Greater Things

God Of This City is a song that I haven't quite understood until this morning. I understand it now because I have such a passion for change in this town! Man, God is using me for big things. I'm so incredibly blessed by Him, I can't imagine more, but God says that he will give us life beyond our wildest imaginations! What a crazy God we serve. :)
Any of you that live in the same town as me, or even in the area, have heard rumors, and know that this town has a reputation, not a good one either. But that's okay. You know why? Because it gives God so much to work with! He is working here, you guys!! I believe that this concert that I'm helping put together is going to be huge, it's going to change hearts, it's going to plant a seed in a lot of people who aren't expecting it. There's a verse that says that Jesus will come like a thief in the night. Well, I believe that God will come like a thief in the night and steal their hearts! He's going to poke at their hearts, they're going to need him because once you have one experience with God, it's so hard to be okay with things going back to how they were. God is so awesome!

On another note, I just want to say to every one of you who reads my blog that I love you so much! Even if you've only read one post, or maybe you've just skimmed over the site, whatever! I LOVE YOU!!! I've been having a battle in my heart all weekend. It's been very tough and very annoying. But God is good, time and time again. A couple days ago I was questioning whether to keep writing. I felt like my words were not helping anyone, not reaching anyone, and that no one was reading anymore. But then I go back and read your comments, your emails, your facebook messages, and I'm so humbled! When I started writing this blog, I never imagined that I would get readers from almost every single continent in this world!! I never imagined that I'd get people emailing me that I helped them, that I opened their eyes. I never imagined that my words could make people cry. I never imagined that this could be a God given talent, but it is. I believe that with my whole heart. I just want to pour into you guys. I have incredible passion in my heart, any of you who have read the blog or know me in person know that, and I believe that God will use this passion! So thank you, all of you who are reading this, and I really hope that this blog is not useless on you.
If you guys ever want to talk to me, I love talking to people! (My supervisor wrote me a reference letter for my portfolio and said that I'm very talkative and get along with everyone--so there's your proof!) I love meeting new people, making new friends. So, here's your open door! Email : xo_arial_xo@hotmail.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/arielgiesbrecht
I really would love to talk to you guys!
God bless!!
Ariel

Lifted Up

One more reason school is stupid.So, everyone is always asking the question, "Why is it so hard to talk about God openly?" "Why is it awkward?" "Why is it not socially accepted?" Here's your answer: Public schools. Public schools teach you from kindergarten that it is not politically correct to talk about God in school because everyone has different beliefs. Yes, everyone has different beliefs, and I respect that, but at the same time, why would you let anyone, let alone a little child, believe lies? You have religious exercises (which, I'm sorry, but it's a stupid name) but parents have to sign a form allowing their child to learn about GOD, the One who created everyone and everything on this earth?! Okay, so you have just enough of God in the schools to still be politically correct and please *most* parents? Good enough, right? I mean, all we can ask for is a little bit of God.
If you are accepting this, you're crazy. I hate that a child can be talking about God in the classroom and a teacher will tell them that they're not allowed to talk about that. It's so stupid! This is why kids are afraid to tell others about God and to live out their faith, because they are taught right from the start that they're not supposed to.
Can it change? I sure hope so. But will it change? Probably not. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to have full out Christian schools, that's not good for kids either. They have to learn to live for God in a worldly setting. But the thing that makes me angry is that they can't even talk about God with their friends, even with other believers. Teachers have now become persecutors. Not all, but some. And it's stupid. It makes me so mad.
I hate how in middle school/high school teachers don't care if kids are talking about sex/drugs/parties/drinking/swearing, but when it comes to God, nope! Not acceptable. People need a reality check. I can't WAIT until God is lifted up to the highest place, when Jesus comes again, when we can all go be with God and praise him ALL THE TIME! It will be perfect.
My kids are going to be raised to know that God is the most awesome thing ever! That no one and nothing compares to him! That with him, their lives will be incredible. They need to be raised to know God. Yeah, maybe they'll fall away from God, they'll have their struggles, but when they overcome those struggles, man, it's going to be so good.
I challenge you to say even the tiny things, like if it's a nice day and you're talking to someone about the weather, you could say "Praise God for this weather!" Or if it's rainy and gross outside, say, "Oh, I'll have to pray about that." Just little things like that will get people's attention. We don't have to be quiet. This generation can rise up and proclaim the name of Christ! Even here, in our own towns, we can be the start to a huge chain reaction. Please believe that if you believe in God and open up your heart to him, he will use you for huge things. I am a perfect example of that, and I can't wait to see what God's going to do in my life, even just in the next year. He is incredible. Is it going to be scary to open up that door, letting God rule your life? Yes. Oh man, yes it is! But it's going to be so worth it. He's going to overflow your life with Himself, his plan, his peace, joy, blessings. Hard times will come, I can guarantee it, but you can God to carry you through those times. Please, please just let him open up these doors for you. You will never regret it, I can promise you that!
God bless you all,
Ariel

