What God Says... {Beauty on a Budget}

Today, you are getting two posts. Yep.

In an effort to be a woman who finishes what she starts, I have the fifth post for the Beauty on a Budget series... a week and a half later than planned.

I do have a reason for that. Today's second post might explain why I suddenly got quiet.

Also, truth be told, I just have a hard time talking about beauty. And maybe if I am honest, I am still struggling to find the value in myself that goes deeper than my skin... this skin that now wears some age and a few more pounds than I would like.

So since words are failing me (at least on this topic), let me just leave us with some simple reminders about what God says about our value and our beauty.

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.

Proverbs 31:10

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. 

 

Psalm 139:13-18 

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you,The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them! I couldn’t even begin to count them—any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! (The Message--I like some of the phrasings from this frequently mentioned passage in the Message paraphrase.)

Zephaniah 3:17  

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

And lastly, one great reminder for those hard days when your value escapes you because you catch yourself yelling, struggling, worrying, nagging, or just straight wanting to be on the other side of whatever trial you are facing...

All those hard things, all those struggles, God is weaving them into a story, a your-story becoming His-story... a redeemed story that will be BEAUTIFUL in His time. 


I just want to give a special thanks to Mandy and Kassie, from Glittered with Grace, for being apart, for sharing your knowledge and your heart with us. You inspire. I wish you both community, God's direction, and a place to SHINE like glitter in the gifts and talents He's given you as the two of you navigate this occasionally crazy social media business together.

If you missed the Beauty on a Budget series you can catch up here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...
 

Okay, so if you want, you can jump over and read another post about some really hard things I have been dealing with (I've got to warn you. It's not exactly pretty and I am still in the midst of it; I just felt like God was asking me to open up about it).


By Grace,
Amanda Conquers

Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways {Beauty on a Budget}

One thing I have learned from having a tight budget for so long is to buy basic clothes that won't quickly go out of style (things like jeans and t-shirts) and spend just a few dollars to add accessories to make them feel brand new each year.

I love this short video Mandy and Kassie, from Glittered With Grace, came up with for us. They give some great styling ideas for what otherwise might have been a boring outfit. Also, I majorly love the two scarfs Kassie uses. Majorly. Love.

It might just inspire you to rethink the wardrobe you already have and how you could restyle some basics. :)


You can head over and subscribe to Glittered With Grace's YouTube channel. And don't forget to enter their giveaway.



You can subscribe to Amanda Conquers to get encouragement slipped right into your email box about two times a week. Make sure you never miss a post. (Psst... it's easy to subscribe and to unsubscribe.) Click HERE.



If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

Fall for Your Face {Beauty on a Budget}

I have the Glittered With Grace girls, Mandy and Kassie, back today to show us the two looks they came up with from their $40 make-up challenge.

In the first video here, they start off with some really great tips (I'll list the links to some of the budget tips they give below), show us how they did their second look, and, seriously, if you only have 2 minutes to sit and watch, skip to 18:00. These women will remind you about your beauty, encourage you, and it's a great way to start your day. You. Are. Beautiful.


In the second video they show us their 2nd fall make-up look. The end of the video has some great shots of the their results.




Maybe head over and subscribe to Glittered With Grace's YouTube channel. And don't forget to enter their giveaway. Let's support these women as they start walking in a dream to encourage women!




You can subscribe to Amanda Conquers to get encouragement slipped right into your email box about two times a week. Make sure you never miss a post. (Psst... it's easy to subscribe and to unsubscribe.) Click HERE.

If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?? {Beauty on a Budget}

Today, I am so excited to welcome Kassie and Mandy to the blog. I have known Mandy for a long time. We went to high school together. We served alongside each other in ministry at our church.  She did my make-up when I got married, and she's the only one with whom I really trust my hair. (Unfortunately for me, she moved like 5 hours away. I kid you not, I haven't gotten my hair done since. Almost a year ago. She's just that good. I miss her. Sigh.) Mandy just has such a warmth and meekness about her. Her sister Kassie has a contagious energy and a big heart.

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Our names are Mandy and Kassie. We have just started our YouTube channel Glittered Withgrace. 

