Video and story by Christina Soto | Broadcast Reporter
According to Dove’s Self-Esteem Fund, 71 percent of girls with low self-esteem feel that their appearance does not measure up — they do not feel pretty enough, thin enough or stylish enough.
In high school, Mandeville, La. Junior Grace Valentine struggled through body image insecurities. She found herself not eating healthy. Valentine exercise daily to burn as many calories as she was consuming. However, it wasn’t until her friends brought it up to her that she made a change in her life.
“Although, I looked happy, I wasn’t happy on the inside and that was because even though I knew of Jesus, I really didn’t know him as a friend,” Valentine said. “Looking back on it now and realizing that I didn’t know my worth is what makes me find their worth.”
Valentine wrote for the Odyssey and became their top contributor, however she felt constrained to write about God and how he was helping her through her insecurities so she decided to create her own website.
Her website, gracevalentine.org, is known as The Enough Movement. It is targeted at girls who do not feel enough, whether that is pretty enough, smart enough or thin enough.
“It reminds girls that we are never going to be enough for this world so we need to stop trying to please this world because we weren’t created for this world, we were created for God and to have a relationship with him,” said Valentine.
For St. Louis, Missouri sophomore Joanna Disch, who has also suffered from insecurities, the biblical scripture about being made in the image of God has a special place in her heart.
“In every article she talks about how you are made in the image of God and you should never be ashamed of that,” Disch said.
Valentine’s website has been viewed by more than 3 million people across the globe. She has not only influenced the women around her in the Baylor community but has helped girls as far as India.
“I read one of your blogs about God’s letter to a woman who thinks she’s ugly. It really helped me a lot. All I wanted to do was to thank you for helping me out of my depression,” Sally said in a Facebook post to Grace from India.
Through her writing has been able to reach millions and she will be continuing to do through a book she is getting published.
