Imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed.

The above photo will be featured in the November issue of O {Oprah's Mag}. This is Katie Halchishick, co-founder of Healthy is the New Skinny. And she's my new hero. The dotted lines in the picture show where Katie would need to be cut and nipped in order to obtain the same dimensions as the Barbie she's holding. Uh yeah. Take a second look. That waist is outrageous. And that's what society is pushing us towards. Skinny=beautiful. Beautiful=acceptable. Acceptable=secure. Secure=happy. Such crap, and you know it! I know you know it! I know I know it. But we so easily forget that these are all straight lies we're being fed. You know what one of Satan's biggest enemies is? A woman who loves the Lord and is completely secure in that. He can't twist the truth to make them hate themselves, he can't drive them to self-destruction in the name of beauty, and he can't rip apart her relationships with insecurity. He just can't do it. And that is awesome.

Ok, ok, I'll get off my healthy, not skinny soapbox {because you can read it here, here, & here}, & let a couple of other well-spoken women get on their's for a moment. 

"You cannot be a healthy person, let alone hope for healthy children, if you sigh and moan every time you encounter your own image, eat a cookie, or see an airbrushed model on a billboard. Even if it amounts to wholesale pretending, go pretend. Walk around pretending to be a woman who likes her body… Because every step toward self-love you take, and every inch of confidence you give someone’s daughter, makes the world a better place….

You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful."

-Amy Bloom

"Is 'fat' really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', 'boring' or 'cruel'? I've got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don't want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I'd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before 'thin'. And frankly, I'd rather they didn't give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons. Let them never be Stupid Girls."

-J.K. Rowling

Grasping the reality that if I forever spend my days hating my body, then that's what I'm reflecting to any girl who ever looks up to me and eventually, to my daughters, is a game changer. So I pray that I will always be the refreshing breath of air who is thankful for the body she's in, not pining for someone else's.

A girl who is far more focused on being a reflection of the Savior and the attributes that follow than a reflection of beauty and thinness.

Lord, let my heart not sink when I dig into that awesome piece of pizza or reach for that tall glass of sweet tea. Let my sense of self not come from the second looks of men and the cat-calls of strangers on the street. Let me not leer at skinny girls or cry over size 0 jeans. Let me be someone who takes ownership of her frame, and makes no apologies for it. Let me be more focused on being independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, & funny than looking like girls who are airbrushed to death. Amen.

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& this playlist is my baby. Pretty much the greatest 90's playlist ever. Ya welcome.