Capable

What People See When They See Me

November 14, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

*Karleen Bynum comes with a message that is direct and Savior-focused. Her words speak to me, soon to be the shortest person in my family!*

“Something that I have struggled with growing up was my height. Throughout junior high and high school people would make jokes about how short I am.

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I grew up wishing that I was taller, that maybe if I was taller more people would like me.

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I started to lean more on God and pray more about it. I started to notice that it did not really matter about what I look like or how tall I am.

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People care more about how you treat them and love them more than what you look like.

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God created us.

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We are HIS masterpiece and He loves us just the way we are!”

From Hate to Love: My Body Image Story

October 30, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

This was a moment, speaking at my first body image conference in September. How good God is to redeem our hardest seasons!

Growing up, I believed that skinny was pretty. And that everything else was unattractive. Unworthy. Meant to be criticized.

My parents poured encouraging words into me, but their words were not enough. In the battles I fought, I needed more than praise.

I fought the idea that girls and women should diet if they looked a certain way. My Southern grandmother fed that idea to her daughters, and we heard our mothers speak. I can’t remember a time when my family’s women weren’t talking about trying to lose weight.

I fought the idea that girls and women should compare themselves to soap opera actresses and magazine models. I grew up in the 80s and early 90s; that was the messaging.

I fought the idea that girls and women should one-up each other, size up each other, and take shots at each other so as to make themselves feel like the smartest, prettiest, and most attention-getting in the room.

And so, my teen years were full of fighting. And controlling.

In the midst of the fighting and struggling with how to love my alcoholic father and trying to hide my sadness in the midst of my parents’ divorce [Read more…] about From Hate to Love: My Body Image Story

Know Your Enemy

October 9, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

James Pond @unsplash nailed this photo. Crushing the Lego Enemy!

Have you ever looked at a magazine cover, and suddenly you felt not thin enough? Not curvy enough? Like your hair wasn’t thick enough or the right color?

Does that magazine model look “just so perfect” that it makes you second guess your beauty?

Well, that’s exactly what the magazine cover is supposed to do. The words and images work together to convince you: Buy this magazine, you will FINALLY know the secrets to becoming beautiful.

Satan attempts to scheme in these moments. He whispers to you, You need this magazine. Or this hair product. And these shoes.
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Methodeias is the Greek word Paul uses for “schemes” in Ephesians 6:10- Methodeias refers to a large scale, systematic plan. A project. A game-plan.

His schemes are organized, and they feed on our insecurities.

But if you know that Satan is scheming when that insecurity starts to rise up in you, you can identify what is happening. You have a good chance at STANDING against the schemes of the devil if [Read more…] about Know Your Enemy

Holding Hands With Your People

October 2, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

This image invites sunset to highlight friendship and unity. Taken by Noorul Abdeen @unsplash.

“Red Rover, Red Rover, let Ruthie come over!” your team yells in unison. Half a second later, here comes Ruthie.

She is running with that fierce look in her eyes, her arms pumping fast, as she makes her way toward you and your Red Rover neighbor. The two of you are each other’s only defense.

One of two things is about to happen. Either you and your friend’s hands will stay locked, your arms stiffened with strength, and Ruthie will not break your barrier.Or one of you will exhaust your grip strength, your hands sweaty and tired, and Ruthie will break through to the other side. You will lose your footing and your body will give way.

Messages about your identity, specifically what you believe about your God-given body, are running toward you everyday. Most of the hurtful, negative messages are based on lies.

Hold hands with people who believe God’s truth about you! Keep them close. When twisted and tricky messages threaten to weaken you, “your people” will help you stand. At the very least, they will not let you fall alone.

Young Woman, You Are Strong

September 12, 2019 By Juleeta Leave a Comment

Here, Anne Frank is 12 years old. It is one of my favorite photos of her because it captures her innocence and her strength.

“I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.” -Anne Frank

In 1942, Holland’s Jewish community sought refuge from the Nazis. Most “hid” in their own homes, including Anne Frank and her family. Three months before their capture, she recorded these words in her diary. She was almost 13.

Today our culture shies away from naming a female, who is 13 or 15 or 17, a woman. And yet Anne saw herself as a woman as she neared 13 years old.

I wonder if naming ourselves “women” somehow solidifies the strength we think we are capable of. Strength to lift heavy weight. Strength to help those who are weaker than ourselves. Strength to turn away [Read more…] about Young Woman, You Are Strong