Friday, March 23, 2018

“What if Barbie was a real woman?”


If you struggle with your self-esteem, care too much what others think, have daddy issues, or relationship troubles, you will want to keep reading…


Recently I had the chance to speak at my boys’ school for their Spiritual Emphasis days.  I actually did two workshops for girls only.  The title of my session was “She’s Beautiful!”  The emphasis was on how to build a healthy self-esteem.   I wanted to help them answer the following questions before we finished our session…

                                                          1.  Who do others say that I am?
      (What do others think of ME?)

2.  Who does God say that I am?
      (What does God think of ME?)

3.  Who do I say that I am?
     (What do I think of ME?)

I thought I would take a few moments to share with you some of what I did with them on that day.   This is Part Two from my original post “She’s Beautiful” (You can read Part One HERE).

YOU are beautiful!  Is that hard for you to believe?  
Well… it’s true!  Say it out loud for all to hear, “I’M BEAUTIFUL!”

The idea of being “beautiful” is a big deal to us whether we realize it or not.  We really do care what others think about us on the outside.  But, what makes someone “Beautiful”?
We could ask a million people today this same question and probably get a million different answers.  It really comes down to how “we” define beauty.

For some Beauty is defined by the perfect shaped body, the right color hair, a perfect complexion, or lightly tanned skin.  For others it’s all about personality, smarts, and what’s in the heart. 

Did you know that there are “tools” that help us measure outward beauty?  Three come to mind for me… a mirror, a scale, and measuring tape.

Have you ever looked into a mirror and not liked what you saw?  I have!!!  It seems that the larger the mirror we look into, the MORE imperfections we find.  “I’m too fat, my nose is too big, my hair is too frizzy or too straight, my eyebrows are growing together… yikes!  This body is out of control!” 

We never seem to be perfect enough when we look into that magic mirror, do we?  But, think about it…
                             Who decides what the perfect reflection should look like?

Have you ever gotten onto a scale and not liked the number you saw? I have!!! Maybe you avoid scales like the plague or only check it at the doctor’s office.  Nobody ever seems to be skinny enough when they stand on it.  That special number recorded on the scale can be a good thing or a bad thing... depending on the person.  For most it’s a secret number never shared with others.  But, why?

                            Who decides what weight is the perfect weight for everyone?

Have you ever used measuring tape to determine how small or big an area of your body is compared to others?  I have!!!  Some of the girls in my workshop didn’t even know what a measuring tape was when I held it up.  I explained that it was used to help measure every nook and cranny of your body to see if you are the perfect size… and it’s used for sewing too of course.   But, think about it…
                                        
                                          Who decides what that perfect size should be?


I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, “Barbie” was our role model.  Everyone wanted to grow up to be like this little doll.  She was skinny, had long, beautiful blonde hair, perfect white teeth, an amazing wardrobe, a cool pink car, a horse, a fancy house, and a hunk of a boyfriend named Ken. 
                                The big problem with Barbie is that an “Unrealistic Image” 
was placed in our minds as children that we could never attain. 

The perfect reflection, weight, and size of Barbie is totally impossible for anyone to ever accomplish!  We can NEVER measure up to it!  Let me explain…

Check out the comparison of Barbie’s measurements to those of an average woman below.  Barbie’s size and measurements do not add up to balanced proportions.  If she was a real woman, the closest comparison would be to that of someone who is severely anorexic.

What would life be like if a REAL woman had Barbie's body?
Based on her measurements, her bones would be frail causing lots of problems.  Her head would be two inches larger than the average  American woman's resting on a neck twice as long and six inches thinner.  Because of this she'd be entirely incapable of lifting her head.  She would have to walk on all fours to get around because her feet are so disproportionately small and her legs are so long.  She would have trouble standing because her chest would pull her forward onto her toes.  To top it all off, her head would be the same circumference as her waist meaning she would only have room for half a liver and few inches of intestines.   The result would be chronic diarrhea and death from malnutrition.  This is not what every girl dreams of when she imagines being like Barbie when she grows up.  

                       Did you know that 3 Billion women on the planet don’t look like Barbie?
(Only 8 women will ever come close.)


 Barbie vs. Average
                                   Barbie                   Average Woman
Height
5’9”
5’5”
Head
22”
20”
Bust
       39” (FF)
      36” (B)
Waist
19”
34”
Hips
33”
40”
Weight
110 lbs

(35 lbs underweight for her height)

140 lbs
Shoe Size
Size 3
Size 8.5

These measurements are totally impossible!!!   Nobody could ever accomplish this with out paying a lot of money out for plastic surgery and/or becoming severely anorexic in the process.


God did not create each of us to look like ONE person here on earth.  God likes variety!!!  The world has fooled us into believing that we have to change ourselves to become this PERFECT ideal of Barbie.  But nobody can do it! 

The rules aren’t fair when they make the “perfect ideal” so out of reach for us and they use Photo shop among other programs on all of the images they show us of skinny, perfect people in magazines and on TV.  Even the models who are in the pictures don’t measure up to these Barbie standards.

Do you remember those initial questions I was hoping to answer in my workshop for the girls?  The first one was…

Who do OTHERS say that I am? (What do others think of me?)

My answer:  Who Cares?  It’s not worth my time or energy.

I’m sure glad God doesn’t see us the same way the world does.  He looks beyond the surface of our lives into our hearts.  He sees beauty inside and out.

