Today our "Questions" series continues with this SUPER tough one from a reader up north! Dear Heather: I have been encouraged by your posts and reminded to look past comparisons and to Christ. However, I'm struggling lately because my daughter is gaining weight and...
Body Image and Young Women
Looking Hot Versus Modesty: A Letter to a Young Woman
My Dear Girl: Where did the time go? I just saw your picture on Facebook and could hardly believe how grown up you look. You are not that precocious five-year-old girl to whom I used to sing the Dora the Explorer song. You are technically an adult now. Wow! But, as I...
To My Beautiful Brown Baby Girl
To my beautiful brown baby girl . . . Dear daughter: Mommy will be with you until God takes her home to heaven but God, your perfect heavenly father, will always be with you. He will be with you during times of injustices. You may be denied career, educational,...
Are You Confusing Your Daughter’s Body Image?
I'm riled up right now because I just read another woman's blog post that may well have been written in response to one of mine. The title of her post was something like "No, I won't put on my swimsuit." The author attempts to make the point that she doesn't need to...
5 Ways to Live Out a Healthy Body Image For Your Daughter
What does a healthy body image even look like? I honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. I was determined to find out, though. Now I had a daughter. Through her, I saw my own body image struggles in a whole new light. While I knew I would never be able to...
Printable Body Image Prayer for My Daughter
This is a prayer I wrote for every girl mom. If we want to keep our girls from struggling with body image and comparison the way that we have, the best things we can do are model a healthy body image and sense of Christ-derived value and to pray. Print this prayer and...
The Other Woman: Sorting Through Your Own Body Image Issues While Raising a Daughter
Another woman moved into my house. She's skinnier than me, has a better figure than me, carries a youthful glow I lack, possesses no trace of cellulite, and she fits into the jeans size of my dreams. That woman is my daughter. What a twist. I birth my third baby, feel...
What My Dieting Showed My Daughter
I hate to admit this. For the longest time, when it comes to food and body image I wasn’t a great example to my daughter. Oh, I thought I was. I read all the articles about it. In my head, I knew that the way I viewed my own body wielded the greatest power over how...
Did You Just Call Me Fat? Finding Hope Even When Words Hurt
“Marlee, I need my hands. When you’re chunky like your mom and I, you need your hands to get up. That’s just what fat people do.” Oh, no she did not. But one look at my daughter’s face confirmed what I already knew: Oh, yes, she did. An ordinary playdate on an...
When Taking Photos Brings Out Your Inner Perfectionist
My seven-year-old daughter bounded in the room and asked to play “silly selfies” with me on my phone. This little game is exactly what it sounds like: she and I put our heads together and make funny faces into the camera. “Sure!” I answered as I made my way to the...