Beautiful and Dauntless Issue 55 by Beautiful & Dauntless

BEA

JULY 2021 | ISSUE 55

TIFUL

WHY ME? Summer Fashion & Beauty Happy 4th of July Summer Food and Fun

Understanding the why in life’s situations 1

letter from the EDITOR

HELLO &

DAUN LESS I cannot honestly believe that July is already here. I feel like it was just the start of June and I blinked and it was all over. Anyways, I hope you are enjoying your summer and that it is not flying by for you. What fun activites have you been up to for this summer? Are you traveling? Taking a staycation? Soaking up the sun? Whatever you get to do I hope you enjoy it with all your heart and embrace each sweet moment. Remember youi are a Child of God, bleseed and highly favored. Hold your head up and keep smiling. God loves you and se do we.

Stay strong and stay blessed! #bringingbeautifulback #dauntlessstrong XOXO,

karissahagemeister | khluv | karissaluvhagemeister

table of CONTENTS

JULY 2021

08 Summer Beauty 20 Beautiful Fashion

30 Dauntless Fashion 38 Courage Is So Sophisticated 42 Bae’s Kitchen

4th of July Smores

48 Why Me? 48

58 Dauntless Fitness 60 Covid Prayer Wall 62 Prayers Answered

beautiful & dauntless | kingdomdz | beautifulndauntless

meet the BEAUTIFUL & DAUNTLESS STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF, beautiful

Karissa Hagemeister-Irani is on a life long journey to share love, beauty and truth with the world. She enjoys modeling, acting and singing. She has her own fashion line and in July of 2016, Karissa published her first book. Her future plans are to revamp the fashion & entertainment industry with the love, truth and beauty through both her fashion business and Beautiful & Dauntless magazine. Editor-in-Chief of the Dauntless section of the magazine, Arman Irani, married Karissa in June of 2019.

EDITOR IN CHIEF, dauntless

Arman Irani is just another fellow human. He’s admittedly a little bit nerdy. How nerdy? Well, he just received a Bachelors degree in Nanotechnology. Arman loves working out, cooking healthy, dressing up, traveling and he’s also a bit of a gamer. He has no qualms with moving in faith to new destinations and embarking on new adventures in life (as the phrase goes, you only live once!). When it comes down to it, Arman believes life is short and hopes that you become inspired and believe in yourself to do the things that you want in this life and follow your calling.

ABOUT BEAUTIFUL & DAUNTLESS Beautiful & Dauntless is a collection of art and illustrations, depicting inner and outer beauty. It is stories, it is real, it is life. It is about you, your story, your life, your love, your pain and your fears. It is about us, our stories, our journeys, adventures and our moments of life that have been crafted specially to share with you. We want you to feel like you are a part of the stories, the adventures and the passion that each one of the editors, writers, designers and photographers bring to you. We want you to feel empowered, encouraged and excited about your beautiful journey in this life.

beautiful & dauntless | kingdomdz | beautifulndauntless

FEATURE EDITOR

Arnette German is a native of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. She took her leap of faith and finally decided to yield to her passion for fashion by enrolling in the online Graduate Program of Fashion Journalism at Academy Art University in San Francisco, California. No stranger to the stage, Arnette is a member of the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida. Presently calling Bradenton, Florida home, Arnette spends her free time either volunteering at her local church and spending time with friends and family, especially her best friend.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER & CONTENT CONTRIBUTOR

Arnette is a foodie and a lover of nature and the arts. Life is definitely, in some shape or form and fashion, being lived to the fullest. Xiomara Montalvo is a graphic designer and visual artist that lives and breathes all things artistic. She has lived in Florida half of her life but is originally from Michigan.

Xiomara has a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design from Southeastern University with a concentration in Digital Imaging. Visual Storytelling has always been a passion of hers. To be able to bring life to the imagination is what motivates her to design. When Xiomara is not working, she loves to read, write, draw, paint, and play video games. She personally believes that we were all created to create.