Father Will You Come

Um...God is just so cool. That's all I can think to start this with! Ha, I'm just so awe struck with His greatness. I find it incredible how God, who has always been here, which is such a hard concept to grasp, I cannot wrap my mind around it...God doesn't need us, but He wants us. He did not have to make human beings, He does not need us for anything at all. But to think that he wanted us, to pour his love out onto us, to bless us, to have us love him, to show himself in each and every one of our lives...Ahhh!!! God is just so amazing. You know that warm feeling right in your core that you feel when you're around someone you really love? I feel that right now, so much, and I love it.

It's crazy to think where I would be right now if I did not have God in my life. I would either be dead or 7 months pregnant. For some reason, last year I had this thing with wanting a kid so badly. I'm so happy that God took over my thoughts, and my actions, because yeah, I want kids, but I want them when I'm married and can support them and love them with all I have! I'm not ready to be a mother yet, I don't know anything about anything yet, I'm still only learning, and I thank God that he protected me from myself.
It's so awesome how God can show himself to you. A couple weeks ago I was at YC and it was an amazing time, God was so present and the praise and worship times were so powerful. On Friday night, while waiting for what seemed like forever at the hotel for YC to start, I had a Sharpie. Anyone who knows me well knows what happens when there's a Sharpie. So of course, I drew on myself. I drew a cross on my wrist with "WWJD?" on top of it. I glanced at my wrist on Sunday and noticed that it had rubbed off a little bit, no big deal. On Monday at work, I looked at my wrist again and I swear my heart stopped for a second. In the middle of the cross, where the Sharpie had rubbed off, was a completely perfect heart. You want a miracle to prove God's existence to you? There's your miracle! Man, God is just so awesome. So, What Would Jesus Do? He would love. Why did he suffer on that cross for us? People who wouldn't even accept him? People who beat him and mocked him and persecuted him? Because he loved us. Why or how, I have no idea, but I am so happy that he never gives up on us.
Last night and today at work I was just not feeling anything for God. I was thinking, I should be on fire for him right now, but I wasn't. I just did not feel a thing. And so, sharpening pencils, I started praying. I asked God to fill me with himself, with his love, I just wanted so badly to feel passion for him. And as soon as I started praying and asking him to work in me, it was instant, he was there. I just felt him working in me, I felt his presence right there beside me, I felt his love. God is so so good, I love him so much.
I think a lot of the time we forget to tell God we love him. To say the simple words "I love you" because we assume that he already knows it. Does that mean that he doesn't want to hear it? No! He tells you that he loves you every single day. Please, just tell him how much you love him and how amazing he is, because he really really is.
God bless you guys,
Ariel

Dreamin'

