Body Truth Collective

Helping Young Women Become Compassionate, Capable, and Strong

Young Women

What People See When They See Me

By 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.

…..

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

…..
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.

…..

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

…..

God created us.

…..

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

From Hate to Love: My Body Image Story

By 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

On Guys, Dating, and Being Made in His Image with Hannah Patterson

By Leave a Comment

Today’s post was written by Hannah Patterson.  Here she is, rocking her smile and those gorgeous cowboy boots!

Howdy! That’s what we say here in College Station, Texas. My name is Hannah Patterson and I am an Allied Health major from Dallas, Texas, but more importantly I am THE loudest and THE proudest member of the fighting Texas Aggie class of 2023! 

As a college student, and just being a girl in general, I am constantly surrounded by people and things saying I’m not enough and I’m not perfect. I am pressured to change the way I look at almost every moment, and so are most girls in today’s society.

Everywhere on any kind of media we see public figures and images of women who have been photo-shopped and edited and are told we should strive for this image. These are lies that are pushed at me every day and are ways the devil tries to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). But Jesus has come so that we may have life and freedom from these lies. He says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Jesus Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). [Read more…] about On Guys, Dating, and Being Made in His Image with Hannah Patterson

Know Your Enemy

By 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.
…..
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

Young Woman, You Are Strong

By 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

Capable: What I Learned from Lauren Daigle and Jesus

By 1 Comment

A capable woman, Lauren Daigle communicates her dependence on a 100% Capable God.

In her interview with All Access, Lauren Daigle speaks about one of the most significant lessons she has learned from reading God’s Word. Referring to the book of Daniel, she states, “It is teaching me how to lead others from a place of security and what God is capable of rather than earthly circumstances.”

Ms. Daigle has had many opportunities to trust and see that God is capable of beautiful work when circumstances speak defeat.

At 15, she fought a debilitating illness that kept her out of school for two years. When she was well enough to attend college, she sang with her school choir, but faced heartbreaking discouragement after being cut from the 2010 competition, American Idol. Afterward, Ms. Daigle continued to pursue her dream of singing, but she hustled to pay her bills — waiting tables and cleaning houses. She recalls, “I used to scrub toilets in exchange for singing lessons.” [Read more…] about Capable: What I Learned from Lauren Daigle and Jesus