Beautiful Worth

I created this photo to show an unusual door in a wilderness, representing times where God shows up in unique ways when life looks hopeless. I love the promise in Hosea where God speaks to the nation of Israel who is going through a very difficult time:

​There I will give back her vineyards to her
and transform her Valley of Troubles into a Door of Hope.
Hosea 2:15 The Living Bible paraphrase

A real life example of this can be found in the makeover story I captured of Katherine Chapman, a young woman with a heart for beauty and a message of hope that we can all relate to.

As we filmed on a back porch in Southern California, I could immediately tell that Kat wanted nothing less than sincere authenticity in every part of her life- including our interview. She told her story with the same transparency she lived, daring to touch every emotion in its purest, uncluttered form and treasuring the sacredness of each one. She wanted us to meet her joy and pain, and feel at peace with both, because she was.
​
As a child, Kat had longed for beauty. One day, crammed into the station wagon with her siblings, she had spied a ballerina figurine in a dance studio window and voiced her dream.
“Someday, I'd like to be a ballerina.”
“You can't do that,” one of her siblings scoffed, “because ballerinas are beautiful.”
Mortified, Kat's shoulders slumped with shame. I guess my dreams of being beautiful, glorious, and known are of no value, she mused.

Years later, when Kat married and entered motherhood, she found herself facing a new kind of shame. After seven miscarriages (including four in one year) she felt like a failure, since her body was unable to protect the little child she wanted so badly to love. After one particularly traumatic miscarriage, she wrapped the tiny body of her child and dug a grave in the cold dirt of her backyard.  Weeping, she told her husband,

“I don't want to be God's needy little girl – I want to be strong, and bold, and brave.”

“Maybe that's it,” her husband responded. “Maybe God doesn't want you to be strong... maybe He just wants you to be His little girl and let Him hold you.”

Slowly, Kat started realizing she didn't need to perform for God's approval, and that He wasn't ignoring her pain. She could feel every moment and talk to Him about it, leaning on Him for strength, and enjoying the moments of beauty that He sent her way.

​
​One day in the shower, Kat began to pinpoint the battlefield in her mind. Itemizing the lies that tormented her, she isolated the attacks and began to call them out. 

Fear- I'm afraid of singing in front of a microphone
Doubt- what if God doesn't meet my needs?
Hopelessness- am I valuable enough to merit God's love?
I will only bow my knee to You, God!  She vowed.  These other 'gods' that want my attention are not going to win!
There in the shower, she began to sing the words:

I will follow
I will pursue
I will seek You
Above any other
Above any other god
Above any other love
Above any other name
Jesus
​
Little did she know that this song would become an anthem during a worship movement that swept her city, and this simple chorus would bring healing to people who needed a voice to express their pain and trust in God. Kat's Valley of Trouble had become a Door of Hope.

Read Kat's full story in the book, Finding Beautiful: Discovering Authentic Beauty Around the World.

Finding Beautiful Book

​Watch Kat's story and music video