Today started simple. It started out to be an awesome day.
As many of you know, last weekend I was at YC Manitoba. It was an amazing time! You would think that you would look most forward to the big band on Saturday night, but this year, I found myself being so excited for the praise and worship bands. It was amazing to be in the midst of hundreds of teenagers, giving themselves to God, praising him, singing to him, giving everything to him without caring who was beside them! Nothing could ever erase this image from my mind. Disciple was great (Kevin Young took a video of the crowd, check it out! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2029498659156.122988.1294778022#!/video/video.php?v=10150170629888527 I was IN this!!), Remedy Drive was absolutely insane! Bluetree was awesome, as per usual. Unhindered helped us be united and really worship. Awesome people. The Panic Squad was so funny. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. You had to be there. Matt Tapley, incredible speaker. My cousin, Faith, was saved this weekend during an alter call!!! Praise God! She came to YC for a reason, God knew what was going to happen!! Oh man, her being saved made the whole weekend. Not the bands, not the speakers, not the lights, but the fact that one more person in this world is praising the King, as it should be.
Anyways, I knew that I would come off of my spiritual high hard and be into battle this week. That happened on Monday. I'm not going to give specifics, but I was so broken. I got into it with my parents about something that I wanted to do. Being a teenager, of course I wanted to do what I wanted to do! Duh! Well, of course, I was reading my bible that night, and I come across the verse "Children, honor your parents, because this is what is good." Ahhh, oh God, the ways you work. So, I calmed myself down. I had a conversation with my parents, and we worked it out that we would revisit the issue in a few months. I have to remember that this is God's rule, that I respect my parent's wishes. Although I may not, and do not, agree with it, I have to honor it, and I'm at peace with that.
This whole week has been a lot easier than I would have guessed. After the initial testing of faith, I feel so much stronger in God! God is just so good. I learned at YC, that I'm going to be tested over and over, it's never going to stop. A quote I love: "I want to be the kind of person that when my feet hit the floor in the morning, satan says, 'Oh crap, she's up!' " Haha :) I love that! And it's so true! I want satan to be threatened by my personal relationship with my Father, Savior and Lord.
So the main point of this post is that...drum roll please!! MY DREAM IS FINALLY BECOMING REALITY!!!!! I got an email today from a booking agent I had contacted a while back. He told me that we could get a deal for the Letter Black, Write This Down, I Am Empire, Icon For Hire and Nine Lashes to come to town on their tour! How awesome is our God?!!! I never could have done this without him putting everything together. It's going to be a lot of work to put together, but I am so ready.
So, my request to you: PRAY! Pray, pray, pray! The power of prayer will work. Pray for the people organizing it, pray for the bands, pray for the people who will attend the concert, pray for everyone. Also, we will gladly accept donations. We need to raise approximately $1500-2000, which is very cheap, trust me! So please contact me if you are looking to get involved in any way. (xo_arial_xo@hotmail.com)  Thanks much guys! Love you all.
God bless,
Ariel

Invisible

Last night, I suddenly just felt like drawing. I got a sudden rush of inspiration. The three and a half hours that I spent on this drawing gives me so much pain. It went by in a flash, and I realized how much this topic means to me. The picture has a story. I spent an hour and a half putting that story onto paper. It was so worth it. Although I have incredible pain in my neck today, I believe that this inspiration was from God. These issues are real, they're not just a few people anymore. We need to come out from under the rock we've so carefully placed ourselves and do something about it. Go out and share the love that God has so graciously given you.

This story may be triggering, depending where you are in your life. PLEASE if you find it triggering, do not continue reading. Go for a walk, listen to music, talk to someone, do anything to distract yourself. The reason I am posting this is so that people who do not realize how big of an issue this is can see it. I love you all.
*This story is purely fiction, based on real problems. I would not wish any of the things in this story on my worst enemy. If you're dealing with any of this, talk to me, talk to a friend, talk to someone. We're here for you, we'll love you, we'll never give up on you.*

