"And that is something I will always keep in mind," she says.

A microscope of scrutiny. I guess I've considered that before as it relates to my character, but not my waistline.

The Real Me

In a woman's life there are few things, if any, that rival the title, "Mom." Initially motherhood feels like an awkward fit, but in time it feels more like the favorite sweater you refuse to take off despite the fact that it's unraveling in places and has a few choice stains. At times, there's an unspoken pressure to look like you are still the artist but never became the mom.

When I catch up with Natalie Grant, she is soon set to deliver twin girls. In the time it takes for you to sit down comfortably for 10 minutes and read this article on your favorite couch, Natalie will have changed her shirt three times from the chronic spit up that has taken over her life.

She has been vocal on the topic of self-image, coming clean about her own struggle with an eating disorder, and I ask her if being a part of an image-driven industry only compounds those issues. "It is a constant struggle," she admits, "I have a daily choice to be healthy in my thoughts or destructive. I do not always make the right choice; and because I have been so open about my struggle, sometimes I feel like a fraud. When GMA Week and Doves roll around, I find myself seeing people I love and admire, yet comparing myself. I notice how thin she is or what she is wearing, or how great her hair looks. I hate that about myself." I smile. The last time I saw Natalie, I remember thinking about how thin she was and how I'd kill for that hair.

While image will always play a part in our industry, Natalie adds, "the responsibility lies with me to be transparent and open with myself and my audience. And definitely in my art, I have to let them see the real me. And while I still struggle with insecurities every day, I have found much strength in being real."

Even after 14 years, Heather Payne of Point of Grace still works to reconcile the pressures and demands of looking the part of an artist. They were college students when they were signed, and today they are wives and mothers. Heather questions whether image pressure might be somewhat self-imposed. "Now that we're older we don't feel the pressure from our record company, but we put it on ourselves. We're just like anybody else who watches TV and movies and looks at magazines and sees all these people who are so unrealistic and so picture perfect."

Heather continues, "I think our very first photo shoot was the most traumatic for all of us. It was the first time we had people scrutinizing the way we did something-the way we tilted our head, or smiled, or showed teeth or didn't show teeth, or did our hair." Then there's the issue of photoshop, which she likes to call "photo chop."

The POG ladies tour the country presenting Girls of Grace Conferences (girlsofgrace.com), making a point to spotlight real beauty for young girls and highlight the difference between what's "reality ... and what a computer can do."