We started this channel not only because we love make up and beauty stuff, but because we wanted to inspire and encourage women. 

Mandy is 31 and the mother of four, plus a sixteen-year-old Chinese exchange student makes five. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 13 years. Mandy and her husband Brad are children's pastors. Mandy is also a licensed cosmetologist. 

Kassie is 24 and also has two teenage foreign exchange students. She has been married for two years. She and her husband are also a ministry family with their service in worship, kids ministry, and media. 

Together, we (Mandy and Kassie) also coach cheer. Needless to say, we are busy ladies. We also have strict budgets (thanks, Dave Ramsey). So we have to be resourceful with what we have, and we try to get the most bang for our buck. 

We hope to bring some positive videos that show women that make up doesn't make you beautiful, but it is fun. And since we are both in different seasons of life, we feel like we can reach most women. We hope to inspire, help, and encourage women with glitter and His grace!


Today's video is a shopping haul PLUS A GIVEAWAY. We decided to try and buy a full face of makeup for $40 because if you have not ever played with makeup (or haven't really updated your make-up since since college) and wanted to start, it doesn't have to cost a fortune.




To enter the giveaway:
1. Subscribe to Glittered Withgrace and Mandy's and Kassie's YouTube channels.
2. If you use Instagram, follow @MandyWinkle and @KassieMoon
3. Leave a comment under the video with what it is you look forward to the most in the Fall. 
(Note: comment must be made under the video on their YouTube channel to be entered, so do follow the link.)


Psst... Come back tomorrow, and we will show you two make-up looks using the make-up we got. For a bonus later this week, we also styled a plain black shirt and jeans two ways to help with outfit slumps. We hope you enjoy and subscribe to our channel for future videos.

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Thank you so much, Mandy and Kassie! I can't wait till tomorrow to hear your make-up tips for the fall looks. I seriously am in love with that cranberry color... and hoping to be brave enough to wear it. I can say I am definitely inspired to buy a little make-up. I am kind of still using some products from before I had Addy. Don't judge. :)

Okay. So don't forget to head over and subscribe to Glittered With Grace and comment on the video. 
How about we rally around some women who are just stepping out into a dream to encourage women everywhere with beauty tips?!



So, What are your favorite items in your make-up bag? Share your favorite items in the comments below.


Subscribe to Amanda Conquers to get encouragement slipped right into your email box about two times a week. Make sure you never miss a post. (Psst... it's easy to subscribe and to unsubscribe.) Click HERE.




If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

On Beauty

There is a war going on in me every day.

I sense it when I look in the mirror and see a woman with winding-mountain-road curves where a wiry girl used to stand. I look more tired, older somehow… and acne (it’s like I am going through puberty all over again… at 30! Who knew you don’t always get to outgrow pimples?!).

I sense it when I am running behind in the morning and make-up no longer seems worth it. I sense it when my wardrobe is seriously outdated, but the kids are growing like weeds and the budget is tight. I let that be my excuse to let another season pass without a single update.

I sense it when the house is a wreck, and I am tired.  Instead of nap, I will drudge through housework until I wonder what’s on Facebook, and then I will just stare mindlessly at that because I am just.so.tired.

I sense it at the end of the day, after I’ve homeschooled, cleaned messes, driven kids to gymnastics, cooked dinner, and put the kids in bed.  I want alone time. And I don’t want to drink water and eat carrot sticks while I catch up on a tv show. I kind of want to bury my face in brownie pie.

But here’s the thing. The war isn’t me versus weight. Or me versus make-up time. Or me versus the small budget. The war is being waged on my worth.  Because if I can buy into how the enemy wants me to see myself, maybe I can also buy into the lie that God doesn't love me. And maybe I can raise my kids in the most subtlest of ways to think women and mothers don’t have much value because mommy doesn’t think she does.

Really, the hard part isn’t actually finding the time for a beauty routine, exercise, or eating well… it’s actually seeing yourself as worth the time.

It’s about loving yourself.

Where you are. How you are.

It’s what Jesus does for us. He doesn’t look at the long list of all the ways we fall short. He just loves. He sees value. Not just potential value. But value. As in now.