Miss Perfect

"I was the girl that everyone liked. I was the perfect daughter, got perfect grades and was every one's friend. I had super model good looks. My boyfriend was Mr. Popular. Mr. Popular and Miss Perfect. Who wouldn't want my life, right? Wrong.
No one understands. They just don't get it. I'm so broken. How could I get out of this trap I'd gotten stuck in? I wish everyone would drop their expectations for me. Life would be so much easier...
My parents had always had high expectations. They taught me from a very young age that to be successful, you had to be liked and you had to work hard. So that's what I did. It started when I was twelve. I desired to please everyone. I pushed myself to talk to everyone, the people I liked and disliked, the people who scared me and comforted me. I had my group just like everyone else, but the difference was that everyone wanted to talk to me. They wanted to hang out with me, be my friend, date me, get help with homework. I was one of the smartest in my grade. If I didn't understand something, I would spend my afternoons, evenings and sometimes nights studying and researching. Coffee became my best friend. No one could tell how tired I was, and I was fine with keeping it to myself. It seemed harmless at the time, and my parents were impressed with my success. That's all that matters, right?
When I was thirteen, I had my first boyfriend. We had so much fun. We would go swimming, play baseball, watch movies, talk for hours on the phone. We were the perfect couple.
When we hit high school a year later, he went on to play football. He turned into Mr. Popular. And of course, I became a cheerleader. When I turned fourteen, things started to change. For my whole life I had chocolate brown hair. I was ready for a change, so I dyed my hair blonde. Everyone loved it, and it went along with my bubbly, go-get-'em attitude. That's not the only thing that changed. All of a sudden, I was growing. I got taller, and heavier, and curvier. It all seemed to happen at one time, so now I had the "perfect body", whatever that is. I learned how to do my hair and makeup just the way I wanted it. I had people coming up to me to ask me if I had considered modeling. I was flattered, but it made me self conscious at the same time.
The first couple of months of high school were great, everything going according to plan. But my life came crashing down on me just before Christmas. My parents, the perfect couple, were getting a divorce. I had been too busy to notice the fighting. Always doing school work or cheer leading or hanging out with my boyfriend. I should have noticed it. I could have done something to fix it...but I was okay. Really. I got over it. I stayed with my mom while my dad moved across town. My mom started getting really stressed out which made her strict. Her stress made my stress level go up. She expected me to be better than I had been before. To do better in school, have more friends, get a job.
Doing dishes one day, I had picked up a knife at the wrong end, slashing my hand open. Instead of cleaning myself up or telling someone, I just watched the blood drip down my fingers. I finally felt relaxed. So a week later, when I just didn't seem to have enough time in a day, I decided to try it again. I mean, it had worked the first time, so why not? I took a knife and ran it along my leg. It would be easy to explain. "I ran into a nail sticking out of a wall." Easy as pie. It felt so good that soon I was doing it once a week. It released all the stress that had built up inside of me.
My boyfriend started to get bored in our relationship. He wanted to try new things. So instead of going swimming, we would make out. But that wasn't enough for him. I couldn't bear to lose him. I loved him so much. We'd been together for a year already, it was meant to be, right?
He was so angry with me one day for being a "goody two shoes". So I gave in. I lost my virginity in order to win him back. I wasn't ready, but it kept him happy.
Things started to get too tense with my mom, so after two months of living with my mom, I moved in with my dad. He was so easy-going with rules, and he was always working. I could do whatever I wanted, I had the house to myself more often than not.
My boyfriend started to come over frequently because we could be alone at my house. He was under a lot of stress from school, and I understood that, so when he took it out on me, I just waited for the storm to pass. He would come over, pacing and yelling. He would get so angry sometimes that he would punch the wall. A few times later, that wall became me. Once he realized what he had done, he was all hugs and kisses. He would apologize and force make-up sex.After a while, I expected it. There was no more going out to games or watching movies. That was all history. I had all the excuses to explain the black eyes and bruised arms. No one dug any deep than my excuse. I was perfectly fine with that.
I quit cheer leading to be able to hide the bruises. No one asked for an explanation. I noticed myself starting to gain weight from lack of exercise. I got frustrated, so I stopped snacking throughout the day. That wasn't enough, so I exercised constantly, ignoring the pain. That still didn't make me happy, so I stopped eating all together. If my dad came home, I would pick at my food, so he didn't ask any questions. Every morning I would hop on the scale, where I knew the number would determine my mood for the day. No one asked why I was dropping weight so quickly, and I was fine with that.
Just before school ended, I found out that I was pregnant. I panicked. This was not my plan, I didn't want a baby this young. It was all wrong. That afternoon I got an abortion. No one knew about the baby but me. I got home and cut my leg seventeen times. I just wanted the guilt to go away. No amount of tears or blood could fix what I had done. I started dreaming about my baby. I couldn't seem to lift the weight of depression off of my shoulders.
I tried to distract myself. I decided it was time for a change. I dyed my hair black. I pierced my belly button, then my eyebrow, then my lip. The cutting got worse. By now, it was every day, several times a day. I stopped going to school. Instead I slept all day and cried all night. No one asked about me. No one cared.
My boyfriend came over one day, handed me a package of drugs and told me to be happy already. I did the drugs and we went through our usual routine of beatings and make-up sex. Every time he came over, he brought drugs with him. Beatings, drugs, sex. This was a normal day for me now.
One night, just a few months before school was done, he came over drunk, angry at me and the world for everything imaginable. He brought two of his buddies with him, also drunk. They cornered me and gave me the worst beating I had ever had. There was blood everywhere. They all raped me that night and left me in a crying, bloody heap on the floor. This was the only night I wished my dad would come home and save me. Once they left, I cried all night, mascara staining my face. I made cut after cut into my bruised body. Why wouldn't the pain just go away? I finally fell asleep.
I woke up, but the pain was still there. I decided I couldn't take it anymore. No one loved me, I had no future, I was worthless. I had to end my life. It was the only way out. I took a bottle of pills out of the cabinet, it would all be over soon. At the raw age of fifteen, I was finished. I wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
All of a sudden, there was knocking on my door. I quickly pulled on a hoodie to hide my battered body and went to answer the frantic knocking. No one was there. I found a letter taped to the door. "Sophia" was written in neat writing on the envelope. I took it to my room, ripped it open and started reading. This is what it said:

