Finding Beautiful By Rebecca FriedlanderSample

Day Six: Beautiful Invitation

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-5, John 15:16, Exodus 20:2, 34:6

“I wasn’t broken because I was a stripper,” Deanna declared with forthright honesty. “I was a stripper because I was broken.” As we filmed her story in a mountaintop home that overlooked a panorama of desert hills, I asked her what led a promising young teenager who started college at the tender age of sixteen to invest her life in clubs as an exotic dancer. What brought her there, kept her there, and led her out? 

There are no words to adequately capture our thoughtful conversation, and my best attempts feel like carrying fine wine in a paper cup. Her story takes us deep into the quest of every woman who craves love, beauty, and security for herself and her family. Deanna’s story reminds us that God doesn’t just want to change our lifestyle; He wants to invite us into a bigger love story than anything we could imagine.

The specifics of Deanna’s life, like many, are hard to fathom: a family split because of abuse, a single mom left to raise her daughters, and the enlarging ache in a young woman’s heart to be seen and loved for who she is. Deanna reached for the affections of men to fill a void whose bottom felt endless—intimate relationships at much too young an age, and finally shedding her clothes for money, attention and a false sense of value.

When Deanna’s mother learned of her daughter’s work as a stripper, she bombarded heaven with prayer . . . for the next five years. Those prayers would eventually penetrate the walls of a child still searching for her daddy, rescue her from her own damaged self-image, and introduce her to true love.

Deanna’s entire view of herself began to shift as the Father’s love became a mirror that reflected her true image back to her: she was chosen, wanted, and desperately loved by the God who promised to meet her needs. In time, Deanna was asked to reach out to the very women whose lifestyles she once shared. But this time, with a heart full of love, Deanna embraced them and said, “I want you to know that the God of the universe loves you with all His heart and wants a relationship with you. Nothing you ever do will stop Him from pursuing you.”

Receiving God’s invitation of love changed Deanna’s world, and she extended the same invitation to others. We are radiant when we give our beauty in serving others.

Have you accepted Christ’s invitation to become part of something bigger than yourself?