Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge

This book is the follow=up to Wild at Heart, the book about how godly men should actually pursue their rugged adventure because that is what they were built for. I've never actually read it, but I do remember some key points. Men desire three things:

1. To live an adventure
2. To fight for something
3. To discover beauty

Women also wants three things at their core that actually coincide. God knew what He was doing here. Surprise!

1. To join in the adventure
2. To be fought for
3. To have her beauty discovered

These make sense to me, and I wasn't surprised or super-enlightened when I heard them. They made sense, so I just added this to the repertoire of small sermonettes that may come in handy.

However, this week, the new book for women (the title of this post) has been rocking my face off. Stasi describes that men and women are made in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27, nothing new), but she goes on to say that men represent God's strength and His power. Here's the take-home: what makes men attractive? STRENGTH. Hold up, let me finish. I'm NOT talking about meat-head in the gym strength. I'm talking about strength of character, fighting for what's right, defending those that are weaker than you. THAT is super-attractive. You think about the heroes in the movies. What makes them studs? Their character, conviction, and drive to set things right (examples: Gladiator, Braveheart, The Last Samurai).

Women represent God's beauty. What makes women attractive? BEAUTY. And not as defined by Elle or Cosmo magazine. We all know drop-dead gorgeous girls that no ones wants to be around and certainly not date simply because they have bad attitudes. No, a woman's beauty is defined by her heart. When a woman is loving, compassionate, and serves the needs of those around her, that's attractive. Men can say a lot of things about appearance and such, but I would dare to say that the only aspect that truly pulls at a man's heart would be the genuine compassion and encouragement found in the heart of a woman.

It brings up all new objectives in terms of self-improvement. I'm challenged not to find the best new product to prevent fine lines around my eyes. I'm challenged to learn to love better, to think of others first, and to battle the urge to self-protect. Stasi mentions that sharing your beauty as a woman will make a difference in your world, but it's a process to make your heart vulnerable. Isn't that the title of my blog or something?