My Dearest Sophia,
I love you so much. I long for you to see my open arms and hear my loving voice. You've been avoiding me for so long, I miss the little girl who used to laugh and smile and talk to me. It hurts me so deeply to see you in so much pain. Please come back. I will lift your burdens from you. I will carry you. I will give you a brand new life. You don't have to live like this anymore. I want to make you new. This girl you are now is not who I made you to be. Please come back to me. I love you with all of my heart.
Your friend,
Jesus

I ran out of my house. I ran to the nearest church I could find and gave the youth pastor the letter. With tears streaming down my face, I cried, asking him what I was supposed to do. He replied, confused, with, "Sophia, sweetie, this is a blank sheet of paper." But I saw the words so clearly. This was when I knew that Jesus was real. I ran into his loving arms full force, no hesitation. He didn't lie to me, he never abandoned me.
I went to rehab for a year. I got my high school diploma, and now I'm working hard every day to get to where God wants me to be. It's been a hard ten years, but I'm not giving up. I'm fighting until the finish."
Jacob looked at me, tears in his eyes and reached for the red velvet box on the table. He opened it to reveal a beautiful ring.
"Sophia, will you marry me?" He said for the second time.
"After everything I just told you, you still love me?" I asked him, wanting to make sure he knew what he was getting himself into.
"I have never loved you more."

I hope that, like me, you felt incredible pain reading this story and looking at this girl in the picture. I don't have to look at the rest of her body, I just need to look at her face. The pain on her face makes me want to pick her up and protect her from the rest of the world.
Let me tell you, there are so many people struggling with cutting, anorexia, drugs, abuse, neglect, everything imaginable. We need to do something. If you're going through this, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. And you are loved. I love you. There is no one in this world who is not loved by at least one person.
God is going to do incredible things with you. He loves you so much. Please, please run into his loving arms without hesitation.
God bless,
Ariel

Burn Out

You're not good enough. You deserved it. You can't do anything right. You need to do this for me. You're a slut. No one loves you. You're a failure. No one gives a crap about you. No one wants you here.
These were the thoughts running through my head tonight. And you know what? I believed every single one of them.
 I'm never good enough. Never. No matter how hard I try, I can't get it right. There's always something that someone can yell at me for.
I feel like I deserve to be punished. I deserve to be hurt. I deserve whatever bad things are/have happened to me. I deserve it.
No one loves you. I'm actually tearing up on this one. I don't have anything to say about this, it's self explanatory.
I feel like I can get a hundred percent on an assignment, and it's still not good enough. I can tell someone about something that happened that day, and I'm always in the wrong. I'm always a failure in the eyes of those around me.
When I'm upset about something, I know I need to talk to someone about it, but then I think, they don't care. No one gives a crap about my problems. Why would they? It's all pathetic stuff anyways, no one cares.
I'm ready to pick up and move out. Right now, I would have no problem with packing my stuff and leaving. I don't care, no one wants me here anyways. I can go somewhere that I will actually be wanted, appreciated and loved.
I'm always working. I am always freakin' working. I never get a freakin' break. Someone always wants me to do something for them. Whether it's chores, babysitting, cleaning, bake sales, work, help, whatever. I'm burnt out. I can't do it anymore. I can't, but I have no choice. I got myself into it. I don't know how my week fills up so quickly, how somehow by Tuesday, every single day is booked. Right now, I'm busy almost every single day in the following week. I never get a break.
I'm angry. I'm angry at the world, I'm angry at myself, I'm just angry. And for those of you who know me well, you know that when I'm angry, I'm aggressive. I'm such a freakin' aggressive person. When I'm pissed off, I want to listen to hardcore music. Give me August Burns Red, Disciple, Underoath, For Today, whatever. But don't you dare give me some bubble-gum-pop crap. I will rip your head off. If you know me well, you know that I love punching...people mostly. If I'm in a bad mood and you piss me off, my reflex is to punch you, hard. And it really has become a reflex. I need to punch something.
All at the same time, I need to go for a walk, cry, talk to someone, get out of the freakin' house, write. When I'm mad like this, I'm in a dangerous place. I was so mad today, just thinking, I started breathing so hard, my face got red, and I started washing the dishes at a very aggressive pace. I was just so mad, I just have to think about it. And that's the sign that I need to get out. But I can't. Like I said, I don't have any time to calm myself down, to compose myself. I have to do what everyone else wants me to do first, THEN I can take care of my own safety. It's sad when it gets to that point. Give me a break. Can you not see what's happening to me?
Another thing, if you ever think that you have the authority to tell me what to do, you better freakin' well think again. I am so tired of people telling me what to do. At work, my supervisor asks me to do whatever she needs done. At school, I'll listen to teachers. Why? Because it's their job to tell you what your job is. That's the way it's always worked. If my friends tell me what to do, you better bet that I'm going to do whatever the heck I want. If you tell me what to do, I will not listen to you. It's as simple as that. Don't tell me what to do. I'm tired of people treating me like an incompetent child. I'm fifteen. I organize bake sales, I raise money for people in need, I'm in a grade 11 course, I work instead of going to school because my course requires it, I work my butt off every single day of the week, I put other peoples needs before mine. If you think that I can't take care of myself, check again. If you think that I'm stupid, you better get over it. I'm done with being a door mat. I'm not someone you can just push around, so put that thought out of your head right now. I can take care of myself.
I'm going to crash, I'm going to burn out. I've worked so hard in the past months, it's all going to go down the drain if you don't start treating me properly or giving me a break every once in a while.
I know that if it wasn't for God, things would be so much different, and I thank him so much for everything he's allowed me to do. He is just awesome, and quite honestly, he's the only person I want to be with at this moment.
God bless,
Ariel

