♥Seeing Yourself Through Gods Eyes♥ I know how much Teen Girls struggle with outward beauty and inward beauty. Have you ever seen someone and they look so beautiful on the outside, then got to know them and all of a sudden they aren't so beautiful anymore? Then you see someone who is somewhat plain, but get to know Them and they are so beautiful on the Inside that they become beautiful on the outside? This is the True Christian Teen! Learning that the pressures that the world puts on you from magazines, commercials, school and other ways to be perfect on the outside are destructive to who GOD says you are. These models are Not the exception! Most of them have been touched up by computer programs when you see them in the magazines. Many have had alot of cosmetic surgery. The average girl is a size 12. God did not make us to be Like the World, but to be different. When we get down and out over not being able to meet Holywoods standards, They are not going to be the ones to pick us up after we have become anorexic, or balemic. It is your brothers and sisters in Christ who are going to be there for you. "But the goal is to Never get to this point". I know teens who deal with this everyday. It is a mental and physical torment. It takes our eyes off of Jesus and onto ourselves. But i'm here to tell you,,, it's a hard way back to being normal, and finding your relationship with Jesus again. But there is Always Hope! God did Not save us to forsake us. He is Always there waiting with open arms and wanting so badly to help you. When you know WHO you are in Jesus, you will accept yourself just as God made you. ( Psalm 139.) Cj ♥Here are some excerpts from this magazine♥ Book Description Through anecdotes and Scripture, Thomas describes how young women can pull themselves away from the ballroom wall and come to dance-securely and unconditionally-in the arms of their Lord. She acknowledges the fear and anxiety young girls have, and discusses how to turn off the disabling voices in their heads, how to ignore the negative voices of those around them, and how to follow the only voice that has ever mattered. Readers are left with confidence, security, and a challenge to begin a lifelong dance with God. Told from the heart of a women who understands, Beautiful will teach girls how to experience dreams that far surpass any Cinderella, to live a love that is no fairy tale, and to dance for eternity with a God who thinks, who knows, who created them Beautiful. Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. When No One Notices I don't think this is just my story. I truly believe that the longing to be known as beautiful is part of our design as girls. God put us together this way on purpose. We are wired to long for beauty, yet the world does a wonderful job of squelching this desire. I realized over time that I could not have anything in life that required me to be beautiful. I understood almost instinctively that I should keep my head down, study hard, try to do the right thing, and maybe life would turn out okay in the end. The journey, of course, can play out in many ways. Your experience may be quite different from mine. My friends who have been beautiful on the outside all of their lives have struggles that are foreign to me. Because they have been noticed for their physical beauty, they fear that no one will ever see their heart or their true self. Or they fear that they will be accepted only because of their beauty and will be rejected if anyone ever looks below the surface. I have a beautiful friend who has anxiety attacks in church because she is afraid that everyone is looking at her. Although it is painfully real for her, it is no exaggeration to say I cannot imagine her struggle. You see, I have always assumed that no one is looking. And so, when no one notices, a lot of us wander through life blending in, always trying to figure out the balance of being just right, like boiled eggs - bland and easy to swallow. Other girls act out, doing anything to get someone to notice. But either way, after lost hope, the ache of disappointment, and the repetitive pain of rejection, the longing to be beautiful is buried and the insecurities grow. The desire to be known as beautiful is eventually stuffed away into an untouchable place in our hearts. We cannot deny that the desire is there - whether you are like my friends or like me. It has been there for every girl I've ever known. Deep down, we long for romance. We long to be rescued. We long for a hero to steal us away. We long to be beautiful. Do you hear me saying that I long to be weak and brainless? Then you have not heard me. I want to be incredibly intelligent, creative, and significant. It's just that when I let myself search for the truth of my heart, it's always in the voice of a little girl who wants to grow up and be beautiful one day too. It fells a little goofy to be wrestling with these truths. But better now than never at all. Maybe no one has ever really noticed you either. And you've learned to pretend that it's okay. It's not okay! You were made to be seen and known and loved deeply. And it's okay to want what you were made for. No More Pretending We all pretend for a while or for a lifetime. But pretending is not living. It's like wearing a designer snow parka and sitting in the lodge but never really skiing down the mountain. When we pretend, we are alive and present, maybe sipping hot chocolate by the fire, but missing the whole extent of what God intended for our lives. Eventually, there was a day when it was just me and God with my insecurity. Everything had hit me at once and I was crying; actually, I was sobbing like a baby. My heart was racing and my chest felt like it was going to explode. And finally, through a blur of tears, these words made their way into my journal: Oh, God, do You think I'm beautiful? No one else has been able?so is it You? There is so much more inside of me, a great well of passion and dreams. A place I never let myself go. Is it safe to trust You with the rest of my heart? What will You do with me if I show You everything? Every desire? Every longing? Every doubt? Every weakness? If I show You, will You still love me? Will You hold me and care for me in the dark? Oh, God, hold me, please hold me and tell me that You love me. Tell me that You'll fight for me. Tell me that I am beautiful. I cried and waited. Empty. I lay on the floor completely spent. The question took up the whole room and there was nothing else to say, except to pray: It's just me. You see it all. You know it's just me. You know how You've made me, and You know how to speak so that I can hear. I cannot move until I hear from You. In the wilderness of that room, as alone as I have ever been, the Lord met me. The words He formed in my mind began to answer the question. In my imagination I could sense the Lord patiently smiling over me, and I heard Him speak into my heart: Yes, Angela, I think that you are beautiful. Your desire has served its purpose; you have finally brought your true heart to Me. Are you tired of pretending? Are you tired of hoping that someone else could fill the place that was meant for Me? I see you, all of you, and you do not have to hide anymore. I see your sin and I see your flaws and I still desire you as My own. I am crazy about you. I am the answer. The "more" that your heart waits for is Me. Yes, dear one, yes, you are incredibly beautiful to Me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can order the book from this link...http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400304261/qid=1048386071/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002 -3192566-4049665?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 ♥Leaving you with this thought♥ *Your self worth is not based on your outward appearance, but the beauty of Jesus who shines through the countenance of your face* Love~CJ