He loves you now.

Just me...learning to love me

Maybe this seems like a weird comparison. But it’s like the person who thinks the way to Jesus is through following the law. Eating right and having an exercise routine is immensely beneficial. But if all you do is try to wrestle yourself into some ideal image, you’ve missed the point. You can swear off carbs and butter, you can spend 2 hours at the gym every day and night, you can have washboard abs and tight buns. You can also think it’s all too hard and wallow in French fries and fudge sundaes and spend far too much time sitting in front of Facebook. Either way, you seriously miss it.

It isn’t a choice between letting yourself go or sculpting your body into size 4 skinny jeans.

No. It’s a choice to love you.

Really love you. As Christ loves you. Because it’s not about a weight. It’s not about a beauty routine. It’s not about an amazing wardrobe. It’s not about controlling yourself and working yourself until you fit into some conjured up idea of beautiful.

It is for freedom that Christ set us free.

Just like Jesus said that He didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill it, I do believe when you recognize just how valuable, beautiful, worth it in His eyes you are, it compels you to love on yourself, to do what is best for yourself.

You.

You who puts little lives before your own, you who lives poured out… and maybe some days you feel spilled out and overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising kids and the sheer not-knowing what is best for them. You who has stood beside your man and cheered him on even in the bleakest of seasons. You who walks bravely through the passing of time, enduring trials, taking scars, growing older and wiser.

You—beautiful warrior woman.

You are so valuable.

Would you, could you, start to choose yourself sometimes? Would you instill in your daughters and your sons the value of a woman by valuing yourself? Would you kindly stop comparing yourself to other women? Would you exercise and eat well and give yourself permission to take naps because we only get this one life and this one body and rest is important? Would you allow yourself to throw your hair to the wind, to celebrate and to eat cake sometimes because life needs to be enjoyed too?

I am looking at myself. Asking myself those questions. I don’t want to let myself go, get buried back here behind excuses, and exhaustion, and, well, child-raising. No, I do believe I need to hold onto to myself. Value myself. Me.

Okay. So maybe you want to start doing this with me? Maybe we can cheer each other on?

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So along these lines, I am have invited some professionals over to the blog for help with something very in particular.

Spending time on ourselves.

Each day this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) the girls from Glittered With Grace will be showing us simple beauty tips designed with the busy, tight-budget momma in mind.

  

Now, I certainly don’t want the message to be that in order to be beautiful on the outside one must put on make-up and style your hair big. Oh no. This is for fun. Some simple tips to put into your arsenal should you decide you need to spend more time on yourself.

(Ahem. That would be me. Also, I am so clueless when it comes to make-up and hairstyles.)

Maybe it’s just me, but when I take the extra time to put on make-up and do the hair… I feel pretty. Valuable. And it’s not a superficial thing, this outward thing reflects an inward thing. Jesus loves me, and I am precious to Him.

I can’t wait till tomorrow. These Glittered with Grace girls are so warm, endearing, and full of beauty wisdom (outside and inside too). I can't wait to introduce you to them. 

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

If you missed any of the Beauty on a Budget posts, catch up with them here:
1. On Beauty (an intro to the series from AmandaConquers)
2. Can You Get a Whole Face of Make-Up for $40?
3. Fall for Your Face
4. Black Tee and Jeans Styled Four Ways
5. What God Says...

Pssst… If you want to make sure you don’t miss a single one of these posts, subscribe to this blog by email. It’s super easy to subscribe (and it’s super easy to unsubscribe). Just click this link and enter your email address. You’ll get a confirmation email to click on and then, boom, you’re done. We can be email pals :)

Here’s some resources in line with today’s post: I wrote this about seeing your beauty after child-bearing changes your body. Honestly, on the bad days, I read it to myself to encourage myself. Ha!

Sarah Mae wrote an e-book called Frumps to Pumps. It’s kind of like 5 minute daily devotionals to challenge, encourage, and equip you to spend a little more time on yourself.

On Growing Up in a Pentecostal Church

I grew up on an orange pew in a small Pentecostal church.

