God designed you with intention

I was scanning through some msn articles and found an article titled "How to always look amazing in photography". this could be good I thought seeing as most of the times I consciously try to pose in photos--it doesn't really work well... so I'm scanning through and I find this quote:

"Be proud of your freckles, goofy teeth, or big ears—they're what make you unique. When you're comfortable with yourself, it will always shine through. But hey, if all else fails, Photoshop!"

What a contradictory statement!!! Culture tells us to be proud of our bodies and features unique to us but if we don't like it then all we have to do is tuck, and pull, and pinch, and color our faces on a program and voila---a whole new you. Only it isn't you at all--more an "idealized image" of something you think you should resemble.

You know when you walk into the mall and you pass the makeup counter and it looks as though the saleswoman has turned her face into a paint pallet by applying everything she is selling on her face. my sister has these big beautiful green eyes and I remember one time she went and got her eyes done for prom and came back with this "hooker" look. I told her as much and though she didn't care much for my advice I found myself annoyed because her natural beauty was being hidden behind this fake "idealized" beauty.

my husband likes me best with no make up on. it doesn't seem to make a difference to him although to me sometimes it's a vanity thing. even tho I buy the cheap walmart stuff that doesn't do anything for your face, it's like this silly security thing that I can't even explain or justify. I wonder if guys are shocked when they meet girls that they've seen through facebook that look nothing like their pictures. I've heard brides say they don't want to wear much makeup because when they wake up in the morning their husbands might not recognize them.

I am writing to any girl/woman that I know because I KNOW that we are faced on a regular basis with images that are unrealistic photos of normal, healthy, beautiful girls/women. This statement telling us to be proud of our features but if all else fails to photoshop is a load of crap.

God designed you with intention just like he designed that gorgeous sunset or string of mountains. He knows everything about your body and loves everything about you. He knew exactly what he was doing and is incapable of making mistakes in his creation. In high school I spent alot of time frustrated with my figure--I would look at other girls and think why God could you not shape me like them. But God knew all along what he was doing when He created me--my personality, my figure, my small chest, you name it. And guess what--after all this second guessing my looks and wasting time day dreaming of what I could look like---God brought my husband into my life. Jay is not the type to settle--he has high standards and knew exactly what he wanted in a girl (ask his sister--he had specifics). And wonder of wonders--I fit right into his concept of what he wanted in a wife. If God had granted a sudden change in my looks I could have had a completely different life...but thank God that He knows better than my silly requests.

But before you go thinking that it took a guy to make me feel confident I'll have you know that I met Jay when I wasn't looking for anyone. I was pursuing an avid relationship with God and falling in love with him for the first time and finding fulfillment in that....when you know who you are in Christ---loved and valued and beautiful and you believe it---you find a confidence that will not be shaken. sure you have your moments here and there when you go back to your previous way of thinking but you have to consciously stop and as my friend jules reminded me---take every thought captive (meaning bring it before God and ask him--is this true--what I think about myself?) and God will give you discernment.

I really feel for girls/women that get caught up in this concept of image control and making sure they are perceived a certain way when all along they are so hungry for affirmation and fulfillment and contentment in who they are. I went looking for some verses to back me up in my statements and these are some ones I found... God Bless...

Ps 139:13-16 (The Message)
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.

Proverbs 31:30 (The Message)
Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
The woman to be admired and praised
is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.

1 Peter 3: 1-4 (The Message)
The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.
4-6Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.