PODCASTS: If you love to listen to podcasts, you have to check out our new podcast station. It is available here: iTunes Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beautiful-dauntlesss-podcast/id1453936323 Google Play Podcast: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/I2dnkg2572v4xdggrh4bvwwzmmy PATREON: Patreon is a site that allows creators to express their talents and others can contribute to their projects. You can now sponsor us with a one time or a monthly contribution.. Contribute here: https://www.patreon.com/karissahagemeister

y p p a H h t 4 y l u J of 6

Beautiful BEAUTY

SUMMER BEAUTY SECRETS

A good RED lip is hott for the 4th of July. Here is our favorite shade for summer: Vegan Lipstick by Lip Bar in color Cosmo Available at target.com

Makeup Trends for Summer: Kohl Eyes - black eye liner all the way around your eyes Bright Eyes - experimenting with bright eye shadows on your eye lids

Hair Trends for Summer: Long Layers Curtain Bangs Curly Shaggs High Buns

Join Bea Em pow utie on ering s FB Bea f or w enc utie our s eek b age ly eau me ties em nt po we

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Read Esther

beautiful FASHION

Fashion outfit: Amazon (click the link below and go to S/S Ladies Fashion)

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Fashion Shirt: Amazon (click the link below and go to S/S Ladies Fashion)

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Fashion Outfit: Amazon (click the link below and go toS/S Ladies Fashion)

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Fashion Dress: Amazon (click the link below and go to S/S Ladies Fashion)

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dauntless FASHION

DAUN LESS Order now. Click here.

Men’s Fashion: Amazon (click the link below and go to Mens S/S Fashion 2021)

DAUN LESS 34

Order now. Click here.

Men’s Fashion: Amazon (click the link below and go to Mens S/S Fashion 2021)

DAUN LESS Order now. Click here.

Arnette’s CORNER

Courage Is So Sophisticated By: Arnette German

There will come a point in your relationship with Christ that He will require of you to do

something that in your mind will seem Impossible. Abnormally unachievable. For some it could be: 1.) Taking that leap of faith into the unknown by leaving your stable and comfortable job to begin the business He instructed you to establish. 2.) Either returning back to or matriculating into an educational institution or program. 3.) Maybe answer the call to start a ministry or vice versa do ministry. 4.) Holding on to your faith or a word given to you that you and/or a loved one will receive a complete healing…a miracle. 5.) The restoration of your marriage, a relationship or friendship. 6.) Simply opening your heart and yourself again for love…out of all scenarios the two things they have in common is obedience and Courage. In spite of what He is asking you to do, submitting and saying yes to the impossible through Him makes all things possible…achievable... tangible…reality. And yet, while you are doing it all the while afraid, (still being obedient), you are exemplifying Courage. Didn’t you know that Courage is so sophisticated?

Queen Esther, her entire story, demonstrates the classiness, poise and distinction of being

Courageous. For a time as such, for her, Esther, was the one that the Lord had predestined to help her people, the Jews. Not ever operating in or viewing her position for self…herself, Esther always adhered to the directives that her uncle Mordecai gave her. She never diverted from them, revised them nor or ignored them…Esther did accordingly as advised and because of her obedience, she remained in sync with the plan, purpose and timing so that when the appointed time came for her to execute with Courage, (going before the king, without being called upon, a BIG NO! NO! willing to die, if need be…in order to save her people), was able to be accomplished…successfully…seamlessly…effortlessly…simply because she graciously and gracefully grabbed obedience and operated alongside and with Courage, (as it is NOT a word-it IS a Being), to be remembered and honored to this day, to facilitate in others moving with Courage to receive and do what the Lord is yelling, “It IS possible…through ME! Just believe and do!”

Therefore, when you need Courage…to operate with it…call on it and It WILL come

and show out! So today, I ask you, to search yourself and see what is that the Lord is commanding you to obtain through obedience and Courage? After all, I believe Queen Esther will confidently and boldly say, “Courage is so sophisticated…don’t you see? Just trust and obey…and He’ll do the rest!”

bae’s KITCHEN

4th of July Smores

Ingredients: Red chocolate nibs Blue chocolate nibs Large marshmallows Graham Crackers Star sprinkles

Directions: 1. Take the red and blue chocolate nibs and microwave them in two seperate bowls for 30 seconds. Stir in between and microwave 2 more times at 30 seconds each. 2. Once melted, dip the graham crackers in the chocolate, stack with marshmallows and sprinkle the stars on top. 3. Set on parchment paper and allow the chocolate to harden in the fridge for 10 minutes. 4. Enjoy!

Submit YOUR recipes to be in next month’s magazine

SUBMIT

WHY ME?

Why Me?

By Tamara Haygood

When we look at the book of Esther in the Old Testament, and based on many of the stories and movies that we likely have watched, it tends to look like a fairy tale story where the lowly peasant becomes the queen of the land. I am going to look at this from a bit of a different angle. When we read about different lives in the Bible, we get a condensed version of their lives. We are not exposed to all of the difficulties, and even when the difficulties are expressed, we tend to move over them in our reading without taking into account the difficulties and sometimes the length of time those individuals may have gone through some very extremely difficult periods before a breakthrough came. Some never really saw the breakthrough, but maybe their children or grandchildren did because of their perseverance and choices. all.

