{the GENESIS of it all}
Sarah: Going into this project, Karson and I didn’t have much direction with what we wanted to do. All we knew was that we had the combined passion and talent to do a cool project where we empower women — Karson has the gift and passion, I had passion, so it’s really mostly her, (I did take the one picture of Karson that is featured tho). Anyway, it started with a conversation over lunch where we were talking about our futures.
Karson: So, as we were talking about our futures, also known as me worrying and stressing about what I wanted my future to look like, rooted from the pressures that our society puts on us, I began expressing my passion for photography, to Sarah.
Sarah: I told her about an Instagrammer that I followed, who has highlighted Middle Eastern conflicts (along with many other social justice issues) through her photography. Karson is the MOST talented, and specializes in capturing people in their element; so naturally, I suggested to her that she could think about using her gift from the Lord to glorify him by shedding light on the persecution believers are facing — but that brought her to an idea that was much more realistic for right now.
Karson: My idea was to create a project that captured our hearts for women, and this propelled us into brainstorming new ways to incorporate the women in our life now, which is our teammates and squad mates. Sarah and I are huge advocates for women, and immediately, we both thought of the idea of me photographing these women and using it as a avenue for people to see what it’s like being woman. More specifically, what it’s like to be a woman of God in this day and age.
As we dove deeper into what this project could look like, I thought that it would be a really neat idea if I captured these women in a way that is specific to them, a way that captures their personality, their heart, their passions, whatever it is that makes them, who they are.
For this project, my team thought that wearing no makeup would be an excellent idea, it would be another way to express ourselves as women of God, rather than women who have to fit into a certain image and stereotype that society places on us. One of our teammates was actually doing a makeup fast at the time, which added to our inspiration, and it was just really neat to see the perfect timing unfold before our eyes. She was walking through learning about her identity in Christ, discovering that every other opinion or standard that she (we) are told to conform to, is an absolute lie. This is what we are passionate about and we want to reach our audience with this message – our true identity is founded solely in the Father, and because of that, we are beautiful and wonderful because of Him. He sees us in the most raw and vulnerable form, calls us BEAUTIFUL and says we are WORTHY. He looks at us in our most natural state, He sees goodness in us because we were created in His radiant image. Society has all of us brainwashed, our culture has created this lie that we aren’t good enough as we are or that way we look isn’t beautiful enough. These lies flood our minds with comparison and self loathing. Praise Jesus that none of those things are true! Praise God that we don’t have to act a certain way or look a certain way to be image bearers of Jesus. Thank you God, that we are worthy because of Your Son, who made us Holy and Precious in your sight. Praise The Lord that it’s not about us and never will be about us, these pressures and worries have no place here.
Sarah: Specifically with this project, I wanted to talk about the relationship between women and self-image. Social media is full of women speaking out boldly for what they believe, empowerment projects, embracing what could be ugly to the world and making it beautiful, and it’s all so amazing and wonderful — but what we saw lacking were projects that empowered women based on truth. So, I wrote up a few questions to ask each girl to answer along with their picture. I hoped these questions would help direct a narrative pointed towards Christ and build a foundation of scripture-based empowerment.
Karson: With all of that being said, we wanted to explain our hearts behind wanting to do this project and our hearts for women:
I think I’ve always had a heart for women, deep down. Specifically, for women who are victims of sex trafficking, rape, abuse, and more that we don’t even realize that is taking place. My heart aches for them. It’s a pain that is different than I’ve felt before. Thinking about what these women are going through, most of us cannot even begin to comprehend, and that’s what breaks my heart even more. Knowing that women are living a life that make them feel they are worthless, make them feel they are not good enough, make them feel things that we can’t understand. Thinking about men, or people in general who are okay with treating women with such evil intent, being okay with taking advantage of innocent girls and women just for a temporary satisfaction. It absolutely disgusts me. I want to fight for these women. I want to remind them that they have worth and that their worth is founded in Jesus. I want to remind them that it isn’t over, what they are going through isn’t the end, I want them to know that they have purpose, and who their Creator is. I want them to know how our Creator feels about them. I want to believe that there is hope for their lives. To be a sister to them. This is one of my deepest desires.
