I Am Not Beautiful. I am not Gorgeous. I am as Radiant as the Sun.

Beautiful for Me - Nicole Nordeman

Today I went to this thing that my friends Maria and Julia put on. It was called Camp Pretty Purposeful. (Website here.) Basically, a whole bunch of different speakers that you can see on the website, came to this event and spoke to us, a bunch of teenage girls. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, except for what one of the speakers said that really affected me.

Jennifer Strickland is a former super model. After getting out of that lifestyle and being saved by Jesus, she still struggled with insecurities. The detrimental life of a model had taken its toll. Since she had anorexia she had back skin. Her health had been damaged and she still had bad acne. In fact, she had these really awful under-the-skin sores that would get infected. Every time she tried lotions it just got worse. Finally, she went to a world renowned dermatologist to get a prescription that would work. The doctor looked at her and told her: 'You need to stop looking in the mirror. For one month, don't look at your reflection.' She didn't think he was serious, but she went on a forty day mirror fast. About fifteen days in without looking at her reflection at all, her son's preschool teacher told her, 'you look radiant.' Her not looking at herself actual improved her appearance.

Isn't that crazy? When we focus on our heart instead of our pants' size, people notice. If you're kind to people, if we show we really care, then they don't see our acne or frizzy hair, they see you. I have absolutely nothing against wearing cute clothes, wearing make-up, doing your hair. But I do have something against focusing on those things. If we remember that the way God made us is beautiful, it shows. We, like Jennifer, look radiant. Always, always, always, always, remember that no matter who you are, you are beautiful.

Vote affirmative, you radiant person.