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About Beauty Begins

You are, and always have been, beautiful

“Beauty begins. That’s the point of this book. Our understanding of beauty got started somewhere and somehow, and probably due to someone. Now that may have been a good start, but then again it may not have. But regardless of what your past looks like, we want to offer up this word of hope: It’s never too late to make peace with your reflection.” 

We live in a culture that’s obsessed with beauty. Walk by any magazine stand or turn on a television and you’ll be bombarded with the images and ideals that our culture believes are the epitome of what it means to be beautiful. And if you’re like most women, you’ve probably spent countless hours trying to measure up to this standard whether you realize it or not. 
 
But if you don’t make peace with your reflection, you’ll end up declaring war on yourself.
 
That’s where mother-daughter team Chris Shook and Megan Shook Alpha want to help. In Beauty Begins, they challenge each of us to trade the pressure of perfection for God's perfect love. Poignant, relevant, and relatable, Beauty Begins is for every woman who wants to reclaim what it means to be truly beautiful. 

Praise

Praise for Beauty Begins:

“In Beauty Begins, Chris Shook and Megan Shook Alpha have written a vibrant, heartwarming book for women of all ages who live out the universal struggle to see themselves as beautiful. Through their personal stories, biblical insight, and practical wisdom, this mother-daughter duo gives us down-to-earth advice on how to see ourselves clearly through God’s eyes of acceptance and love. I can’t wait to share it with my granddaughters!”
Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church with her husband, Rick; international speaker; and best-selling author of Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough

“In an age of superficial beauty and supermodel icons, our friends Chris and Megan offer a Christ-centered alternative that begins with the heart of God. Here’s a wise and wonderful guide to where true beauty begins—and to the confidence and contentment that come from it.”
Lee and Leslie Strobel, authors of Surviving a Spiritual Mismatch in Marriage

“True beauty begins when you make peace with your reflection. That’s why Chris Shook and her daughter, Megan, have taken the risk to talk about a topic that is often difficult for women to discuss—self-image. The result is an invitation for ladies of all ages to join this conversation.”
Pastor Steven and Holly Furtick, cofounders of Elevation Church, Charlotte, NC

“Beauty in the eyes of the world is distorted. In Beauty Begins, Chris Shook and her daughter, Megan, point women of all ages to the source of true beauty: the heart of God. They reveal that God’s heart is for women to be full of beauty, full of joy, full of peace. Let Chris and Megan clear your vision and teach you the truth of who God made you to be.”
Matthew Barnett, cofounder of the Dream Center and author of God’s Dream for You

"My friends, Chris Shook and Megan Shook Alpha, have written a wonderful new book called Beauty Begins.  In it this powerful mother and daughter team share their insights and wisdom, born from their own experiences, to help women everywhere overcome negative perceptions about themselves and to learn to love and respect the person God made them to be."   – Victoria Osteen, Co-Pastor, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas

About Chris Shook

Chris Shook, along with her husband, Kerry, founded Woodlands Church outside of Houston, Texas, in 1993. Since then the multicampus church has grown to an attendance of more than 18,000 people and is recognized for its ministries to the poor and powerless. Woodlands Church also has one of the largest fair-trade/direct-trade stores in the country, with the goal of lifting generations out of poverty by empowering their lives with hope. Thousands of people in more than two hundred countries tune in weekly to Pastor Kerry's televised broadcasts. The Shooks' first book, One Month to Live, is a New York Times bestseller. Kerry and Chris have been married for more than thirty years and have four grown children.

About Megan Shook Alpha

MEGAN SHOOK ALPHA, the daughter of Kerry and Chris Shook, is a graduate of Baylor University and works as a pastor to students at Woodlands Church.

Product Details

208 pages | Published by WaterBrook

On Sale Date: Mar 21, 2017

Trim Size: 5-3/16 x 8

Carton Quantity: 24

Press Release

Trade the Pressures of Perfection for the Peace God Offers
 
From “true beauty” ad campaigns to public outrage about doctored images of already thin supermodels, society understands the pressure women feel to be beautiful. But in an ever-changing world, how does one define beauty? Where does beauty begin?
 
Mother and daughter team Chris Shook and Megan Shook Alpha address the daily struggles that all women face when it comes to feeling beautiful in Beauty Begins: Making Peace with Your Reflection (WaterBrook Press, March 21, 2017), now available in paperback.
 
“In our society it is impossible not to feel inadequate at times,” write the Shooks. “It’s hard to make it through even one day without feeling insecure about ourselves! We don’t have it all figured out, but we have discovered some practical ways to love the person God made us to be.”
 
As the director of Women’s Ministry and pastor to students at The Woodlands Church, Shook and Alpha surveyed hundreds of young women involved in the church asking them whether or not they would change something about themselves. An overwhelming 70 percent answered yes, and only 11 percent said “I’m completely content and at peace with my reflection.”
 
In Beauty Begins, Shook and Alpha encourage women of all ages—daughters, mothers, grandmothers—to learn to achieve a healthy mindset about their bodies and their immeasurable worth. Writing from their personal experiences, they insist that it’s never too late to begin conversations about what beauty truly means.
 
“When we begin to believe the truth of who we really are and who God made us to be, we’ll be set free to feel beautiful. Our goal in writing Beauty Begins is to encourage all of us to stop believing the lies and to start living the truth.”
 
“In an age of superficial beauty and supermodel icons, Chris and Megan offer a Christ-centered alternative that begins with the heart of God. Here’s a wise and wonderful guide to where true beauty begins.” –Lee and Leslie Strobel
 
“In Beauty Begins this powerful mother and daughter team share their insights and wisdom, born from their own experiences, to help women everywhere overcome negative perceptions about themselves and to learn to love and respect the person God made them to be.” –Victoria Osteen, Co-Pastor of Lakewood Church
 
 
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chris Shook is the co-author (with husband Kerry) of two New York Times bestsellers, One Month to Live and Be the Message. She and her husband founded Woodlands Church, outside of Houston, Texas.
 
Her daughter, Megan Shook Alpha, is a graduate of Baylor University and works as a pastor to students at Woodlands Church.
 
Website: http://beautybegins.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kerryshook/
Chris Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineShook
Megan Twitter: https://twitter.com/NeganShook

Contact Publicist

Jessica Lamb