AM I BEAUTIFUL ENOUGH?

While perusing facebook today,  I stumbled upon my little sisters post sharing that she had started a blog to document her weight loss journey. I knew that she had been working hard to be healthy and had recently lost weight...but when I clicked on the link to read it,  I had no idea what she had actually went through to get where she is now.

This is Andrea. She is a senior in high school. She is such a gorgeous girl inside and out! She has an amazing heart for missions and serving God. She is so bright, kind, and full of life!

 But her story made my heart ache. I had no idea what she went through. I wanted to share her story here because I don't think we truly realize how much the young girls in our lives are suffering. How little in value they feel. How much they actually hate themselves. We know the pressure society puts on them to be beautiful and skinny, but do we realize the actual toll it takes on them? What it truly costs them? I thought I did, but I honestly had no idea!

Here is a quick snippet of Andrea's blog

"Jr. high was finally here! I was terrified that summer but my mom thought she would do something nice that might pep me up and took me shopping for school clothes. I remember this day so perfectly because I shopping had never made me cry my eyes out till this day. My mom took me and Miranda into American Eagle to get us some “Teenage girl” jeans. Miranda found the perfect pair for her that made her look great and feel so happy! While I was pulling, tugging, and trying to wiggle my way into the same size as her in the dressing room next to her. I didn’t come out for a very long time, I sat there and cried my eyes out. Finally my mom came in after beginning to worry. She gave me a big hug and told me it was going to be okay. After that day I swore I would work so hard to become skinny and beautiful like the rest of the girls. And that was my problem. I was loosing weight to be beautiful. To be wanted. To be “sexy”. And when it didn’t it only reassured the thought that i wasn’t beautiful and that no one would ever want me. As Jr. high began I returned to my Homeschool co-op where i had grown up with most of my friends there. I had the biggest crush on my best guy friend. We’d know each other since we were 5 and suddenly he was tall and cute and not the goofball older brother I had always seen him as. But there was no way I would ever get him. Every girl in school liked him. That year was one of the hardest. I lost friends to other girls that didn’t like me. Gossiping became a new thing for girls in my grade and back stabbing happened at every turn. To make matters worse my church and family life was pretty awful. My friends at church were pulling me into the wrong stuff and I was openly letting them. My oldest, Lorissa, had gone off to college and was getting married soon and my second oldest sister, Erica, was getting ready to leave for college. I didn’t know who to turn to during all this. I couldn’t go to my mom because that would admit I wasn’t strong enough to handle myself. And all my other sister’s were strong, so I better keep quiet that way I’m not a disappointment. So my self worth was at level zero and never once did I think to call out to God for help because I thought he was the one who cursed me with this body and ugliness so he wouldn’t help me. No just keep quite and don’t be a problem is what i always told myself. "

Jump on over to The Atlas of Andy and check out her full story. I truly believe it is one we all need to read. Then take a good look at the young women, and even women our age in our lives to see if they are suffering.