Dear body,

I talk a lot about how beautiful you are, that you were created specifically by God and that he made you exactly the way he wanted you but most of the time, I have an extremely hard time believing that myself.

Most of my life I’ve hated you. I’ve hated the way you don’t look like the models, how you can get so tired and how you can never be the size I want you to be.

Stomach, I’ve hated how you can never be flat enough. Thighs, I’ve hated how big you are. Chin, I’ve hated how there’s two of you when I laugh. And hair, I’ve hated how I’m never able to tame you. Body, I’ve desperately wanted to change you for the majority of my life. But today, I’m going to try something new.

Today, instead of hating you, I’m going to try and thank you.

So feet, thank you for carrying me everywhere. Thank you, feet, for bringing me to Cuba so I could learn how desperately our world needs Jesus. Thank you for bringing me to camp so that my life could be changed. Thank you for bringing me to Haiti so that my heart could be broken and thank you for bringing me to Peru so I could know peace. Thank you for walking through the mud and the dirt and whatever comes next.

Legs, thank you for running and jumping and dancing and letting me be free and wild.

Stomach, thank you for being full so that I could remember how blessed I am to have the food that’s in front of me.

Mouth, thank you for smiling so big that my face hurts and laughing so hard that tears start to fall. Thank you for the words you’ve used to bless people and for the words that have been hard but completely necessary to say. Thank you for singing those songs, they made Heart feel so full.

Eyes, thank you for seeing the beauty in the brokenness, for always taking time to look at the sunsets and the stars, and for seeing the beautiful smiles that are forever engraved in my brain.

Hands, thank you for writing the words that are piled up in those journals over there. Thank you for being an outlet for those words that are stuck in my head. Arms, thanks for working together with Hands to always be ready to comfort someone when they need it.

Ears, thank you for listening to that music, to those encouraging words and to the beautiful laughter.

Body, I’m so sorry I’ve spent a lot of time hating you. I’m sorry that I desperately wanted you to change drastically. Deep down, I know that a perfect and beautiful creator made you so therefore how could you not be beautiful? I’ll try to be kinder body. I’ll really try.

A friend of mine also wrote a letter. Maybe you could try too. It’s so difficult but it’s so worth it.

This post is part of a 31 days series. If you’d like to see the rest of this series, click the photo above!