What legacy have we left to our daughters?!?

I don't know where to begin really.. 

Writing, deleting, adding.. So I will start with this..

I am blogging simply for my own sanity. I am a stay at home mom, and I love my job. I admit I don't get out much so blogging will be my new outlet, as it seems I always have something whirling around in my head. Many of my daily conversations are with a two year old and eleven year old. While both are exciting, entertaining and hilarious, I do have adult thoughts sometimes (lol)! 

If no one reads this blog I am fine with that.. so my intention right now is to voice what comes to my heart. 

SO..

What is in my heart today.. 

Hmmm:)

I was at the gym this morning at 7 am after waking up at 6 am and going to bed late, 12 am. So in a zombie stupor I was there, on the treadmill inclined to 5% at 4 rpm's (pretty fast for a zombie I think). CNN was on and this cute little plain girl was being featured about her qualm with Seventeen magazine for photoshopping girls. Caught my attention simply because I grew up reading that magazine and NOW my eleven year old daughter will pick up an issue or two in her time. Julia Bluhm, age 14, ran an online petition asking Seventeen magazine to run unaltered, un-photoshopped pictures in their issues. 80,000 people have signed the petition with the Editor in Chief now vowing, "not to use Photoshop to alter the face shape and body sizes of its teen models, and that it will feature a diversity of models with different body shapes, races, and hair textures -- a coup for girls and women". 

HALLELUJAH and an AMEN to that! When I was a young girl, I used to study the faces of the woman that graced the covers of these magazines, and admittedly still do. I always wondered how they had such perfect skin, no wrinkles and no cellulite. Being a mom in my now mid-thirties I have discovered the secret, they lie! But, the even bigger lie is the ones we tell ourselves, am I right..? 

As women we ALL struggle with body image problems, sad but true. Including myself, I can't think of one female I know that doesn't like the way they "look". Funny part of who I am, is that I am now in the fitness industry. About ten years ago I went to the gym and haven't stopped going and probably never will. Looking back over the years my ambitions have always been lead by "looking" a certain way, rather than "feeling" the right way. About two years ago, something inside me changed and much of that had to do with the fact that I felt like I could never add up to these false images of who I thought I had to be. I was tired of the beat down. So, from that point on I have been re-wiring my thinking. It hasn't been easy, but I will say it's been worth it. I struggle with it from time to time, and that's okay because I know how far I have come from my old perception. Irony of it all, I think and feel awesome about who I am and look better physically then I ever have. I don't really care what anyone thinks of me, whether I am too skinny, too muscular, etc etc.. I am who I am. The person I like, enjoys the hard workouts, I enjoy eating healthy because eating like crap makes me feel like crap. It's simple really, I just do it, and I do it for me and no one else. At the end of the day, I like being healthy, and it's not because I feel like I have to, I want to!

So what legacy do I want to leave for my daughter, who has on more than one occasion heard many negative words come out of my mouth about my own body, face and even hair. I want her to always know that her value and beauty are NOT on the outside. Never will be! I want her to know that her freckles that scatter upon her face are darling, and not ugly. That the gold that flints out of her hazel green/brown eyes reflect the image of God. That her smooth soft skin should be adored by her husband, and caressed by her children's hands. I want her to know that the red hughes in her hair are a reminder of her mother. That the brown splash birthmark she has upon her leg, she shares with her father. Her tenacious spirit is the weapon her Lord gave her to fight and to never give up, and more importantly to see past this package that she just so happens to be wrapped up in. 

This is my sunshine smile, isn't she gorgeous!

So my new vow to myself and to my daughter is that,  I will no longer try to look like anyone other than myself, that I will be happy for the body, face and skin God gave to me. I am uniquely fashioned after He who created me. That I will shut my mouth not to talk about or put anyone else down for the way they look. That I will look to the word of God to find my esteem. In 1 Peter 3:3-4 it says, 
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight".

A gentle and quiet spirit.. to me that means to be soft with your words, even those words you tell yourself and speak out loud in front of your children.. while being quiet in your spirit, to not let your mind and heart be consumed with the things of this world, especially false beauties!