Taking a closer look at the life of Esther, perhaps it was not so much of a fairy tale after

First of all, we see that Esther was an orphan. Some historical writings believe that her father had been killed after she was conceived but before her birth and that her mother died giving birth to her. If that was the case, she grew up never knowing either parent. Truly, that could not have been easy for a young child. The questions, the thoughts that she surely dealt with must have left her feeling left out. Can you imagine what she felt when seeing other children with their parents? Wondering what it could have been like to have had her mother and father in her life.

We also saw that she was raised by her uncle, and they lived in exile. Many of the Jewish people at that time lived scattered throughout Persia after the Babylonian exile. Although they had been given their freedom to return to their homeland, many of the Jewish people chose to stay in exile rather than go back to Jerusalem as it had been destroyed due to war. She was a stranger in an unknown land. Likely, she had lived there her whole life, but this was not the land of her people. In these times, it was not like just taking citizenship elsewhere and making a home. The Jewish people were not well thought of, they had been slaves previously. She was an outcast to society and most likely lived very meagerly.

Thirdly, we see that she had been taken captive. So, remember before this, she had freedom although she was not received well. She was taken captive. Also, note that Mordecia tells her to not use her Jewish name but to take on a Babylonian name. So, she is basically to take on another personification, this was her own safety.

The Persian King, Xerxes or Ahasuerus, was angered with Vashti, his previous wife, and wanted another queen. So, a decree went out to gather for himself all desirable virgins in the land. ”So, when the king’s order and edict had been proclaimed, and when many young women were gathered in Susa the citadel in custody of Hegai, Esther also was taken to the king’s palace and put in custody of Hegai, who had charge of the women” (Esther 2:8). She is no longer free but has been taken against her will to be a part of the King’s collection of women. For the ladies who may be reading, please know this was not a glamorous, exotic experience. Though they lived under the king’s care and likely for many,

including Esther, may have been in nicer surroundings. But, for all intent and purpose these women were slaves. They were sex slaves, to be used at the command of the king.

How did Esther get this position? She was young, the Bible indicates she was beautiful – and she was taken. Snatched out of her uncles’ home and moved to a strange environment with many other young women who were likely as terrified as Esther. Can you imagine being a young teenage girl suddenly being taken from your home, because the leader of your country wants to have multiple young girls at his disposal to sleep with, your chance of having your own husband and a family are gone- forever. What I am about to share is likely going to really distort any romanticized ideals you may have had about the story of Esther. Brace yourself… Esther was raped by the king. This may come as a big surprise, but the Scriptures are pretty clear about what happened.

“Now when the turn came for each young woman to go into King Ahasuerus, after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women – when the young woman went into the king in this way, she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the harem to the king’s palace. In the evening she would go in, and in the morning, she would return to the second harem in custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch, who was in charge of the concubines. She would not go into the king again, unless the king delighted in her and she was summoned by name.” (Esther 2:12-14)

The women or perhaps I should say “girls” that were chosen were all virgins who were all quite young, were brought before the king, historically they believe he was approximately 40 years of age at this time. They were taken one by one, for him to sleep with. After this encounter, they were no longer virgins, so they were now moved to a different chamber, now they were added to the number of the king’s other concubines. The word concubines is not a term we are familiar with, so let me put this in our language, they were now sex slaves, they were not his “wife”. As I mentioned before no other man could ever be their husband, so they would never be a “wife.” Also, unless the king was “pleased with them” they never again saw the king. Which also, lessened the chance of them ever bearing children, and I do not know if they did become pregnant if they were allowed to carry the child or if so to be allowed to raise it. So that opportunity in their lives was taken away. The king was shopping for someone to replace Vashti, the former queen. He was trying each girl out to see who he wanted to fill that position.

We see that she was asked to risk her life, she easily could have been executed.

When Mordecai learns of Haman’s (the king’s advisor) plan to annihilate the Jewish people, Esther is pushed to take action. Mordecai sends the queen a message, telling her to go before the king and beg for mercy on behalf of her people, the Jewish people. Even though she was queen she did not have access to the king whenever she desired. Esther knew that anyone who approached the king without first being summoned was killed – unless the king chose to extend his scepter and spare their life. Historically, they believe the king was a bit of a hot head, if that was the case, I am sure that even made things more intense. What Mordecai was asking of her to do could have likely been the very last thing she would ever do. But Mordecai said: “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will

rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13-14). Esther is literally facing death. Mordecai tells her if you don’t do this, don’t think that just because you are the queen that you will be spared. Talk about the weight of the world on your shoulders! She did not have an easy life, she could have said, “ well I guess this is the end of our people, I am not strong enough to do this.” But she didn’t’, she told Mordecai to have the Jewish people join her as the fasted and prayed. Then…Esther went before the king.

