Crazy lil thing called DIGNITY

"What do you think of when you hear the word dignity? ...who do you think of? How do you picture dignity? Is it something you aspire to be?  What would you change about yourself to be dignified?"- Rosalie de Rosset

When I think of the word dignity, I think of Michele Perry.  A women who has never been married, purposefully lived on the streets in TX just to be able to reach those that are in need.  She has one leg, but lives in Sudan as the "mother" of 100+ children.  I think about how hard it can be to have 1 baby, and both my legs, I have yet to attain the selflessness she has to do this and do it well.  The characteristic that makes me think of her in regards to dignity has to be her love, her love for God, her love for people and her love for herself.  She speaks the truth even when it hurts (Psalm 15) she is courageous and stands for and speaks for those who can't.  She doesn't let Satan get the best of her, because she is constantly giving the best of her away to others.  She makes choices by walking in faith and know that God will always catch her when she leaps out.  Dignity in how she carries herself on her crutches through the African bush.  She is someone I look up to and hope to meet one day.

  I do aspire to be dignified,  I want to learn how to always have self- respect and be self- confident.  I think those are the two starting points, without learning these first how can I speak, how can I carry myself in a dignified manner if I don't have the "self" about me to know what I think and that I'm grounded in it.  I have to realized first that I'm not trying to be confident in how I look, it's about being confident and respecting who I am and who I aspire to be.

Self- possessed: Someone who has control of her longings and attendant feelings and behavior especially when under pressure.
 This is what I truly desire.  This is an area of weakness for me, I've always wanted to be able to express myself in public with control and poise without the regret of replay in my mind.  I want to have the maturity to be able to control my tongue but also to use it with wisdom and discretion in my facial expressions.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity"- Proverbs 31:25
I feel like strength and dignity are my armor of God.  I have to put on, clothe myself, in these areas.  I have to cover myself daily with strength to stand as Lindsay Benhumea and know that that is enough.  I have to cover myself daily with dignity to understand how to make choices that are righteous.