Improvements

Winter has been good for one thing anyway.  It has given me plenty of time to concentrate on my varied hobbies.  Exercising--fun for about 40 minutes a day.  Knitting--the new purple scarf is getting longer.  Gardening--started and growing a little every day.  Baking--a good way to keep the kids busy.  Scrapbooking--waiting for a marathon weekend at my sister-in-law's in a few weeks. 
Reading--ah, yes.  I used to like to read.  How about I try that again?  Suddenly I wanted--needed--something  "real" to read.  I made it through my magazines in record time.  (Perhaps this wasn't the ideal winter to decrease my subscriptions.)  I even read my cookbooks--again.  I wasn't quite ready to hit David's stack of farming magazines, but I was coming dangerously close! 
Then I remembered I had a couple Beth Moore books I bought last fall and still had not read.  Beth Moore has written several Bible-based books along with Bible studies and has a huge women's ministry, but I had never read any of her "stuff" before.  I have no idea what took me so long.  (I suppose one could get hung up on our different Christian denominations and practices, but that would just ruin the experience.) 
My favorite book right now is So Long Insecurity.  I bought the book last fall during my "comparing myself and coming up short" phase.  You may remember around that time I read Calm My Anxious Heart, which I still recommend.  I was feeling better about life, so I didn't get around to reading Beth Moore's book until January. 
Forgive me for shattering any impressions, but insecurity does play a less than desirable role in some areas of my life. I'm not insecure about some things (like my husband leaving me), but I am very much in others (like if I am ENOUGH).  Different days bring different "enough"s.  I think you know what I mean.

First impressions can be waaayy wrong.  What, I wondered, would a beautiful, talented and successful woman like Beth Moore ever know about insecurity?  It turns out she has a lot rougher road behind her than I have.  She also struggles with insecurity like everyone else. 

Don't think you are insecure about anything?  Wait for the person you really admire mention that their life isn't perfect.  Then you say, "But, you're so thin/pretty/young/well liked . . . ." 

There you go.  Your insecurity has just smacked you right on the forehead. 

I love the Scripture passages Beth uses to illustrate God's love.  The best part of this book?  We all can be "cured" of our insecurities.  I am still a work in progress with many of mine, but now I have a shield of Scripture to help defend myself when they come calling.  Sure, the Scripture has always been there.  Beth Moore just put it all in a nice little convenient package for us to draw from.  Nice.

Maybe this winter wasn't just good for hobby time.  Maybe it was good for a little self-improvement, too. 

God does work in amazing ways--even in a frigid South Dakota winter.