Thankfully, the king held out his scepter. We see that she used wisdom in how and when she exposed the plot and the king heard her out and granted her request.

God used her and Mordecai to save the Jewish people. But, once again, if we look at the full picture of Esther’s life. It was not an easy road, or a romanticized fairy tale. What we do see, is likely a very strong woman who had experienced some real challenges. I believe God was preparing Esther all through her life for this very moment. Just as Mordecai said, in verse 14.

God chose a woman who had everything taken from her – her parents, her freedom, her virginity – and He gave her everything. He took someone who, due to being a woman, her culture (a Jew in a foreign land), and the threat of the annihilation of her people, from the human perspective she was a powerless and insignificant person and through the struggles God took her life and made her a heroine.

Esther’s story is a powerful reminder that God can take our lives and even the hardest, darkest places and turn them around for His glory and our good even when it seems impossible. “Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19).

God purposely gave us the testimony of these people and their lives for examples to us. So, I feel maybe we should slow down in our reading and think about what it may really have been like for these people. Why is that important, well, for one thing when we ourselves walk through dark places sometimes we can feel quite alone and misunderstood. Exiled to our deserted island of inner pain. Maybe due to a loss, illness, hopelessness, and so many other things.

At times, many people have even felt abandoned by God when trudging through the valley of despair. That He is not listening, nor does He care about them. The truth of the matter is, I believe that we all have times of severe trials. Psalm 34:19, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” In James 1:2-4 it says:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” I too have had times where I felt the Heavens were brass and my cries for help were bouncing off from them and God could not or would not hear me.

However, when we step out of the glamorized version of the Bible and take all aspects into account, it tends to shed a very much eye-opening light on the reality of what these people went through. Something that has always stuck with me was something my father said to me,

on many occasions. He was not what I would consider a strong spiritual man, but his words were filled with much wisdom. I would be talking with him during a time of discouragement. Usually at this point, I was overcome with the weight of the struggle and tears of anguish were pouring. He would say, “You know life has good times and it has hard times, but you have to remember that you must hang on and push through because it won’t stay like it is right now forever.” And sure, enough life did just that. In fact, I have experienced in some ways like Esther, those places that were ugly and painful, things that, naturally, if I had the ability would want to undo them. But God truly takes ashes and makes something beautiful of our lives.

Now, I do recognize that for some you may be facing something, perhaps an illness. But even if this life does not have the promise of tomorrow, as believers we have the promise of a greater life, with our Heavenly Father when we step from this world into the next. The scripture that has always helped me when pressing through hard times is Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.” Why do I love this so much? It is the word “through” He takes us “through” it. He does not leave us there but takes us through it.

My hope is to encourage you today, though life can definitely be hard and seem so unfair at times. God has a plan and a purpose. I have learned that those places in life are opportunities to learn. Asking God, what am I to learn at this time? Help me walk through the fire and through the flood. He has not forgotten you; He has not abandoned you.

Verse 4 in that same passage says, “Because you are precious in My sight,

You are honored and I love you.”

He loves you; He is for you not against you.

Be strong my friend, God will be with you and as you continue this journey called life, you will likely get some answers to your…”why me” questions.

*** Join in on a weekly Bible Study for Women taught by Tamara. She goes LIVE on Facebook at 6:30 pm EST. Restoration for Activation FB group 57

Dauntless FITNESS

summer WORKOUT Summer time is a great time to enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and get a little extra exercise in. Here are some of our favorite exercises that you can enjoy outdoors this summer and get that workout in at the same time.

Swimming Bike Riding Long Walks on the Beach Volleyball Surfing/Paddleboarding Kayaking

PRAYER requests

Pray for safe travels for those traveling. Pray for all that are struggling with the coronavirus. Pray for jobs to open up for those that are seeking work. Pray for unity among the people of God.

In order for us to move forward, we must come together and pray for each other. Whenever you have prayer needs go to our website or Facebook page and share what you need prayer for. You can keep it anonymous. We will add as many prayer requests to the next magazine as possible.

prayers ANSWERED

God is Good! Even in the midst of this crazy season he has blessed us all in different ways. Share your #BLESSED moments with us on our website, Facebook page or email us and you could be in our next magazine. 62

Follow Beautiful & Dauntless  @beautiful & dauntless  @beautifulndauntless & on YouTube 65

DAUN LESS JULY 2021 | Issue 55

Why Me? Looking for Understanding in Life’s 66 Situations

Happy 4th of July

Men’s Fashion, Fitness & Food