You're beautiful when you dance

Does it matter what men think?

In the history of my unhappiness with my body, my main concern is whether I'm pleasing to the eye of a man. Not that I would EVER Google such a thing, but I hear some women visit sites like, "Men who like small breasts," or "Men who prefer big women." We seek male affirmation.

Is it okay for a woman to wear make-up and nice clothes to catch a man's eye? I think so.

But bottom line:  what a man thinks has nothing to do with my worth as a woman. My value is based entirely on what God thinks of me. And -- this is important -- God's not male. Or female. God is Spirit, and God's opinion is that I have great worth, whatever my shape.

My husband and my seven-year-old will attend a Father-Daughter dance tomorrow. She'll wear a pink dress, and her hair will be fancy. It's good for her to dress up and look lovely. There will be dessert at the dance, too. By the end of the night, she'll have ice cream on the dress, and her hair will be messy. That's okay because her value is in who she is, and God just loves to watch her dance.

So dress up for the ball. But dance until you're sweaty, and don't worry if you drip ice cream on your gown. That's what dry cleaners are for.

God just loves to watch you dance.

I can stop at one click . . .

I fell off the wagon last night.

I'd been sober for weeks, but that glass of wine was calling to me. Except it wasn't booze. It was a story on the Internet.

A movie reviewer was raving about how beautiful some celebrity was, what a great body she had. I had to know -- what does she look like? How do I measure up to her? So I clicked. I looked at the photo and compared myself to her.

Where would you have started? Her face, hair, breasts? Waistline? Legs? I'm never happy with my body when I do this.                                 
   
I have so little self-control. It doesn't help that clicking is free. I pay a fee for Internet service, but I don't pay by the click. Maybe that's good --at least I'm not spending the grocery money on my addiction. But I am paying a price.

So I need your encouragement. And you need mine. When you see a headline that trumpets a star's body, don't read the story. It will only reinforce our culture's skewed idea of beauty and value. Not to mention reducing the celebrity to the status of an object.

And if you find a friend sitting at her computer, struggling with temptation, grab her hand and pull it away from the mouse. Friends don't let friends click on junk.