Natalie Lloyd - Paperdoll: What Happens When an Ordinary Girl Meets an Extraordinary God

Praise for Paperdoll

Paperdoll is a timely word for the feminine soul in our appearance-obsessed world. Im grateful for writers, and sisters, like Natalie who are willing to bring the Word into the hardest areas of life. This book will lead you to the One who heals the most tattered of paper heartsthe One who is waiting for us at the well, Jesus.

Bethany Dillon

Sparrow recording artist

I told Natalie I was unwilling to endorse a predictable, clich, quippy treatment of the young adult journey. I am so pleased to report that Paperdoll is none of those things. It is lovely, surprising, artsy and a little quirky, and every young woman should read it. It is a needed manifesto for the next generation who prefers a three-dimensional life to a paper image.

Jen Hatmaker

Author of Ms. Understood and The Modern Girls Bible Study series

Natalie Lloyd has a captivating, personal way of sharing hopes and desires in a way that makes us realize its okay to dream big, because God has incredible things in store for us.

Ashley Hughes

Student at the University of Mobile

Natalie Lloyd knows what it is like to live in a paper world. Through excellent exegesis of Scripture, she unpacks biblical stories and reveals their relevance to our everyday lives and shows us how to transform ordinary into extraordinary. Natalie vividly demonstrates how to develop positive self-image grounded in intimacy with our heavenly Father. This is a must-read and an essential addition to your library!

Susie Shellenberger

Editor of Brio magazine, published by Focus on the Family

My friend Natalie Lloyd will teach you how to live free of trying on fake identities and images in the hope that others will notice you and love you. No more paperdoll life! You can be the authentic you, the one Jesus created, the one who becomes real inside His love. Trust Natalie to lead you in this life-enriching journey.

Andrea Stephens

Brio Girl Search Coordinator, The B.A.B.E. Event

Natalie Lloyd speaks out against the image that magazines portray for young women, letting the world know in no uncertain terms that we are not meant to be one-dimensional paperdolls. Its time for the world to hear her message and affirm the beauty and uniqueness of each and every girl God has made. I whole heartedly support any voice who speaks truth and life into young womens hearts, and Natalie is one of those voices!

Jennifer Strickland

Speaker and author of Girl Perfect

2009 Natalie Lloyd
Published in association with the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., 10152 S. Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130.

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Revell edition published 2014

ISBN 978-1-4412-2537-5

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Other versions used are:

THE MESSAGEScripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

NASBScripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

NKJVScripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

NLTScripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

For the One who wrote grace on my paper heart.

When Paper Hearts Come Alive

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.

JOHN 4:7, NASB

There is One who sees my paper heart,
every frayed corner, all the rips and tears Ive tried to tape
back together. Before that heart sails aimlessly through the
sky like a cheap kite, He holds out His hand, offers to keep it,
to heal it, and to make it whole again.
He writes love and grace over every seam.
Take my whole heart, is my whisper, my plea,
my song. Take all of me.

They live in a world where people are made of paper. They are thrown together, tied with a ribbon and situated perfectly to smile at me from their clear plastic bags. Paperdolls. Blondes, brunettes and redheads with retro crops and pixie cuts.

They all smile the same smile with their head tilted in the same general manner. With just the flip of a wardrobe tab, they could be a mom, a CEO, an athlete or a hair stylist. They can walk the dog, feed a baby, or go to work or out with friendsall with that same big smile. Their hands are propped on their hips, and they wear black heels with their black swimsuits. They are part seduction, part innocent sweetness. Theyre 60s sitcom moms who wear pink aprons. Theyre peace-loving freedom fighters who wear white leather go-go boots and plaid skirts.

You can mix their outfits, though. Thats the beauty of a paperdoll. They can be whatever or whoever you want them to be.

I was in a shop looking for old books when I saw them in a glass showcase. I had a hundred of those when I was a little girl, said the dark-haired woman behind the counter. I had all kinds of different outfits and shoes I would cut out and put on them. I guess girls like other dolls more now. Do you know anything about paperdolls?

Not really, was my reply. I picked up one of the bags and looked at the pretty paper girl inside. Im not a collector or connoisseur. I only remember having a few books of paperdollsthe ones where the clothes could be cut out and the tabs folded over the dolls paper shoulders. But it wasnt nostalgia that drew me to the paperdolls in the store. (They just werent durable enough for me. Barbies endure some wear and tear, but a paperdoll was history the first time a juice pouch turned over.) It was something else about those paper girls that caught my eye.

Maybe it was the way the sun sparkled against the plastic bags, or the way dust spun through that same beam of stray sunlight like snowflakes. I think I know better, though. Something about all those perfect paper faces made sense to me, even more sense now than when I was a little girl.

Every paper face in the box looked the same.

Every paper girl had the same smile.

Tab down the couture gown or medical uniform and shes all set. Two-dimensional perfection.

Theres something about feeling two-dimensional that makes sense to me; a certain make-believe element that I still bring to the world. My doll-playing days are over, but I still tend to dwell in maybes and what ifs. I still think my life begins later, in some dreamy far-off someday I imagine but never seem to find. I think God cant use me right now while Im still waiting, wondering and becoming.