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I Love My Short Body
[Guest Post by Leeann] – I am exactly five foot tall and I have always hated my short body. I have hated my toes that are funny and irregularly shaped. I blamed my legs for my lack of height. Every year I was the shortest in my class. I try on pants at most stores and they are far too long. Forget shoe shopping–my funny toes make this a near impossible task. I can keep going… Everyone says to read Psalm 139 to remind yourself of the wonder of your body. I cannot tell you how many times I read those exact words. They meant nothing to me. The…
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I Love My Body – Baby Bump
[Guest Post by Kimberly Davidson Campbell] – Weight gain and the numbers on the scale have always been a troublesome spot for my mind and heart. From the time I was in 3rd grade I remember disliking the school pictures for the year book. I always criticized them and stared at them wondering if there was anything beautiful I could find in them. I recently finished a 39+ week maternity photo shoot. I sat at our dining room table and started glancing through them, then sobbed uncontrollably and buried my head in my husband’s side. I hated all of them. Why? No, my hair was great and makeup looked good…
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Practicing Hospitality
During the past few months I’ve been practicing hospitality on my blog and in real life. First, I started with letting people share their stories. Then, I moved on to asking others to help me define the meaning of true friendship. Next, I asked others to write and answer pre engagement questions. Then I turned 30, and wanted to know if I was the only one who survived my 20s. After I lost weight, I released my latest series on why I love my body and asked others to share their stories too. Practicing hospitality means inviting, welcoming, and allowing two or more people to share with each other. Maybe…
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I Love My Body – Thighs
[Guest Post by Angela McNeil] – Thunder Thighs, more cushion for the pushin’, child bearing hips, Saddlebags… I can go on and on about the names I was called throughout my life–it didn’t stop at high school. Even when I was on the swim team super active in sports, the comments still came about my thighs. It was even more frustrating because, being a child of the 90’s I wanted a pair of Guess Jeans but they weren’t styled for curves. I have always thought pants would fit better if I got rid of my saddlebags. Many of moments in the dressing room with tears because a dress didn’t fit…
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I Love My Body – Hands and Feet
Hands and feet are the two body parts I used to hate and wish I never had. The two body parts that–along with my head–cost me almost ten years of my life. I’ve shared my story before and I’ll share it again. It was because of severe eczema that took the skin off my feet, face, and hands. I also gained one hundred pounds in ten months from taking Prednisone to control my skin. So when I say I love my body–it’s nothing short of a miracle! There were many times I felt like giving up or wishing I had someone else’s body or body parts. I always felt like…
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Love Me?
This week God has been teaching me a lot about how to love me. First, there was this idea to start a series called I Love My Body. I invited many fabulous women (and men) to share their body stories. Stories of hate. Stories of acceptance. The series kicked off with one of the most beautiful Brit’s I’ve ever seen. Her name is Chine and she is actually writing a book on body image. HOW COOL IS THAT? Check out her story here. Then, there was my blog meltdown. I started a previous series called Monday Meditations–and let’s just say it failed. Read why here. Next up, I had the…
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I Love My Body
[Guest Post by Chine Mbubaegbu] – I love my body. This is something I couldn’t have written this a few years ago. Because loving my body certainly has not come easily to me. You could say our love affair has been a tumultuous one. Sure, we’ve had some fleeting dalliances–the odd glance in the mirror where I’ve caught sight of it and approved. But on the whole, arriving at a place where I can say that I truly love my body has been a journey I’ve been traveling on most of my life. When you start writing about beauty and body image, as I have done, and you start telling…
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I Survived My 20s – Singleness
[Guest Post by Monique Pearson] – Trust in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. If you’ve grown up in the church you’ve probably heard this a lot. For me the desire of my heart was to be married and well it still is. Since I was a little girl I was told to pray and ask God to bring the perfect future husband into my life. I knew I wanted to be married at some point so I had faith and believed that God would bring the right man. When I started to date around the age of 25 I really prayed about who…
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I Survived My 20s – Depression
[Guest Post by Addie Zierman] – I turned 20 on a warm day in July, and then, two weeks later, I got married. There was pink tulle everywhere and 200 roses that we ordered online and arranged into bouquets in the church basement. During the ceremony, two of my best friends from high school sang “Be Thou My Vision,” and their voices filled the room, haunting and sweet. This is how I began my 20s: eyes closed, heart raised. I was full to the brim with love and with Jesus, surrounded by all of my closest friends who felt the exact same way. From that alter, the future looked sparkling…
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What's Your Story – Carla
[Guest post by Carla] – I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be married, a time when I wasn’t desperate for someone to love me. I feared that I would be alone forever. You would think that after two divorces I wouldn’t want to be in a relationship any more, but that fear was still very alive inside me and so I launched my dating career. Yes, it became a career. I was 28, mother of three and on a mission to find someone to love me. I have since gone on more dates than I should ever admit out loud. Some of my dates have been…
