I love summer. I love sleeping in a little later, camping, roasting smores over the campfire, fun day trips, watching my kids ride their bikes back and forth down our street and even the sweet smell of the grass as the sun sets on another hot day. I can almost feel the memories being made by my sweet boys, the way I did as a young girl. Summer can be a fun and magical time, unless your a mom and it's pool time. Everything about summer is great, until it's time to slip on that swimsuit or even worse go out and buy a new swimsuit. It can bring some anxiety and stir up some insecurities that we didn't even know we had. Many moms brave the pool or lake side with a pull over, shorts or towel around their waist. Some don't even do it at all, they simply refuse to get in one. I recently went through the experience of buying another swimsuit. I needed one that I felt comfortable taking a group of boys to the pool with, one with some modesty, that stayed on despite tugs from my little guy and yet somehow didn't make me look like an old maid. The anxiety of the experience still wells up in me as I think back. If you've looked at the swimsuit racks lately, you know what I'm talking about. I find myself wondering, who actually designs these swimsuits and most importantly who labels them with the appropriate size?! It's like they are on a mission to lower the self esteem of women all over the country. After a short 15 minutes in the dressing room I can admit that their mission was accomplished. Even though I found one that was acceptable, I left filling beat up. The thing is, even when I was my fittest and thinnest I still felt that way. I realized that there wasn't anything wrong with my body but everything wrong with the swimsuits on those racks. I chose then to not lot a piece of fabric define me and you shouldn't either. 

Ive spent a lot of time standing in front of the mirror critiquing myself over the years. I could make a list a mile long of all the things I wished I could do better or ways I could look better. I don't know when this happened, at what point as a young girl did I stop loving myself for who I was and started wishing I was better. I can blame the media and all those Victoria Secret swimsuit catalogs I used to flip through for this but at the end of the day I think it goes so much deeper. At one point I had to ask myself: Are the things I'm saying to myself true or lies coming to me from the enemy? The last time I checked my bible didn't say anything about me not being enough or me being fat or unworthy. In fact, my bible says quite the opposite. It says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14), that I shine like stars in the sky (Phil 2:15), that I am victorious (Romans 8:37).  I don't know about you but I'm tired of living by the lies that I'm not good enough. Do I look like the supermodels in that catalog, of course not, but at the end of the day does that really matter? My value goes way beyond any swimsuit and as a believer in Christ I am flawless in the eyes of my Creator. 

I made a promise to myself recently that I would no longer stand in front of the mirror and beat myself up or allow myself to believe the lies that so easily slip in. I had to remind myself that I have a choice. It's up to me and I'm choosing the freedom that comes from the truth. I'm choosing to take care of this body I've been blessed with and let that be enough, even if it doesn't produce a Victoria Secret body. I am beautiful and so are you, no matter what those lies have said or what the reflection in the mirror says. My dear friend, as those swimsuits come out I encourage you to remind yourself of your true value and beauty and stop the lies before they settle in your heart. Slip on that swimsuit with pride and enjoy yourself. You are beautiful, just the way you are.