them, they all have a core. We tend to try to make our outward appearance look perfect. We focus so much on how people view us from an outward perspective, though, our inner appearance is much different. Once you get to that center of someone you start to see the things that make up who they are. You see that there are flaws there, dreams, ambitions, character traits, insecurities, a person there. 

We focus so much on the physical version of ourselves rather than the inward. We want the perfect body, the best hair, the nicest clothes and shoes or to be skinny, beautiful, good-looking, fit or muscular. And we all want these things because we think that it will lead to what we really want deep down. Ask yourself why you want these physical things, and it's because we want to be noticed, liked, desired, envied. We think it'll lead to love, or intimacy or happiness. We care so much about how we look to other people. Eventually people will see past that outward appearance. What will they see? Those are the areas where we need to spend time on. We put so much time and effort on the outside and none on the inside that we lose real interest or even knowledge in who we are. And the thing is, people will always see the inside version over the image you've made yourself to be every single time. We'll never reach perfection, and you'll spend your life trying and never be satisfied. We have to start giving more attention to the core of who we are in fear of losing ourselves, because that's what's truly important, that's what the world eventually sees, what the world craves, and who God made us to be! I admittedly say that I do care how other people see me. And it's been at that point where I've lost who I am in that. And I eventually realized after spending so much effort in trying to "create" myself into this perfect version, that I'll never be in control. God will always have control over me, over my life. I realized how selfish and self absorbed I was into thinking I could beat, change or "top" Gods creation of myself. If God wanted me in that specific way, He would've made me that way. The most desirable, and beautiful thing I want others to see about me is the happiness on the inside that's been found. And when you stop putting so much energy towards appearance, your focus goes to life, and your definition and appreciation for beauty changes drastically.

"For the body without the spirit is dead." -James 2:26. We don't speak to someones bodies, we don't get to know their hips or their legs, we speak to their hearts, to their thoughts, to their character, and we fall in love with who they are. That's why it's so important to look past flesh and see peoples souls. Everyone has a story behind their appearance. Everyone's got something on the inside worth discovering. No one is a waste of time, and it's so selfish to think that way. And that is the answer to my question. We want to be seen as important, as more than what we are on the outside. In order to do that we have to start treating ourselves that way too. I have a lot of respect for people who see past societies standards of what's popular, and choose to just love and accept. Immense amounts of respect for the people who get to know those who are rejected, denied, cast out or laughed at. Again, I believe so strongly that inside everyone there is something worth knowing. Get to the very core of yourself, reach the inside of others, and do everything beautifully, as if it doesn't need an explanation, extraordinarily and surprisingly, with meaning and always with intention. You will see the pure beauty in yourself, and in all of Gods people.