I grew up with tongues-speaking and large women running aisles whenever the Spirit fell. We called each other brother and sister. I looked forward to my weekly welcome from Brother Sid who always had a smile and a Werther’s Original to share.

My mom made sure we were at church every time the doors were open which happened to be twice on Sunday, Wednesday evening, and Tuesday mornings for prayer.

My pastor was a gentle man. He was a Missouri boy who loved down-home cooking and blue-grass music. Everyone knew biscuits and gravy was his favorite meal.  He frequently mentioned his favorite singer: his wife. I think I heard the story of how he met her at church and how he kept going to that church so he could date her no less than 198 times in my childhood. If I am honest, I don’t think I remember a single one of his sermons, but I do remember how he would tell me every chance he got: “Amanda, you know God loves you? There isn’t anyone that He loves more than you.”

My pastor’s wife was an adamant woman. She was adamant about my worth, she was adamant about purity, she was adamant about making a way for me. I remember her confessing to me that she had a sharp-tongue, and maybe it was true, but she also knew how to wield her words as a sharp sword against the enemy. I probably had a healthy dose of the holy fear of God and of my pastor’s wife. She played the piano and sang with a big voice that could fill a room all by itself. She battled her weight and lost it and gained it a few times, and maybe this sounds funny, but I can’t even tell you how much I appreciated that she gave the softest hugs… I probably couldn’t count how many times I buried my face right into her shoulder and cried. I might not have been her daughter, but I always felt important to her.

I remember being 10 and desperate to go to summer camp. My pastor’s wife might not have wanted to sleep in an un-insulated cabin on a cot, but she wanted to be there for “her kids.” So she volunteered to run the camp store.  I remember being shy, not knowing anyone, not quite fitting… but I could always escape to the camp store. She was a safe place. She went every year that our church sent kids up.

One night at that camp when I was 14 or so, I had a really bad asthma attack that led to a really bad panic attack. I started to go into shock. I was laid out on a bench, head in my pastor’s wife’s lap, terrified, tears streaming and the talk of calling for a helicopter to fly me to the hospital in the background. My pastor’s wife prayed down the heavens. Her voice was loud and full of authority. She fought for me till the airways opened. Honestly, if I was asthma, or even God for that matter, I don’t think I’d bother with contradicting her.

I remember having church in a tent for almost a year. I had wanted to sing so badly. The first night in that tent, she called me to the front before service started and told me and another girl she wanted us to stand next to her and sing. We did almost every week. Church shoes on a dirt floor, under canvas before metal folding chairs, we learned to lead worship. She always made a way for people. I remember going and visiting that church years later and enduring a sweet older lady doing a special song. I don’t know how else to put this other than to say it was terrible. My pastor’s wife smiled big and warm the whole time. She knew it was worship.

(And for the record, there is a very strong possibility I sang that terrible.)

In my adult years I can say that I am really glad God has been bringing down denominational walls in my heart. If you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came and died on the cross for our sins and rose again… you are my brother and my sister—Pentecostal or not, Baptist, Evangelical, Episcopalian, Catholic, or Seventh Day Adventist… Really, all other matters pale in comparison to the salvation we have been freely offered.

But still, I am proud of my Pentecostal upbringing. This woman, now the wife of a cop, knows spiritual warfare. I know how to pray down the heavens. I desired to speak in tongues before I knew how weird or controversial it was. I’m glad. I love my prayer language, and like Paul, I use it daily. I know what it is to have the joy of the Lord bubble up and out uncontainable, to be undignified and dance before my God… before I knew about things like “order in service.”

My church might be a good deal more "conservative" now, but I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for that small Pentecostal church and the pastors that served it.

I so appreciate you, Pastor and Sister (we’ll keep your last name between us, but you know who you are).

Thank you for giving and giving, for making a way and a place for me, for praying, for loving.

You are so dear to me and so very loved.

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

I'd love to hear if you grew up in church? What was one outstanding memory from it?

Since I brought up some Christian topics that have historically brought controversy (and no doubt, still do), I would just like to make mention of Shawn Grove’s article. It gives an analogy about similarities and differences between Christians that I do believe encourages unity in spite of doctrinal difference.