I Samuel 16:7 says…
“People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (NLT)

Be watching soon for my next post in this series of notes from my workshop for the girls called… “What does God think of ME?”

I hope if nothing else you have learned from this blog post that we can NEVER measure up to the world’s standards of beauty.  It is totally unattainable and a waste of time.  God made you the way you are for a reason!  He adores you and thinks YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!  Believe it friend!  It’s true!

Living to leave a legacy,
Julie

Saturday, March 3, 2018

"She's Beautiful!"


  
Recently I had the chance to speak at my boys’ school for their Spiritual Emphasis days.  I actually did two workshops for girls only.  The title of my session was “She’s Beautiful!”  The emphasis was on how to build a healthy self-esteem. 

I started drafting my thoughts a month in advance.  I had awesome props, great ideas for group involvement, and a dynamic presentation prepared.  All went well until half-way through my first workshop.  In the middle of sharing my voice became weak and my speech began to slur.  I noticed I was having trouble putting my words together.  This was all too familiar for me.  I was having a flare up and this was a bad one.
  
I explained to the girls what was happening to me and that I needed their help.  They jumped right in to assist me.  I had different ones read scriptures I prepared, some parts of my notes, and even lead out in song (I was never planning to do that!  Nobody would ever want to hear me sing!).  The song was beautiful! 

The girls listened closely as I attempted to share what God had put on my heart.  They had such sympathetic and caring hearts.  I felt bad, like I ripped them off on their workshop even if I couldn’t do anything about it.  It was frustrating.

I had a two hour break before my next session so I thought I might be okay.  I was hoping it would give time for my voice to recover.  I had no such luck.  I could tell before beginning the second workshop that I would have trouble so I improvised.  I found a dry erase marker and wrote tons of stuff on the board behind me.  They were main ideas I wanted the girls to take home with them if I couldn’t present things very well.  By the time I was done, it was covered with truths I hoped some how landed inside their hearts.


  For the second workshop I started off explaining my dilemma.  The girls seemed very sympathetic and wanted to help me as well.  For this one I couldn’t get very far into my teaching before my voice started falling apart.  I had many different girls assist me in reading main points in my notes, scriptures, and this time we sang the whole song together of “Good, Good Father” (Listen to the song HERE).  It was SO beautiful!  I wish I could have recorded the girls singing for you to hear.

After each point we discussed, I would have the girls say out loud… 

“I AM BEAUTIFUL!”  

The first group was very quiet all along when they said it like they didn’t believe a word they just said.  The last group (with more of the older girls in it) said it loud and proud.  They even shouted it at the end for everyone to hear down the hallway in the other workshops.  It was powerful!

At the end of each workshop I had the girls share something that stood out to them from my teaching time.  I wanted to verify in some way that something I said got inside or at least they heard it.  From what they shared, many of them had been impacted by my attempts to communicate with them.  What God had put on my heart had gotten into theirs in bits and pieces!  God is faithful!



I headed to work immediately after my last workshop to finish up paperwork.  I was lucky to even get off to be there this year to speak.  The minute I hit the parking lot at work I called my doctor’s office.  If I didn’t get this flare up under control, things would get out of hand quickly.  By the time I got home that night my voice was pretty much gone and I was very weak.  The dreaded autoimmune disease strikes again!  Boo!  (To read more about my condition click HERE).

 As I got home, I began to re-play my day in my mind… mainly those workshops.  I prayed the girls got something out of it despite my personal issues and limitations.  Just saying that frustrates me.  Each workshop had about 17 girls in them.  The first group had more of the middle-schoolers and the second one had a good mix of middle and high school girls. 



I thought back over the day… I started each workshop off by giving the girls a sheet of paper to fill out while we waited for everyone to arrive.  It was entitled, “5 things I like about ME”.  Some of the girls did a double take.  They thought it said “didn’t like”.  They were hoping it said that because that was a much easier list for them to write.  As I walked around the room, I saw many blank pages.  They couldn’t think of anything they liked about themselves.  It was sad.

For many of us, this would be true of us too.  The struggle is real.

Once they all arrived I introduced myself and jumped right into my teaching time.  I shared how if God was here in the flesh today beyond a shadow of a doubt I know He would brag on you and say… “That’s my daughter isn’t she BEAUTIFUL!”

I told them that we were going to talk about Beauty, Barbie’s, Boys, and the Best daddy ever. 

I wanted to help them answer 3 questions they might be asking themselves

1.  Who do others say that I am?
(What do others think of ME?)

2.  Who does God say that I am?
(What does God think of ME?)

3.  Who do I say that I am?
(What do I think of ME?)

Since this post is getting long, I’m going to push PAUSE.  I want to be able to share with you all of the specifics I did with the gals on that day.  It was powerful and life changing! 

  
Be watching soon for more details to come in my next post called, “What if Barbie was a real woman?”

If you struggle with your self-esteem, care too much what others think, have daddy issues, or relationship troubles, you won’t want to miss this post.

If God was here in the flesh today beyond a shadow of a doubt I know He would brag on you and say… “That’s my daughter isn’t she BEAUTIFUL!”
(and for the guys reading he would say…”That’s my son, isn’t he HANDSOME!”)

Believe it, its true!  God is bragging on you!

Living to leave a legacy,
Julie