"My heart was breaking for you and for all that your parents must feel reading this . . . ." I have been hearing, especially from women my mother’s age. They can not help but read my recently released book through a mother’s eyes.

Girl Perfect is a compilation of many pains, yes, this is true. But it is also a journey of many "freedoms." The pain came from never being able to be that "perfect girl" the world expected of me. And the freedom came from accepting my imperfections by experiencing the vast love that came beaming, then showering, then thundering down on me from the heart of God.

I remind each woman whose heart broke along with mine of the big picture – that my life is unbelievably beautiful and purposeful now and that I have been redeemed. God has used all the broken pieces of my little-girl heart to create a mosaic lantern of light and hope for the next generation of girls in search of perfect.

I get the pain. I do. In the book, I purposefully returned myself to those places of pain to speak understanding into the lives of girls suffering from sexual abuse, eating disorders, the trap of drugs and alcohol, the pain of dreams that seem to have been lost and futures that are bleak compared to the hopeful, sunshine-filled ideals of their youth.

But I went back to those places of hurt – over and over with each round of editing – in order to paint a clear picture of redemption for you, to paint a picture of how far God will go to rescue your daughter, sister, friend, mother, or you, from the darkest of nights, and how lovingly He looks upon us even in our deepest despair. I did it to say to you: I know what it is to feel trapped, violated, starved and alone.

And I know what it is to feel loved, valued, cherished and died for. I know what it is to be healed, made whole, filled and set free.So when I think about my own past, I choose redemption.

What about you? Are you choosing redemption? Are you laying it all at the foot at the cross and saying, I choose forgiveness, I choose freedom, I choose the cleansing blood that makes me white as snow, and I choose new life? Or are you holding onto the stuff that hurts, that makes you angry and bitter? Are you carrying it? Or burying it?

As one who has both "carried" and "buried," I speak from experience: lay it all at His nail-pierced feet and let Him take it for you, and choose redemption.
It will set you free!