ugly

under Secret Stories, Written on November 5, 2011

I want to thank you for coming to LBC this past week. I must say, I wasn’t planning on going to chapel this week due to the many projects I have due in the next few weeks. But, for whatever reason, I decided to go, and was absolutely captivated by your words.

I decided to go hear you speak on Wednesday night in the chapel, and truly thought that it would go in one ear and out the other, but I prayed that God would allow something you say to change me. I’m not emotional – never have been, but cried when you said to invite God into the painful situation I went through.

I have always given myself the name “Ugly,” because that’s what my mom told me one night when I was in Kindergarten. I was 5 then. I’m 21 now, and have lived with that name for 16 years. I’ve been bulimic/anorexic for 8 years… because I’ve always seen myself as ugly. Wednesday night, God gave me the name “Beautifully Created.”

As I was praying that night, God reminded me of many verses that I haven’t thought about for years… Psalm 139:14-16 and Psalm 45:11. I’m so thankful to have had you here at LBC to speak. If it weren’t for God bringing you here, I would still have the name Ugly. I pray that God blesses you richly for the way you have blessed me.