Oh and here's another hint of what's coming next week: 

I am really excited for Monday's kick-off post. I do believe it is a message God is burning on my heart for me and women everywhere. Maybe grab your girlfriends?

Sharing in Community:

When You Just Have No Clue Where You Are Going

Photo Credit

One night I was driving home from work. I had worked late, waitressing well past closing at a restaurant in the city. I was 20 at the time, living with my parents. They lived in a small town with zero stop lights and a liquor store named “The Boondocks.” (The name of the store might be a good indication they were at least one half hour from a real grocery store and modern civilization).

This particular night was foggy.

The fog had rolled in thick. White clouds like swamp monsters clung to asphalt and farmland. Visibility: the end of my nose. The stars weren’t visible. The ground wasn’t visible. The fences surrounding the pastures weren’t even discernible.

I felt claustrophobic. Trapped. Just me and my thoughts and this hope that there wouldn’t be a stopped car in front of me or a stray cow in the road. Something about not being able to see made me feel desperate, irrational, like I wanted to put the pedal to the floor and get out of there as quickly as I could. I longed for a break in the fog. CLARITY! To know I was where I was. To see something familiar.

The only way I could see to drive was to open my car door and find the middle line. If the middle went from being one solid and one dashed set of lines to being two solid I knew there was either a stop sign, a cross street, or a sharp turn just ahead.

Yes. It was that bad. And I had to get home… unless I wanted to sleep in my car in eerie swamp-monster covered land. I didn’t.

My 30 minute drive became a 100 minute drive.

(I wonder if one realizes when they think of glorious California with its ocean sunsets and ski resorts and Napa wine country, the low lying areas of California have a slight weather problem from October to March: fog.

It’s okay though. I’ll take fog over 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity any day, Midwest. Amen.)

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Has your life ever felt like this?

Groping through the dark? Swimming in pea-soup fog, completely unsure of what God is doing and what you should be doing?

My life has felt like this since March—when we moved, my church moved (and merged with another church), and my husband starting working as a cop.

I have no idea what God wants me to do, where He wants me planted. And I don’t know what He wants to do in my family.

I’ve been antsy. Claustrophobic. I want the fog to clear and to just know. Wouldn’t it be great if God always spoke through writing in clouds and a booming voice, “Thus sayeth the Lord, thou shalt walk in this direction, go to this church, make this your ministry. Amen.”?!!

But He usually doesn’t.

Sometimes God is the yellow line on the road. Go slowly. Lean in close and I will guide you… one step at a time.  I want you close so I can work on you, heal you.  And I want you close so we can be close. I am doing a work I don’t want you to see just yet. Would you trust me?

Would you trust Him?

I sought wisdom a few months back from a life coach. (Um, can I just highly recommend this if you are ever in a confusing season of your life? If you live in my area, I’d be happy to share mine! She’s amazing.) She gave me this bit of wisdom, probably more eloquently, but it was something like this: Stay where you are. Walk slowly. Lean in to Christ. It might take weeks, months, maybe even years, but I promise the fog will clear. Get to the places where you find healing, hold onto the things that give you life. And wait.

Wait.

It’s hard, right? I want to know, and now, thank you. I’d like to plan for tomorrow, God, so if you could just kindly clue me in?!

I keep thinking I know what God is doing so I jump ahead and then find myself realizing I just need to walk in step with Christ. I am learning how much I like to be in control and how little I have, in fact, surrendered to God. The thing is: I don’t need to guess what's ahead. I don’t even need to know what’s ahead.

I can trust God.

And really, if I learned one thing that night in the dense fog it’s that the only way to get through those places where you can’t see 3 feet in front of you, is to move slowly and look at where you are now--those yellow guiding lines. God will guide you. You might not see what’s in front of you, but I promise you He is right beside you.

Photo Credit

Have you ever been in a foggy place where you just had no clue what God was doing? How did it turn out?

By Grace,

Amanda Conquers

Pssst… Dude. We are doing a one-week series next week. I am excited for it. Hint: I am bringing in the professionals for something I really need help with (and maybe women everywhere.) More hints and details to come! 

Sharing with this beautiful community: