"The Woman"

I sometimes feel harassed, hounded, mocked by a woman.  I see and hear her everywhere. The woman does not have a name, I've called her "the woman" for awhile now. The woman is an image that seems real , but is the product of a lie. This woman has perfect teeth, a flawless complexion, hair that is styled perfectly, eyes that shine brightly, a beautiful smile, a perfect body that fits into stunning clothing.  I hear her whisper in my mind , "You don't look like me.  You need to loose weight.  You need more clothing. You need more of everything.  You are not desirable. ".  I already know that this is a lie, I know the pictures/videos are edited, but because it is continually beating against me I need to remind myself. People use her image to sell almost everything.

  My husband and I have spoken about her a number of times and I've come to realize that she targets men as much as women.  She offers men pleasure without the pain of relationships. She attempts to take over what a woman should act like, feel like, talk like, look like. Mark has even yelled at her on the way home, telling her to "Go away!". The women that try to look like her generally don't have four children, they don't enjoy freedom in what they eat or wear. She has no place in our family.  I think by labeling her as a "her" and calling her "the woman" I began to separate her from myself.    

Remembering excerpts from a book I read ("Captivating" John & Staci Eldredge), the Bible, and conversations with my husband I am beginning to piece together what a woman is meant to be like, what we all are already like.  The term "beautiful" has a much deeper meaning then physical features. I still have not worked it all out, but every once in awhile I get snap shots of how my husband or children see me.  My husband loves me, not just my image, but how I think and act as well.  One "snap shot" that comes to mind now involves this picture below.  My daughter saw this Leonardo Da Vinci drawing on the cover of a book I was reading and she asked her dad "Is that mommy?". My amusement turned to amazement as my husband answered "No sweetheart, but it does look a lot like mommy doesn't it?".  I remember thinking "Is that really how they see me?".  As an artist , being compared to a work of art means a lot to me. Art is special (a portion of it anyway) because it can highlight the higher form of beauty that seems so evasive. Just then it was as if God told me "You are my work of art", a higher form of beauty, a Godly pure beauty that reflects God and shows people more of who He is.  This is what I need to think about, this is who I need to become.  "The woman" is again exposed as lie used by the devil  to deceive and entrap people.