Elizabeth | Seattle, WA
Images by Jenny Wohrle
"My daughter is almost four. She is amazing, beautiful, and happy. She knows nothing but love for others, and love for herself. I want her to know that though loving her, I learned to love myself."
From Elizabeth:
"In my old body story, my body was the loser of a never-ending fight between what my head thought, and what my heart knew.
It was something I always viewed as a spectator would, always judging it with the same standards that the world revolving around me used, not as my God who loved me did. Never as someone who loved themselves. I was something gross, unworthy, sickly; a constant reminder of only the most negative parts of my story. I fought to the see the beauty of God’s creation in me, of the life I’ve lived, of the most amazing blessing of creating my daughter. My body was a reflection of my fragility, always feeling my weak soul; my sick heart. A mirrors reflection was never needed to see the ugliness.
I want my story to be a story of Grace. I’ve learned to love myself through the Love of God, my Husband, my Daughter, and everyone involved in this project. I participated in this project for the love I have for my daughter, and the love I wanted her to have in herself. I did not love myself, and I knew she felt it. My daughter is almost four. She is amazing, beautiful, and happy. She knows nothing but love for others, and love for herself. I want her to know that though loving her, I learned to love myself.
I love myself.
I will forever fight for that, and through Grace and Love, I know that it is a fight that I will always win. I want my story to teach my daughter she too will have a story. She will have a fight. It will be different from mine and different than others. She may not always feel beautiful, strong, loved, and may not even love herself. But I pray and hope that through my experience and story, through God and Grace, and all that is in her, it is a fight she will always be able to win."
-- Elizabeth
Images of Elizabeth by Jenny Wohrle.