Top Her Couture

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,” Philippians 1:9-10 Life has a tendency to become overly complicated and stressful, particularly because things change so quickly. I’ve identified seven problems that you can eliminate to make your life a whole lot simpler (which doesn’t mean boring or less interesting). Problem #1 – Too Much Responsibility Think back to a year or two ago. How much extra responsibility has come into your life since then? You may have too much stuff, too many possessions, too many projects, and too many commitments.  Spreading yourself too thin reduces focus, increases stress, and lowers overall performance. Too much stuff could include anything from a new cell phone, to a new swimming pool, to a bigger house. It might be nice to have more possessions and new gadgets, but they often come ...

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:20-21 Have you ever wondered why the Cinderella story keeps haunting us? Not only is it a perennial favorite of little girls, it haunts us as woman. Think of all the movies made along its themes, movies like Pretty Woman and Ever After and A Cinderella Story and Maid in Manhattan . Why is this notion of a hidden princess so enduring? Is there something in our hearts that is trying to speak to us? Is it just fantasy, escapism? Or is there something more? The desire of a woman's heart and the realities of a woman's life seem an ocean apart. O, we long for romance and an irreplaceable role in a great story, we long for beauty. But that's not the life we have . The result is a sense of shame. Universally ...

“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 God speaks to Israel through the prophet Isaiah when she is surrounded by enemies and making every effort to appease them through diplomacy, gifts, treaties, and bribes, and says this to her: "You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave itself! You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint" (Isa. 57:9-10). God calls Israel to repent by admitting her weariness and fainting. Instead, she looks for ways to use her personal assets to redeem herself. Jesus spoke to the people about rest and thirst. The Pharisees demanded that they obey a constantly growing weight of religious la...

It is that time of year again where competitions are back to back.  All the athletes are scrambling about getting prepared, scheduling appointments, and hitting the gym hard.  The NPC Colorado Natural is the first in the fall series where a small group of Miss Fits will take the stage.  Rookie Alyssian Vissat will share the stage with Veteran Adrianne Martinez in the Bikini Division.  Each of the girls is pushing themselves and each other being 3 weeks out.  Diets and moods are changing drastically but they remain spirited. Be prepared for major transformations and a riot of fellow Gym supporters and Miss Fits to get the Colorado University Theatre loud & rowdy.  Good Luck girls . . . bring home those trophies!  Four weeks later Crystal McClure, Crystal Bragazzi, Natalie Little, Ashley Schlein, Lisa Poole, Kelly Farino will compete in the NPC 'Rocky' in the Bikini Division with Kim Hall and Michelle Lococo competing in Figu...

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself." -Hermann Hesse   Every woman knows now that she is not what she was meant to be. And she fears that soon it will be known - if it hasn't already been discovered - and that she will be abandoned. Left alone to die a death of the heart. That is a woman's worst fear - abandonment. (Isn't it?). Rather than turning back to God, reversing the posture that brought about our crisis in the first place (what Eve set in motion and we have repeated ad nauseum), we continue down that path by doing what we can to secure ourselves in a dangerous and unpredictable world. And down in the depths of our hearts, our Question remains. Unanswered. Or better, it remains answered in the way it was answered so badly in our youth. "Am I lovely? Do you see me? Do you want to see? Are you captivated by what you find in me?" We live haunted by that Question, yet unaware tha...

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 We aren't meant to figure life out on our own. God wants to father us. The truth is, he has been fathering us for a long time-we just haven't had the eyes to see it. He wants to father us much more intimately, but we have to be in a posture to receive it. What that involves is a new way of seeing, a fundamental reorientation of how we look at life, and our situation in it. First, we allow that we are unfinished men, partial men, mostly boy inside, and we need initiation. In many, many ways. Second, we turn from our independence and all the ways we either charge at life or shrink from it; this may be one of the most basic and the most crucial ways a man repents. I say "repent" because our approach to life is based on the conviction that God, for the most part, doesn't show up much. I understand wh...

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle. A true community is something you will have to fight for. You'll have to fight to get one, and you'll have to fight to keep it afloat. But you fight for it like you bail out a life raft during a storm at sea. You want this thing to work. You need this thing to work. You can't ditch it and jump back on the cruise ship. This is the church; this is all you have. Without it, you'll go down. Or back to prison. Suddenly all those "one another's" in Scripture make sense. Love one another. Bear one another's burdens. Forgive one another. Acts of kindness become deeply meaningful because we know we are at war. Knowing full well that we are all facing battles of our own, we give one another the benefit of the doubt. Leigh isn't intentionally being distan...