Who Calls Me Beautiful Giveaway

Yesterday I was at our local thrift store perusing their book shelves when I picked up a copy Who Calls Me Beautiful by Regina Franklin. It was in perfect condition unlike most of the books on the shelve which mainly dated back to the 70’s or 90’s. I glanced at it quickly and the title captured my attention. I wondered  “is this some fluffy pop psychology self absorbed book?” For some reason (now I see it was all God’s kind providence) I decided to go ahead and buy it. Little did I know it would be one of the best book purchases I have made this year! I couldn’t put it down yesterday and I am into chapter four. It has been very convicting as well as encouraging. I want to share some quotes this weekend and throughout next week. But for now I thought I would post the Amazon reviews. They capture my sentiments quite well.

Below are all reviews from Amazon’s website.

What an Awsome Book!!

All I will say is every woman ought to read this book! With the onslaught of the media and worlds idea of what is important and considered beautiful this book will cause you to think and see yourself and others in a totally different way. You will never regret buying and reading this book. Worth every penny and then some!

Quite Good

A skilled writer, Franklin, who has had years of experience with youth, addresses the topic of females perception of her own beauty. This book is aimed at single or married ladies, in hopes that they will learn to define beauty the Lord’s way and pass it on to the younger ladies around them. I was watching out for “self-esteem” (as opposed to Christ-esteem!) talk, since I imagine that would commonly be discussed in this arena. But for the most part I was quite pleased with Franklin’s treatment of the topic. She teaches women to find their beauty in Christ and to listen to the truth of God’s Word rather than the lies of the world or even just people who speak carelessly. The following are a few quotes from the text:

“Scripture is the mirror of beauty through which we view ourselves.”“In worship, false pretenses and artificial longings–our own or those of others– fall away before a holy, awesome God. When I stand and consider the majesty of His name and the works of His hands, my weight, my height, my cup size, and my hairstyle cease to matter.”“The world is all too ready to plant its philosophies regarding women and beauty in the hearts of young girls.. .the message is…a girl’s sexuality is her beauty. However, it is a message of death. Satan desires to destroy the hearts of young girls through the destruction of their bodies.”

An Insightful Look into the Fulfillment of Woman’s Longing

I do not know a woman who hasn’t, at some point, fiercely desired to be beautiful but felt she didn’t measure up. Our culture shouts this message from the rooftops: “You are ugly and worthless. You are inadequate. You are nothing compared to the girl on the cover of that magazine.”But Regina Franklin says that this must end now. We, the women of today, must put an end to this inaccurate and caustic view of beauty. We must find our identities in Christ and allow Him to give us the beauty that makes us shine, inside and out.Regina Franklin approaches this topic with infinitely more depth and insight that is apparent in the other “beauty books” I’ve read. Every assertion is backed by Scripture. Literary allusions pepper the book, illustrating the application of these truths. Mrs. Franklin’s style is engaging, and her personal experiences are shared often, making the book more relatable to the reader.Who Calls Me Beautiful: Finding Our True Image in the Mirror of God exceeded my expectations astoundingly. Please, ladies, if you struggle with a desire to be beautiful, do not pass this book up.

“I recommend this book to any girl or women. It helped me identify the underlying issues in my life and actually do something about them. It was inspiring and ultimately showed me how to free myself from extreme self consciousness.”

Opened my eyes to truth — closed my eyes to the media

This book was a source of encouragement to me to stop looking at what the world (and all types of media) claims that beautiful is and start to see God’s definition of beauty. I only wish I was able to read this as a teen or while in my 20’s. It not only encouraged me but the study questions at the end of each chapter helped to propel me to do something about it. I now have a better self-image than before I read the book and I can now look at media as more fairy-tale than reality.

An uplifting and life changing book

Just the title of this book really says so much. I began reading it and was immediately drawn to its capability of changing how a woman looks at herself. This book tackles issues of insecurity, self-worth, failure, and so much more. Reading this book allows you to begin seeing yourself as God sees you — a beautiful daughter of His.Are you feeling down on yourself? Depressed? Ashamed of how you look? Believe that you aren’t beautiful because you need to lose weight? Then you owe it to yourself to read this! ANY woman who struggles with the issues of conforming to the world’s idea of “beauty” should really get a copy of this. I think you will really enjoy it, and hopefully it will change your life as much as it has mine.Also, as a side note, this is an excellent book for mothers to get their teenage or pre-teen daughters. One of the chapters in the book tackles the issue of adolescence and growing up in “today’s image.” To really grab their attention, it uses a modern famous pop star, Christina Aliugera as an example with her song “Beautiful” and shows them exactly how conflicted media is today. It will teach your daughters as much as it will teach you, and really instills the right values in a young girl today.

Giveaway:

I want to give a copy to every woman I know! while that isn’t possible I do want to pass a copy on to one of you and I do hope that others will get a copy as well for themselves and thier daughters. Comment on this post and tell me what was the best book you have read this year for a chance to win. For two chances to win blog about it and leave a comment saying you did.  I will announce the randomly drawn winner in a week or two as I want to give everyone a  chance at entering and one of my dear readers is moving this week.