15 Jul, 2008
Miss Venezuela crowned Miss Universe 2008
NHA TRANG CITY, Vietnam, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza, an interior designer, was named Miss Universe 2008 on Monday, after outperforming and outsmarting 14 other young women in the final round of the 57th pageant held in Vietnam's central Nha Trang city.
Mendoza, 22, said she likes design, photography, advertising and wave surfing. The Venezuelan girl with the height of 1.78 meters can speak Spanish, Italian and English.
Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori handed over the crown worth 120,000 U.S. dollars to Mendoza, who will continue Mori's work of traveling around the world to promote education and HIV/AIDS research.
The 80 candidates worldwide, competed for the Miss Universe in a grand show, which was live televised to 170 countries and regions, with exciting performances of the beautiful women in swimsuits and evening gowns, and their quick responses to the judges' questions.
photo & story courtesy news.xinhuanet.com, 8/14/08
Looking good!
1 Samuel 16:6-7 (NLT)
6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Psalm 139:14 (NLT)
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
What does today's God's story scripture teach us about God's perspective on how we look?
In today's passage, we find Samuel being directed by the LORD to find a man to be the king of Israel. Evidently, Eliab was HOT! He was tall and good looking - you know the kind - someone sure to be admired by the people! (But he didn't make the cut!)
Thankfully, God judges by faith and character, not our looks or lack of them. Since only God can see our true inner qualities, only He can accurately judge people.
Do you tend to judge people by outward appearance? Do you feel judged by others for your appearance?
God warns us about judging by outward beauty. Most of us spend hours every week trying to look good! Now, there's nothing wrong with trying to look nice and take care of our bodies, but we should do even more to let God develop our inner character and beauty.
What are you doing to maintain and improve your inner qualities?
This is way more important than looking like Miss Universe.
How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?
- Thank God for creating you to be so unique! If you struggle with your self image as it relates to your physical looks, ask Him to give you His perspective - that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! If you have been judging others because of their appearance, ask God to forgive you and give you the desire to get to know the inner qualities of others.
- Every time you look in a mirror this week, thank God for His creativity, because He sees you as beautiful!
- Memorize Psalm 139:14 for God's perspective on you!
How can we connect today's story and God's Story scripture to the lives of others?
Think about someone you know who is often seen by the crowd as not one of the "beautiful" people. Look for ways to get to know his or her inner qualities and then affirm this person for one of those characteristics. This is part of getting to know some one's story and looking for ways to connect it to God's Story.
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