I was approached a while back to do a sign similar to this
that is floating around Etsy and Pinterest.
The above mentioned sign is great, but I don't like to copy a lot of
work now days. Not that I'm a huge snob, I just know what it's like to see your hard work get copied. It also turns out that my
high school English teacher(s) may have made more of an impact on me than I
thought. I enjoy writing. The written/ spoken word is the most powerful
tool any human possesses. It can cut a
person in two or it can elevate them to the point of invincibility.
With all that in mind I contemplated what I wanted to say
with this board. The sign was originally
intended for two young girls, so I thought about them and if I had a daughter
what I would want to convey to them with this sign.
My first thought was
self-image. It seems like all the
mainstream sells these days is a particular brand of girl…one whose ribs show
when naked, one who has full lips, shiny hair, and no blemishes, nothing that
makes them special, set apart from all the other girls who are on the same
magazines and in the same type movies every year. How sad are we as a society that we try to
all look like that same “girl” and do not enjoy the blessings God gave us that
makes us different than all the other girls around. I’m speaking to myself when I say this, as I
am the ring leader of wanting a better body, I’ve dyed my hair for years(I just
recently found out what my natural color was :)
), frequented the tanning bed in the past, several things that, if I had a
great self-image, I probably never would have done.
God never makes mistakes.
If you have something you don’t like about you, God loves it more than
anything. He created it (you), if he
didn’t like it do you think it would have made the cut when he was determining
your physical makeup?
My second thought was that our feminist movement leads us to
believe that we as women are strong enough to not need anyone, no man, no God,
nothing in order to thrive. Women are
strong. Of course women are strong! I fight bad guys for a living (I’m a mom of two
boys, that’s what we do all day)! However,
at the end of the day I need relationships.
Ultimately, I need the relationship of Jesus. We put all of our trust in our own strength
when really we should be looking toward the Savior who has never, ever left
us. He holds us up. He provides ultimate protection. He gives comfort that no one can
understand. If you place all of your
meaning on ANY other relationship it will let you down. You
can’t get a more perfect man than God. :)
I'm still not 100% certain that I conveyed all that I want to say with this board, so it might be subject to a re-write. But here it is, blemishes and all. :)