When I was younger, my mom was arrested and this experience brought an entire new light to what this looked like for me. It also brought a new sort of empathetic heart towards women and men, in general. The reason is, I saw a completely different side of what “life” looked like. I met this new and raw version of my mom, there was a side of her that I hadn’t known before this time. She started sharing with me how broken she was, why she made the decisions she did, why life was looking the way it did for her, and so much more. I began encountering these inmates who were on the opposite side of being a victim, but instead the perpetrator. I began hearing their stories, and realizing the brokenness inside of them. I started seeing them as people who are lost and searching for something to fill the void in their hearts, they need Jesus and don’t realize it. My heart still aches for victimized women, but in a different way. It’s funny how the Lord used my mom’s story of being in prison to bring my anger, to a place of empathy for each person. God began breaking these walls down that I once had, (and sometimes still do!). He began shifting my heart from a place of only victimized women to a place of fighting for all women, because every single person is hurting and battling something. Whatever that battle may be, anything that completely tears a woman down or makes her question how she views herself as a woman and as a person.
Sarah: When trying to write down why I have a heart or passion for women, it’s hard to come up with the words to explain. I mean, I just do! I have a heart for women because God gave me a heart for women. He placed in me a heart that breaks at the sight of injustice. And I grew up surrounded by tons of women, all of wildly different personalities. I’ve grown up learning what it means to be strong woman, and how to love all women. And while I can’t remember a specific moment where I thought “YES I have a heart for women now,” I can recall times in my life where I knew in my heart something wasn’t right. Moments like when I was fifteen, and an old man at a music festival asked me my age, where I lived, tried to take pictures of me etc. right in front of my family — it was the first time I felt personally violated. Or when my sisters or girl-friends talk about devastation they feel after rejection or a breakup, stinging heartache that reveals a deeper issue of misplaced self-worth. Or even when in my first women’s Bible Study in 7th grade, the leaders of the study told me they were so excited to fill their purpose as women, which was for them, to be wives and mothers, and proceeded to passively discourage all the 15 or so girls in the circle from pursuing working careers. These moments made my heart freaking burn! Because even if at the moment I struggled to articulate what made me so angry or emotional, I just knew there wasn’t something right. I see it as a tragic thing that we have become so okay with our dignity and womanhood and beauty being defaced that we ourselves, as women, buy into it as well. I don’t see one scripture in the Bible saying that we are purposed to please and care for men and children, but God did create us uniquely in His image as spiritually beautiful, and I am grateful for that.
I think most of the time, it comes down to beauty and how we define that term. The way we see beauty in this world is incredibly skewed because it lacks foundation or any solid method of which to measure beauty. It seems great when we say beauty is subjective because then we can create new perspectives on age old “flaws” like acne and stretch marks — which is true. But then I see the dangerous side of this where we start to exploit our beauty. When beauty becomes too loose and lacks foundation, we start to think it is empowering to expose ourselves in any and every way, or surgically change the way we were created to fit a subjective view of prettiness. It becomes all too overwhelming and grey in my opinion. It’s hard to not see beauty as a strictly physical thing when we’re surrounded by social media, billboards, even fellow women that idolize appearance. What is sick is, God created beauty apart from the world. We are beautiful because we were created in His image. This means we bear his image so when people look at us they see a reflection of the Craftsman of beauty Himself. It’s the perfect scale for beauty because if we are all created in his image, we are all beautiful! Because you cannot look me in the eye and say God isn’t beautiful.
{finally to FRUITION}
KARSON:
“AWE & WONDER”
SARAH:
“FULLY KNOWN”
“FREEDOM”
SHELBY:
What is an insecurity you have that the Lord is transforming to be something you boldly embrace?
