Challenge 3: Selfies, Swimsuits, and Self Sufficiency with Jen Wilken

Join the Challenge ⁠⁠⁠and share with a friend! Our Summer Faith Challenge this week is to examine the way we think about our bodies and aging. 1 Samuel 16: 7b tells us that “... the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  Summer is a time when it is easy to be fixated on how we look and be overly aware of our bodies. There are a lot of ads talking to us about being swimsuit-ready and wanting to maintain our youthful look. I was laughing to my sister-in-law this pastweekend that after my first son was born, I convinced my husband to let me buy my forever swimsuit. It was a little more expensive, but it was a one-piece with boy short legs, so that I could chase our future kids while not showing the whole world my assets. I didn’t really swim again until our third son was born, because trying to keep all the toddlers from drowning felt impossible, but when I put on that suit, I couldn’t believe how much my body had changed. In an effort to embrace this new size, I once again convinced my husband to let me buy my new “forever suit.” SoI could confidently go to the pool. But now, ironically, I’m somewhere between those two sizes. I tend to pendulum swing between pretending my body doesn’t matter at all, and overanalyzing every shift that each year brings. What if our faith changed our focus? What if the way we see life allowed our soul to become more beautiful and our faith an anchor of security as we step out into the pool with our kids or grandkids this summer? Enjoy this episode with Jen aging with grace.