It's not make up, a thin figure or pretty clothes that make us beautiful.

Today I met my mother in law at the park and she brought us ice cream. While we were playing, a little girl ran up to me and asked if she could touch my dress. The convo went something like this:

Little sweet girl: Can I touch your dress? It's so lovely!

Me: (laughing) yes, of course. (I bend down so she can touch it easier.)

LSG: Oooohhh. It's so pretty! 

(As I smile and laugh, she notices the gleaming metal and pretty colors in my mouth and reaches her hands up to my face as if to open my mouth wider so she could get a better look. Her eye brows were furrowed as her interest grew.)

LSG: What's that?

Me: Oh, these are my braces. (I smile wide and point to them.) They make my teeth straighter.

LSG: Wow, they are SO beautiful....

She followed Conrad and I around the park for the remainder of the time asking me to catch her as she went down the slide and played pretend ice cream stand with Conrad. Her mom & I talked about parenting and how we deal with our kids little sassy attitudes. The little sweet girl hugged me goodbye-and we went on with our day.

I smiled in the car remembering how she thought my braces were beautiful.

(Gwen Stefani rocking her braces.)

The rest of the day, I couldn't get over how fascinated she was with my braces or my teal dress. Why did it feel so good to be called pretty by a 4 year old? Why did it make me feel so loved? I began to consider that maybe my idea of beautiful isn't all that healthy. Maybe my perception is skewed. Maybe I need to rethink what makes me beautiful. I hope that that little girl can be a reflection of how I view myself. I hope that I can look at the things that aren't necessarily "favorable" like braces or stretch marks and call them beautiful. 

This week I got to hear an ex-prostitute tell me about her life. She was well into her 60's, had a gorgeous bright pant suit on and had perfectly styled silver hair. I would NEVER have guessed that she sold her body for money if she hadn't told me so. She looked immaculate, she spoke with poise and grace. She had gone from feeling ugly, all of her self worth coming from men, felt completely unloved and unworthy to being set free from all of the baggage of her prior life. She never felt more beautiful than when she knew the completeness of God's love and forgiveness for her.

Another lady I met who told her story was dressed to kill, and had amazing skin and hair. Her beauty was hard to ignore. She was in her early 50's but confessed that one side of her nose is totally collapsed due to her cocaine abuse. She was a recovering bulimic and an alcoholic. On the outside, these woman appear to be the poster children of flawless beauty and perfect lives. Until you hear their stories, you would never have known that their lives were so dirty & filled with so much pain before the knew Jesus. It wasn't their physical beauty that made them beautiful. 

It's not make up, a thin figure or pretty clothes that make us beautiful.

Anytime I've ever tried to find my worth in these things, I've always ended up feeling disappointed and never truly satisfied. Self esteem doesn't come from our outward appearance. I really need this truth to sink into my heart. 

I was so encouraged listening to where they were and where God had brought them. They could smile and proudly proclaim that they were drug addicts and prostitutes but God had set them free! There was no shame in the stories they told. The shame had been taken away. The guilt was gone. The past was left in the past, but they had a story to tell about how Jesus took their dirty, pitiful, horrible, situations and out of his great love, He beautified them.

Again, make up and pretty clothes don't make us beautiful. It's nice to look nice, but that isn't 

what makes us beautiful. 

(Me & my little turd one morning a few weeks ago taking some photo booth pics.)

Often times we spend most of our energy comparing ourselves to the girl next to us wishing we had bigger boobs, a thinner waist and less cellulite, but God doesn't compare us. He wants us to embrace us for us and stop wishing we looked like every other woman we see on any given day that we judge ourselves against who has nicer skin, thicker hair or flawless-stretch mark-less tummy's & thighs.

Think about it. How much time do we spend hating our bodies and cursing them?

I'm preaching to ME here but I know I'm not the only woman who struggles with self-body-hate too! I feel a deep conviction to love what God made instead of wishing I had longer legs and bigger this and smaller that! We're all in the same boat with this I'm afraid. I've spent too much time focusing on why I'm not good enough rather than celebrating who I am. I need to refuse to agree that my imperfections aren't perfect. I need to celebrate & love me.

But I'll tell you what, that little girl made me feel 
pretty darn beautiful today.