Plus-size fashion model Stacy Carto talks about the Love that freed her from an obsession with her weight - and her new passion to embody that Love in the fashion industry.

I'm doing something I thought I'd never do again - working as a full-time model in New York, this time in the plus-size market. It is only the Lord's doing, I tell you!

For six years, I worked full-time as a straight-size model. But I got out of the business after battling bulimia and coming to the conclusion that it wasn't the Lord's will for me to continue.

Bulimia had a hold on my life, as I constantly struggled to be thin enough. The guilt I felt kept me from coming before God.

But God is bigger than any problem we have! In Christ, I found freedom and healing of my bulimia (I gained weight and have been abstinent for eight years).

A plus-size model - who, me?

After I became a Christian, I remained in the industry, but doing hair and makeup. At a photo shoot one day, a stylist encouraged me to get into modeling again, but this time as a plus-size model. I laughed! I had said I would never model again unless I could work just the way I was.

I didn't really consider it until I was in Florida and started thinking about making some extra money alongside my make-up career.

But after just a month in Fort Lauderdale and much prayer, I found myself leaving my career and becoming a staff member at the church where I had come to Christ.

Just as I was starting at the church, I got representation in Miami with a plus-size agency. While I am considered small for that end of the industry, there was plenty of work. My agent kept trying to get me to do it full time and really put some effort into it, but my eyes were on ministry at the church and a full-time modeling career was not one of my desires.

After a year and a half at the church, God did something I thought He would never do. He called me back into the industry. I can't believe that I am 31 years old and back in New York!

My prayer before coming to New York was a simple one: "Lord, use me for Your glory."

Seeing the fashion industry through new eyes

As I get back into the business this time, it is so different. God has grown me and prepared me to go into the battlefield. And it is a battlefield! Although many things in the plus-size industry differ from the straight-size market, one thing remains the same: these women need Jesus. The emptiness is there. I can see it in their eyes. 

Today I called my agency to check in for the morning. In a somber, quiet voice, my booking agent said that of the models on our board, a beautiful 21-year-old who graced the cover of Mode magazine, committed suicide over the weekend. Though she was on the rise to great success, she felt so alone, so sad, that she felt she could not live any longer. This grieves me deeply.

I then thought of the conversation I'd had recently on the plane ride back from Germany with one of the models I had worked with. She also is very successful and has done many covers and campaigns. But on the plane she told me of her alcohol problem and her need for help.

When I look at the new life that God has gifted me with in Jesus, I am overwhelmed and amazed. "Why me?" I ask over and over. I look around and see people who don't know Jesus and all their hurt and emptiness burdens my heart. I want to let them know! I love to share my faith!