More Beautiful Than You Know by Jennifer Strickland

Author:Jennifer Strickland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736956338
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

Women and girls hide behind masks for several reasons. Sometimes they are afraid of getting hurt, so their mask becomes a wall protecting them from a tough world. Sometimes their parents teach them to wear masks, making everything look good when it’s not. Other times a mask is a way for a woman to look beautiful on the outside when she doesn’t know who she is inside. Deeper still, masks hide our secrets.

It’s dark behind a mask, and hard to see. Taking off the masks and setting them down is the beginning of our truth, and truth sets us free. When I shed my masks and got real about what my life in the modeling industry was like, it wasn’t pretty at first. But over time, being honest about my experiences helped me heal from them. When women get honest and get real, they heal. And when women heal, they can be lights for people around them.

These days I speak in schools. Before I arrive, I try to talk to the counselor. If anyone knows what goes on behind the masks of junior high and high school girls, she does. Sometimes my heart hurts when I get off the phone with her. I find out girls are skipping lunch to be skinnier. Girls are getting weird about food. Girls are dressing promiscuously, yet it’s tough to do much about it since they are following their mothers’ examples. Girls are sharing their bodies with boys, posting sexy images of themselves, harassing each other or cyberbullying. Girls are sometimes overtly jealous and hateful. Some girls are abused. Others are criticized for their weight or grades. Girls are trying to be the perfect athlete to please Mom and Dad. Girls are cracking under the pressure to perform. Girls—even in junior high—are cutting… or trying to recover from the pain of a friend who committed suicide.

And you’ve called me? I think. Who am I? I am nothing but a girl who raised her hand one day, and said, “Here I am. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

But even with all these issues, many of the girls of this generation are making great choices and going great places. The vast majority are devoted friends. They help each other tell the truth and get help when needed; they believe in each other and inspire each other to believe the best of themselves. Lots of girls are hard workers and have a destiny in mind. Many understand that perfection isn’t the goal and realize success is an inside job. Lots of girls want to make huge differences in the world, and they will.

You have all the opportunity in the world to be great. Everything you need for a full life is accessible to you. You are the wonder of the world—the new generation—and you can imprint this world with faith, love, and true beauty.

Yet with all your opportunity and potential, the world will no doubt try to rob your innocence, warp your sexuality, burden your heart, and steal your destiny.

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