Learning to accept my God-given genes required drastic measures.

At my first appointment for laser hair removal, the aesthetician sent me home without doing anything. "Lasers need six weeks of hair growth to have maximum effect," she explained. "And you've tweezed within the last week."

I didn't tell her I'd tweezed my facial hair almost every day for the past ten years. My obsession began with my first hair highlights. Looking into the beautician's hand-held mirror at the blond streaks I'd long desired in order to fit in with other, prettier teenage girls, I suddenly noticed the contrasting thick, dark, Italian hair sprouting from my cheeks, and the faint but detectable mustache against my pasty-white Polish skin.

Why my walk-in’s become a sacred place

My master bedroom has a walk-in closet. By today's standards (based on the closets in model homes or on HGTV's Househunters), my meager walk-in hardly qualifies as spacious storage space. It's rather tight, tiny, and—I hate to admit—at times a tad funky-smelling. But despite the chaos of stinky sneakers, dirty laundry, tangled hangers, and assorted jumbled shoeboxes, my closet has become a sacred place.

That's because, as a child, I was captivated by Jesus' words on prayer: "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:5-6).

How you’ve inspired us with your compassion and generosity

We had high hopes for you. And you haven't disappointed us.

When we launched TCW's first-ever Cause of the Year in our January/February issue, we knew we were taking a risk. Articles that focus on difficult issues are always a tough sell. And we selected a huge, complicated issue to tackle this inaugural year: sex trafficking.

We were inspired to take this risk because we know women today want to make a difference in the world. Thanks to the Internet and an increasingly global society, everyone's more aware of the disease, genocide, famine, poverty, and other difficulties in every corner of the planet.

What could be so appealing about a middle-aged, slightly frumpy and frazzled church volunteer in mom jeans?

As I walked to the parking lot after a meeting at church a few weeks ago, a fellow volunteer turned to me and said, "I've seen your picture on the TCW website and in the magazine."

Awkward pause.

Not sure where my friend was headed with her comment, I quickly laughed, "Well, you know, the wonders of Photoshop."

Then my heart sank with the sudden realization: She's probably thinking, Boy, in real life, Jane doesn't look anything like her photo!