Yesterday I walked by a floor to ceiling mirror at the mall. As I passed, a woman in a long purple maxi dress and a big white cardigan caught my eye. She was shapely, curvy, and elegant. Her face was free from all makeup except gloss and mascara. Her hair was twisted up tightly, showing off her slim face and neck.
I did a double take.
The woman was me.
Me.
And in that split second between knowing I was looking at myself, and thanking I was looking at a stranger, I thought I was beautiful.
I can tell you that it was the first time since I was called "fat" at age 10, that I liked what I saw in the glass. The first time I didn't pick myself apart, my hand going immediately to my stomach, my lip curling at the sight of my thighs.
This has been, by far, the deepest prayer of my heart, the one I prayed out loud in the surgery room as I went under anesthesia: "Lord, change me inside as you change me outside."
And He has. As in all things, He has been faithful. He has been gentle. He has been comforting when my doubts got in my way.
In all ways He has reminded me that this was a choice He and I made together. That it was for my good. That it was to unshackle me.
I feel the hold food has over me peeling away, revealing what food truly is: fuel. Nourishment for life. To move, to care for my children, to be strong and healthy. It is only that- fuel. It is not to hide behind, to take refuge in, to drown in. It is not to bury my feelings in or to create a body that keeps others away.
It is to live that I eat. To subsist. I have been freed.
I feel every word that has every been hurled at me disappearing slowly. Washed away by the tide of my own confidence. Realizing that these words are not ME. They are not my body, not my spirit.
I am opening to the world. And it has nothing to do with the number on the scale, or the number on my jeans.
It has to do with me and my Savior. It has to do with giving up all that binds me. That makes me sit in fear of speaking up, being seen, or living life.
Freedom is sweeter than anything I could ever taste. And I am rejoicing in the breaking of bonds.