For the longest time, I was very careful with how I love others. I’m a person who loves with my whole entire heart. So many times I had gotten hurt in the past while doing this. Recently, I’ve been embracing the beauty in the relationships I’ve formed by loving people unconditionally. A few weeks ago, I read 1 John and was encouraged to embrace my gift of loving and caring because there’s so much beauty in it despite the pain it has caused me. Now the Lord has really revealed to me that this is one of my greatest gifts I have to offer, not a flaw that I first had mistaken it for.
“SHE SHALL NOT BE MOVED”
GRACE:
What does being a bold woman of God look like for you?
Being bold doesn’t have to always look like speaking loudly with confidence, and being incredibly outgoing. For me, when it comes to being bold in the Kingdom it looks like being obedient when the Holy Spirit speaks, and it looks like fighting for what I believe in with love and grace. The act of simply being a woman of God in the world we live in today is bold in itself, and to strive to live within all of the Fruit of the Spirit means it’s possible to live a bold yet gentle life at the same time.
“MYSTERIOUSLY COMPLEX”
JULIA:
What is something that makes you uniquely you, that other people don’t necessarily love?
My identity is found in the Lord. I know who I am because I know who he is. I am confident in who I am and I’m not willing to compromise that for anything or anyone. I’m not one to change my beliefs, actions or character in order to impress or please others. Most of the time, people don’t love this quality of mine but I’m proud of staying true to myself and who I am.
“FEARFULLY MADE: FEARLESS”
HANNAH:
What are the pressures society places on you as a woman?
I think the greatest pressures that I find on myself are not pressures society has placed on me but that I’ve placed on myself in order to please the people that matter to me most, instead of striving to please society as a whole. Whether those be expectations/pressures of a positive attitude, a sort of “put togetherness” or toughness, an eagerness to be around people, or simply being a “good enough” friend. I think most of these self enforced expectations come with the desire to feel and be loved by people that I love, a misconstrued idea that by meeting the expectations I place on myself I am earning their love.
“FOR THE JOY SET BEFORE HER”
MAGGIE:
What does it mean to you/how do you live out the truth that you are uniquely made in God’s image?
When I look at someone I get to see a new and unique part of our Creator himself. It has taken me a while, but I have started to realize I need to also look inside myself and see the unique way I resemble my Creator. To believe that my beauty doesn’t rely on all the things I spend so much time and even a lot of my finances to perfect (hair, clothes, skin). All of those things are temporary and fading. The truth that I was created in God’s image (in a unique and beautiful way) is eternal. His beauty, gifts, character, and image doesn’t fade. That means that since I was made in his image, the unique way He created me can’t be compromised by my failures or mistakes.
{CLOSING TRUTH}
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14 NIV
Fearfully | Adv. — In a manner to impress admiration and astonishment
Wonderfully | Adv. — In a manner to excite wonder or surprise; extremely well
He created the deepest parts of us and knows us fully and intimately. So when God says he loves us repeatedly throughout scripture, He loves us for all that we are, and all that He created us to be.
“and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24 ESV
Being in the likeness of God means that we aren’t just beautiful because we are made in His image; He also makes us in the likeness of his character — a character that is honorable and sacred.
“Let your true beauty come from your inner personality, not a focus on the external. For lasting beauty comes from a gentle and peaceful spirit, which is precious in God’s sight and is much more important than the outward adornment of elaborate hair, jewelry, and fine clothes.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 TPT
True beauty, internal beauty that reflects His spirit, that is what is priceless to God! God isn’t impressed by outward achievements or legalistic steps to “please” him. What is truly pleasing in His sight is when we overflow with His fruits and love.
“But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ who will transform our earthly bodies into glorious bodies like His own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which He is putting everything as it should be, under and around Him.” Philippians 3:20-21 MSG
And only when we are in His presence will we truly be beautiful: completely without blemish or flaw or flesh, in awe of our maker.
