Just So Beautiful!

You are so beautiful!  Your eyes are gorgeous the way they sparkle when you smile, your hair is so pretty, your chin is perfect, your pink lips so sweet.  God created you exactly the way you should be and He has the best taste!

I wish that I knew each one of you reading this today and could say that to each one of you personally.  As a young woman, I know how important it is for women to feel beautiful and I also know that so many women don't feel pretty at all.  The society we live in has distorted beauty and created this fake, anorexic model with big boobs and long legs.  When a woman like Jennifer Lawrence is called "fat"....you know to quit listening to those doing the calling!

I have struggled with being content with my looks since I was a little girl.  When I was 11 years old, I had acne like you wouldn't believe (actually, you probably would....I wasn't the only one I just thought I was.)  When I was 16, I still was not content with my looks even though I was the perfect weight for my frame, had long pretty hair and the acne was minimal.  By the time I turned 18, I had started to put on a little weight.  Like my mother, I was hippy and even shorter than her, so on me, 5 pounds looks like 10 and skirts that fit in the hips are huge at my waist.  I gained gradually over the next 4 years, always wishing I could lose it and be perfect but only succeeded in growing more and more dissatisfied with my body.

Last summer, due to stress, lack of sleep and lots of sugar, I gained 20 pounds in 2 months and 30 over the space of about 4 months.  Since then, I have grown to hate the way I look.  I would spend an hour just trying to find something to wear that made me look more slender.  I used to still like how I looked at least on some days, but I didn't at all anymore.  I just wanted to be skinny again.

Over the past 7 months I have gradually come to a realization and that is that no matter how much I weigh, or if I have clear skin or zits or if my hair is wavy or thin....my Lord still loves me and He does not want me to be focusing on what I dislike about myself.

I'm learning to be content with how I look TODAY.  Some talk about loving yourself and as mixed up as they may be, there is some truth in that.  So many of us girls hate ourselves and it shows in the way we dress, act and what we eat.

I noticed something not too long ago.  For a while no one ever complimented me on my looks or told me I was beautiful.  I thought it was just because I was fat until the day that I began to dress myself to look lovely rather than dressing myself to look skinny.  I haven't lost a pound but more than once I've been complimented and even though the flubber is still there where I don't want it to be, I still feel beautiful when I put on a pretty outfit and a flower in my hair...and others think so too because I am happy with the way I look.

I saw a clip of a show once where they were showcasing geeks turned super stars.  A woman on the show had discovered a 13 year old girl who was constantly and cruelly bullied for her looks.  After setting up the story, they brought this young girl onto the stage and I was shocked.  Her outfit was normal, nothing smashing but not crazy ugly at all.  Her glasses were kinda cute, her gorgeous wavy hair was pulled back in an adorable side pony-tail, her features were perfectly proportioned, she was neither under nor overweight...I still haven't figured out what the bullies didn't like.  From the world's standpoint, she should have been one of the popular girls, but she was convinced she was ugly!

I so wanted to hug her and tell her how beautiful she really is.  Not just her, but also every other woman that I meet.  You need to know that you ARE beautiful just the way you are.  Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise...including yourself.

"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." -Song of Solomon 4:7