My name is Lori .This is my world.
Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to dance. It's what I lived for.
My parents were always fighting at home.
Dancing became my escape from home and from my pain.
In high school I started dancing 40-50 hours every week.
To get principle roles in ballets we were told to lose weight. Our instructor weighed us every month.
I began to see myself as imperfect and ugly.
I stopped eating.
I constantly lied to everyone about my disorder. I felt hopeless and trapped.
By the end of high school, I weighed 85 lbs. [picture]
I knew that I was dying.
But my obsession with dance was fueling the anorexia. If I didn't have dance, what else was there to live for?
I thought about giving up. I wanted to die.
My aunt and uncle had started to go to church.
They knew that I was searching for answers.
One day my uncle gave me a book about Jesus.
Reading it, I discovered a reason to hope for a better life.
I learned that God loves me and accepts me for who I am.
He doesn't expect me to be perfect. He just wants me to come to Him for forgiveness.
I found a way to start over. I wanted to live for Him.
When I went to college I found Christian friends. I knew that if I wanted to live I could not hide my eating disorder. I had to talk about it.
I had to tell my friends “Hey, I didn't eat this week, would you please make sure to come to dinner with me?
My friends where there for me and prayed for me every day while I ate.
Within three months, I gained 30 pounds. I felt like I had been reborn –given a new life.
I had always hated looking in the mirror and my love of dance nearly destroyed my body.
But the joy I found in the Lord has transformed every part of my being.
I now dance in a way that I never had before.
I know that God wants me to use dance to share my story with others.
I know that He wants me to live a long life.
I can now look at myself in the mirror and know that I am beautiful in God's eyes.
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