wonderfully made.

I read an article the other day that really stood out to me.  I, like most girls, grew up playing with barbie dolls and dreaming that one day I would literally grow up to be a barbie (ridiculous, I know).  In the article I read from O magazine model Katie Halchishick poses to show what someone would have to go through to get the 'perfect' Barbie body.  Here's a breakdown of what she would need on just the upper half of her body: brow lift, jaw line shave, rhinoplasty, a cheek and neck reduction, a chin implant, scooped-out shoulders, a breast lift, liposuction on her arms and a tummy tuck...  Um, OUCH!  Let's be serious, this model Katie is a beautiful girl, who does not need a single one of these procedures, but it's so crazy that those are the things that this beautiful girl would have to go through to look "perfect".

Our society today is OBSESSED with perfection.  It drives me crazy.  Society has this image in their head that "THIS is what beautiful is."  I'm sorry, but the world would be a pretty boring place if all women were made from the same mold.  

Pslam 139:14 says "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  The verse does NOT say I am fearfully and perfectly made.  I had a hard time believing that I was wonderfully made after I had my son, Caleb.  Let's face it, you will never find a barbie with a stretch mark.  It was very difficult for me to accept my "post baby body" even though everyone was telling me I looked so great for having had a baby.  As much as I wanted to, I just could not accept their compliments.  It's difficult to realize, but your body is temporary, and sometimes it serves a greater purpose.  The best example I can give you is Jesus, the one person that was ever made perfectly.  Before His death, His body didn't look so perfect though, He was whipped and beaten and disfigured but His body served a greater purpose, to give us eternal life, in the same way that my body, and so many women out there who have had babies have been used to give life.

I use to strive for perfection, it was exhausting.  It did not make me happy and I was left feeling unfullfilled. Instead I had to realize that true beauty comes from the women that realizes that God has made her wonderfully and loves and accepts her body, "flaws" and all.  Don't get me wrong, there are still days that I am way too hard on myself, but I have to remember that I am beautiful just the way that I am.  Love the person that God made you to be, not the person that society tells you they think you should be.