that's amore monday <3

today i honor a company & a campaign that i can really get behind. today i salute dove's campaign for real beauty. i know that dove has been running this for a while now, so most likely i'm not introducing anything new to you but i love that dove is on a mission to encourage girls & to redefine the way that young women & older ladies alike look at themselves. i love that they have fought against everything that the media dishes out instead of feeding into it. their {website} is full of resources that i think could be really helpful. they have workshops and activities that are geared to mom's and daughters, mentors and more. they have articles & discussion boards. they hope to help ladies cultivate a "positive body image & a healthy self-esteem." growing a positive body image among girls!? who else is doing that!? everywhere you look says "you need to look like this" and dove says "celebrate your own brand of beauty." I'M FOR IT! they also have a {charity forum} set up where if you enter a dove UPC code they donate $1 to an organization that will build on these principles in the lives of young girls. so for a $2 stick of dove deodorant i give half to one of these clubs as long as i participate online. what a great idea!

a big chunk of their campaign is about self-esteem which really isn't something i love. not to knock the program immediately after i just praised the junk out of them but...i like to think rather that your significance is not in the way that you look BUT if we're talking looks - the way that you were created is beautiful....especially in the eyes of the one who made you. so i feel comfortable supporting their ideas. BUT i think that it is important to have confidence in our lord alone & to be transformed by the renewing of our mind to see ourselves the way that he looks at us. what a challenge.

just think of all the garbage we've been fed? did anyone see this commercial dove ran. the top image is a normal girl, no retouching, nothing. the bottom picture isn't even her done up...its all computerized, they not only add make-up or poof hair digitally they actually change the structure of her face, the shape of her eyes, the size of her lips. little girls are dreaming of living up to an image of a girl that doesn't even exist. its so sad.

i'll leave you with these fun postcards.

additionally i hope that:

1. we'd begin to relearn what real beauty is

2. we'd start to see ourselves and OTHERS through the eyes of our loving father

3. don't let the way we look dictate our significance. don't let your outward appearance become an idol..."come out and be separate!"

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 16

"what agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? for we are the temple of the living God. as God has said: "i will live with them and walk among them, and i will be their God, and they will be my people."

"therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.

touch no unclean thing, and i will receive you."

"i will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

4. that we'd fight against lies & live in truth

5. you are so beautiful.

Psalm 45:10-12

"listen, O daughter, consider and give ear:

forget your people and your father's house.
the king is enthralled by your beauty;

honor him, for he is your lord."

happy monday. celebrate your beauty. live in truth.