Perfect

Made a wrong turn

Once or twice

Dug my way out

Blood and fire
Bad decisions
That’s alright

Welcome to my silly life

Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood

Miss “no way it’s all good”

It didn’t slow me down

Mistaken

Always second guessing

Underestimated

Look, I’m still around…

Pretty, pretty please


This is me. I love who I am, will you love me for me too?



Don’t you ever, ever feel

Like your less than
Less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You are perfect to me
You’re so mean

When you talk

About yourself
You are wrong
Change the voices
In your head
Make them like you
Instead
So complicated
Look how big you’ll make it
Filled with so much hatred
Such a tired game
It’s enough
I’ve done all i can think of
Chased down all my demons
see you do same
Pretty, pretty please
Don’t you ever, ever feel
Like your less than
Less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You are perfect to me
The world stares while i swallow the fear
The only thing i should be drinking is an ice cold beer
So cool in lying and I tried tried tried
But we tried too hard, it’s a waste of my time
Done looking for the critics, cuz they’re everywhere
They don’t like my jeans, they don’t get my hair
Exchange ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that?
Why do I do that?
Why do I do that?
Yeah,
Ooh, oh, pretty pretty pretty,
Pretty pretty please don’t you ever ever feel
Like you’re less then, less than perfect
Pretty pretty please if you ever ever feel
Like you’re nothing you are perfect, to me
You’re perfect
You’re perfect
Pretty, pretty please don’t you ever ever feel like you’re less then, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please if you ever ever feel like you’re nothing you are perfect to me

This song is to me. This song is to you. I feel like this song is just perfect.
Do you remember when you were little and you could never do anything right? You were always getting in trouble? So do I. When you fought with your mom constantly? So do I. When everyone tried to shape you into who they wanted you to be? So do I. When your body was never ever good enough? So do I. When you would do anything just to be like everyone else? So do I. When you made a mistake, people would never let you forget it? So do I. When you were pushed to your very limit? So do I. When you knew that things had to change? So do I. So do I...
This song is my life. This video is my life. It represents so many events in my life.
This image of beauty that the media forces on us, it's not right. It tears into us. We feel like we have to meet these perfect expectations.
Men, take your eyes off of the Hollywood expectation of girls. Guess what...we don't really look like that. I have spent two hours doing my hair and makeup, and once I was done, I cried because I didn't feel any more beautiful than when I had started. That expectation is unreachable. That expectation is what we're taught from when we're young. Look at the Disney princesses, they're flawless. Look at Barbie dolls, they're flawless. We're taught that we have to look like that. And you know what? We don't.
And girls, please know that you are flawless just the way you are. God does not make mistakes. He made you exactly how he wanted you. God doesn't do sloppy work. He just doesn't. Am I a hypocrite for saying this? Oh yeah, I am. But I'm trying, I'm trying really hard to know that I am beautiful.
In the song, you can tell that Pink is singing from her heart. You can tell in her voice. You can tell in her eyes in the video that she means what she is saying. She wants so much for every single girl to know that she is beautiful. Hollywood can make anything, but Hollywood is fake. Be real.
If a guy can't accept you for the way you look because he's looking for some Hollywood-perfected Barbie, then he's not worth it. Any man worth your heart will look at you and think that you're absolutely flawless, and he will love you endlessly.
Don't give up, it's all going to work out. I promise.
God bless,
Ariel