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Women's Article

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
by Tonya Ruiz

Hit your panic buttons, ladies, because swimsuit season is just around the corner. An article in Ladies Home Journal was titled, “How to Buy a Bathing Suit, Without Crying.” A study said that 52% of women find cleaning the cat’s litter box more enjoyable than shopping for a swimsuit. The idea of entering a store’s dressing room to squeeze their bodies into two dozen different floral printed spandex suits and view them from various angles under the unflattering glare of florescent lights is more torture and humiliation than most women can "bare."

I had avoided buying a new swimsuit for years, so I decided to “take the bull by the horns” (so to speak). I marched into the nearest department store and purchased a skirted swimsuit (the kind senior citizens wear on cruise ships). The tag promised that my thighs would look thinner. My children were provoked to laughter because it seemed to remind them of the similarly clad dancing hippopotami on Disney’s “Fantasia.” Maybe it would have looked better without the accompanying daisy-topped flip-flop sandals. To add insult to injury, when I went swimming, the skirt floated up and looked like a lily pad.

My New Year's resolutions of exercising and getting healthy are only a fading memory. My willpower ran out long before Valentines Day. I know that it is important to keep fit, so I belong to a gym (sometimes I even go). While doing my grocery shopping, I noticed that the magazines at the check-out counter are filled with ideas on how to lose those extra few pounds in time for summer, and insights on why we are over-weight.

The article in Allure magazine read – "Too Little Sleep Can Make You Fat."
Self magazine asked the question – "Does Marriage Make You Fat."
Ladies’ Home Journal wanted to know – "Are Your Friends Making You Fat?"
Woman’s World inquired – "Is Stress Making You Fat?"
Family Circle had an article – "Peel off Pounds, 12 Ways to Trick Your Metabolism." That sounded a bit barbaric to me. (Ironically, on the cover they had a picture of yummy chocolate cupcakes.)

The news program 48 Hours reported 52 million Americans trying to lose weight, and that a variety of diet products are extremely popular. Over 35 billion dollars a year are spent on weight loss plans and diet products, such as “Slimming Slippers”, “Seaweed Soap” to wash away the pounds in the shower, and the “Fat-Be-Gone Ring” (which finger you wear it on determines where you lose the weight).

Do you know how much you weigh? Of course you do! And, you are probably not happy about it. In fact, you may be obsessed with your weight. Will we ever learn to appreciate our bodies? Do we want to eat “rabbit food” for the rest of our lives? Most of us have been on a diet. Maybe you were not as foolish as I was when I went on the “bananas only” regimen, but most Americans have been on some strange and exotic weight-reduction plan. Statistics show that 25% of women are on a diet. In a Psychology Today’s 1997 reader survey - 24% of women said they would forfeit three years of their lives to achieve their weight goals.

I will boldly face this summer with a slightly older version of the same body I had last summer. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never again wear a bikini as I did in my former life (by that I mean my life before Christ, not a “Shirley McClain” type of former life). Sports Illustrated is not going to ask me to model for their annual swimsuit issue and I’m okay with that. However, if stretch marks and cellulite ever become popular, they just may call. I’d be posing for the cameras, frolicking along a tropical shore, ankle deep in the water, hair blowing gently in the breeze, modestly clad in my “hippo-style” swimsuit.

Years ago, if I walked by a construction site, I’d attract a lot of attention and wolf howls. The only whistling I hear these days is from my tea kettle, and that’s alright because I am so “over myself.” I spent years modeling in an industry with beauty standards few could attain and even fewer could keep. During that time I weighed myself daily and agonized over every (real and imagined) blemish. Who wants to live like that? Certainly, I don’t. In the real world, eating “Häagen-Dazs” is not a crime. So what if we’re not seven feet tall and seventy pounds like the girls in the fashion magazines. The average fashion model is a size four. The average REAL woman is a size 14 with curvy hips, a rounded stomach and an ample bosom. Real women are not on magazine covers. Real Women are at Wal-Mart. Why are we (the real women across America) letting Madison Avenue determine who is beautiful?

People Magazine has the stunning Nicole Kidman on the cover of “The 50 Most Beautiful People” edition. The other 49 winners are stars and celebrities of every type, and they are indeed physically beautiful. If there had been a “People Magazine” 2000 years ago, Jesus would not have been picked as one of the beautiful people. Isaiah 53:2 - “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Jesus was God. He could have come to earth in any form he wanted. He could have looked like one of those gorgeous actors that grace the silver screens. But He didn’t. He counted external beauty of small value. He was more concerned with inner beauty. First Samuel 16:7 - “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God does not see beauty as we see beauty. Our worth, to Him, is not measured by our weight or contingent upon high chiseled cheekbones.

The Bible says that God loved us so much that He gave His only son (Jesus) and that if we believe in Him we will have everlasting life. Our salvation is not based on our appearance. Jesus did not die for “Beautiful People.” He died for you and me (sinners). God is concerned about us being included on one list of “Beautiful People:” “Spiritually Beautiful People” with hearts that seek after Him and the beauty of His holiness.

Psalm 139:14 – “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”

Tonya Ruiz Tonya and her husband reside in Southern California with their four children. She is an author, actress, and speaker.

Visit Tonya on the web at www.tonyasquest.com