Jennifer Strickland, glamorous top Ford model, shares her experiences about being a highly acclaimed fashion model and the international world in which she lived and traveled...
http://www.urbanchristiannews.com/ucn/20..."1 in 3 girls are sexually abused by the age of 18
1 in 3 teens experience abuse in their dating relationships
3 out of 4 girls are having sex outside of marriage
70% of women looking at fashion magazines report feeling depressed, guilty, and ashamed of their bodies after only a few minutes of viewing
Over ½ of teen girls say they want to lose weight because of magazine pictures
While only 20% of teen girls are overweight, 70% think they need to lose weight
40% of girls start dieting at age 10
80% of American women and girls have disordered eating
Over 10 million women in the U.S. are facing a life and death battle with an eating disorder ...low self-esteem, and depression are the most common mental health problems of teen girls..."
http://www.jenniferstrickland.net/The stats are staggering with betrayal and exploitative commerce over "beauty" ...as a priceless commodity, girls are traded... bought and sold in the market of flesh. Those left in "real-time" feel the brunt of the pressure placed on them to preform for another's ideal or fantasy. Inadvertently parents play into the media and outright lies circulated on "beauty's" ugly behalf. Dirty secrets and hideous realities never making the light of day.
Like a breath of fresh air in a crowded city... someone comes along and breathes a bit of truth into the midst of all the pollution... such a person is Jennifer Strickland. Blessed with "looks", Strickland discovered this meal ticket was soon to serve her up as the main-coarse... leaving nothing but almost skeletal remains for remaining vultures to pick clean. Tossed like the remains of a nice "T-bone" steak, Jenifer was discarded by modeling agency for a mere 4 pounds! Desperately wanting approval, she sold her very life to those who wanted her soul.
Many girls today live in the shadows of all these elite beauties... like chasing a rainbow that you can't quite get your hands on, these girls are always trying to measure up to standards that seem to move away the closer one gets. I have gorgeous wife and three beautiful daughters, and I am concerned about the pressure they must face in this sex-saturated society. No matter how remote one lives from the epicenter of the sex-quake, it's aftershocks are felt in every corner of our existence. It leaves one wondering if purity is attainable... it is, but like gold it sometimes needs to be refined by fire.
Like many that emerge from the dungeons of the dragon, they bare the marks of their previous owners. And it would seem that we are all servants to something or someone, no matter our vocation. Truly the commodity of "beauty" has been invested in heavily early on, and it's meat-market won't be recalled anytime soon. But, is there hope for those who don't want to play the game... or be used, traded or abused? Is there an escape hatch for those who just want to be loved for who they are... and appreciated not just for what they look, or don't look like?
Jennifer Strickland says she has found such an answer in Jesus Christ. From porn-stars to gang members... this Jesus has been working over-time, setting the captives free! Either these are all in the same delusion, or there is something to their claims. One thing is for certain they have found new direction, hope and peace in this messed up world. I think it is amazing, this grace; that all these different prisoners have found "it" in the same location. This "answer" seems to be a "one-size-fits-all" ...delivering the least to the greatest and the best to the worst.
Sometimes I feel like the kid that found a stash of gold, and upon inviting my friends I find only a few that turn aside long enough to take a look to see if it is real or if I have only found iron pyrite. On the one hand they care little that I am just a blithering idiot, on the other they care less if they and their circle of friends remain in abstract poverty. It is the very difference between paper money and real estate, one is only a "promise" while the other could be the promise land!
I love God and the way He gives us all a measure of time and experience... with more grace and understanding that we give each other. And the power to allow us to get into a mess so big, only He can get us out of, so that we might value and appreciate His gentle goodness. Some hate that about God, and they think that He is just messing with them... and that God should have made Heaven for everyone to begin with. He did, and like now, we take for granted the beautiful; and would rather sell and trade, instead of protecting and preserving them.
"...let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us..." Psalm 90:17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-jIQsAoQ...