Sandra Bullock plays a bumbling F.B.I. agent who goes undercover to stop a killer prawling the Miss United States pageant. Though transformed from geek to chic, the agent as Miss New Jerseycan’t stand makeup or swimsuits of evening gowns or high heels or up-dos.
She’d rather S.I.N.G., or strike the solar plexus, instep, nose and groin. Predictably, she catches the bad guy.
Watch it here or follow this link to watch it on You Tube.
.
She’s Hollywood’s version of the beautiful warrior.
Diana Scimone is the real thing. She hasn’t beaten up anyone as far as I know. But she has fought mightily against the trafficking of children worldwide. Today people like you are chipping in $9 a piece to help reach $81,000 in one day to benefit’s Born2fly’s campaign to save kids.
It takes inner strength to love God and others. It comes only through the Holy Spirit. On our own we can do nothing.
Nada. Zilch.
“We love because God first loved us” 1 John 4:19. He loves you and me and even. . .Islamic terrorists and child molesters and the kid who called you names in junior high. Yes, even her.
And even child sex slave owners.
OUCH!
Diana demonstrates her love for them by putting them out of business, one strike at a time.
Solar plexis.
Instep.
Nose.
Groin.
Diana Scimone is our first winner of the Most Beautiful Warrior Award! You go, girl.
Diana Scimoneis making history into her-story and your story and my story and, most important, their story.
Their story? A true tale with rarely a happy ending. A tale of deception and coercion and — sick sick sick — forced prostitution of children. This is NOT the movie Pretty Woman.
Far from it.
This is rape.
And beautiful warrior Diana Scimone is doing something about it. She began the 09-09-09 campaign to raise $81,000 to print and distribute illustrated books all across the world. All she asks you to do is give $9 — the cost of two Happy Meals — to her nonprofit: Born 2 Fly. And she asks you to tell nine other people about 09-09-09.
Send an email or blog it or nine of your best Facebook friends. Join the campaign here. If you want to win prizes, give your $9 on 09-09-09. Right now put the reminder in your cell or write it on a calendar. This date is exactly one week from today.
Several years ago, while traveling in a far East country, Diana saw something that churned her stomach. She saw children IN A CAGE. Some were very, very young. . .think Kindergarten age. . .others a bit older.
I repeat: in cages in cages in cage. But why?
At the start of the “grooming” process — systematic abuse is more accurate — these caged child sex slaves learn what was expected of them and what happens if they fought back: beatings, starvation and worse. To their owners, they were money money money.
Disgusted? Me too.
A journalist and a Christian, Diana knew she was no comando chick, busting in like a Charlie’s Angel, shooting bullets, busting heads, and freeing the little ones. She had another weapon: her keyboard. She not only began writing and tweeting about child trafficking, she also worked with an illustrator to develop a book to tell parents of the tricks slave owners use to lure children and young teens from their homes and into brothels, all but guaranteeing an early death due to injury or disease. Yes, AIDS.
A common ploy is promised employment as a nanny or a secretary or a model. The parents want to give their daughters a better life, so they encourage them to go. Some moms and dads even get “thank-you” money. If only they knew.
Diana’s book lets them know and protect their children and
never ever ever live in a cage or forceably raped.
Never.
Please pray 09-09-09into her-story and your story and their story.
“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Isaiah 61:1
THIS FORMER AMERICAN IDOL captivated the hearts of America with her winning smile, powerhouse vocals, and strong testimony of her faith. Her name: Mandisa!
In this music video, “Voice of a Savior,” she sings,
You and I are not that different.
We gotta void, we’re just tryin’ to fill it up.
Something that will give just a little peace.
All we want is a hand to reach to,
Open arms that say “I love you.”
Her words soothed my end-of-the-summer nerves screaming: get the school supplies start a new at-home business because we need money pray pray pray go to church sing sing sing write a blog post switch sub servers for my e-newsletter work work work pray pray pray do the laundry clean up the cat vomit wash the floor grocery shop pay the bills.
Bang my head on the keyboard.
Dream of Tahiti.
When did I breathe?
I didn’t. Then Mandisa reminded me to listen to. . .
a voice of a Savior and I stopped my frenetic crazies. Will you listen too?
You Are Beautiful, Lucy
P.S. If you haven’t subscribed to my free eNewsletter “Cup of Joy,” please do. It touches the heart. Just type your little email addy into the little box here. Thanks.
“[Femininity] is a gift, a divine gift, to be accepted with both hands, and to thank God for. Because, remember, it was His idea.” –Elisabeth Elliot
Years ago Christian women thought that to be spiritual they had to “look” spiritual: plain hair, plain clothes, plain shoes, plain faces, plain everything.
This just isn’t so.
God doesn’t want us to be overly concerned with our appearance, but it’s OK to look like a. . .woman.
1 Peter 3:3-5 says: “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment. . .Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.”
The Bible mentions several holy women of the past who possessed great beauty, including Sarah, Rachel, Esther and Bathsheba. In no way did God condemn them for looking good. Nor did he dismiss the less-than-gorgeous like Leah or those pained by illness like the unnamed woman who touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and experienced healing or the lepers, the outcasts of the day, forced to remain outside the city gates and say “unclean, unclean” when a healthy person came near.
You too may consider yourself “unclean” or at least un-beautiful. Our culture idolizes youth. It bows down to starlets with perfect hair, perfect teeth and perfect skin. And, unless you have Oprah status and can get away with a fuller, far more real figure, you may think you’d look OK, maybe, if you lost 20 pounds, or 40 or, like my mom, 125.
The truth: You are beautiful now.
Your beauty comes from the inside. You shine Jesus. Real beauty comes from him. Proverbs 31 puts it this way: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
Outer beauty doesn’t last. With age come wrinkles, gray hair, sunspots and sagging skin. And usually weight gain. What matters most: inner beauty. Every woman in Christ has the inner beauty that the Apostle Peter spoke of.
I challenge you: Think out of the Botox!
Embrace your beauty inner beauty that comes hand-in-wonderfully manicured hand with your identity in Christ. You are his Beloved. Don’t you forget it.
You Are Beautiful, Lucy
COMING SOON: My eBookLove Yourself Thin, Discover the 7 Secrets to Weight Loss, God’s Way.
A friend forwarded me an email that held this gem. A reason it resonates with me: The first stanza of “Jesus Loves Me” is my statement of faith on my Facebook page.
Here’s the forwarded email, with a few edits:
“On Sunday I watched an Atlanta church honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.
“After a warm welcome, he rose from his high back chair and walked with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium. He placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then he began to speak, slowly, quietly.
“‘When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me. The only thing that would comfort was this verse.
Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.’
“When he finished, the church was quiet. He shuffled back to his chair. I don’t believe I will ever forget it.'”
A simple song. Words of truth.
When I forget about me, I sense his peace. Less of me, more of him. I am weak, he is strong.
“[Femininity] is a gift, a divine gift, to be accepted with both hands, and to thank God for. Because, remember, it was His idea.” –Elisabeth Elliot
A friend forwarded me an email that held this gem. A reason it resonates with me: The first stanza of “Jesus Loves Me” is my statement of faith on my 
