As Seen On TV....

So, this is kind of random, but I'm just wondering...does anybody else feel the need to lose 30 pounds or get their teeth whitened when they get online? I mean, according to all of the advertisements popping up on my pages (and maybe it's just my pages) I've got a lot of work to do. Of course, I already knew that. I just would feel a little better if I didn't look so much like all of the before pictures.

It's the internet now, but a few years back it was infomercials. When Josh and I first got married he was working ALL the time and I spent way too much time watching TV. Without fail, every Saturday would be infomercial day. I have never been overly confident in myself as it is, but let me tell you after a day of infomercials you become aware of insecurities you didn't know you should have!I have to be completely honest and say that I worry way too much about how I look. I have to also say that I haven't met a girl yet who doesn't. It's hard in the world we live in. We are constantly bombarded with beautiful people and their $39.99 secrets to beauty. We are also a society obsessed with makeover shows. We makeover people's houses, cars, wardrobes, and even do plastic surgery for the ultimate makeover. Somehow we've all decided that things that look good can fix the things that make us feel bad.

Lately I have been having a come to Jesus meeting with myself. That's a Mississippi term for a time when you just get it all out there in the open. Anyway, I've had to accept that wrinkles have come and will stay, stretch marks don't fade as much I'd like, and it takes time to recover from bad haircuts. But, I've also realized that those wrinkles have come from laughter and stretch marks from bringing 3 people into the world (okay, and eating a case of honeybuns at a time!). You see, I'm having to learn about a different kind of beauty, the kind they don't sell creams for. Authentic beauty. My friend Karen passed this quote on to me from the book Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy. I want to pass it on to you...

"Authentic beauty may very well be one of the rarest earthly treasures today. It holds a magnetism far beyond the loveliness of a properly painted face, and it possesses a charm that towers over the enchanting grace of a sweet personality. It is not ever to be discovered in the pomp and polish of high society, nor in the silk and satin of those conformed to popular culture. Rather it emerges only rarely in each generation, and that in the life of a young woman-a young woman who is deeply in love with the Prince of her soul."