your inner freckles

I was drying my daughter's hair with a blow dryer tonight, not something that happens much around here.  She doesn't care too much about making her hair look nice.  (Tonight's blow drying was just one of many steps that we take to avoid the lice epidemic that seems to be happening this year.  It will be a miracle if we manage to avoid it!)

As I continued to dry her hair, I was struck by her beauty, her physical beauty.  She has gorgeous strawberry blonde hair, which is not something that my husband or I have ever had.  She has the most adorable spattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.  She had the sweetest blue eyes.  She is tall and thin.  And she doesn't care about any of it.  (Except maybe her freckles.  We taught at an early age that they were beautiful and she has taken a bit of pride in them.) 

Now all of this being said, please realize that there is a "mommy filter" going on here.  Of course my daughter is beautiful!  That's how moms are supposed to feel about their daughters!  

About halfway through blow drying I realized that I still needed to spend more time on a very valuable lesson with her.  I want her to understand that her true beauty, the beauty that matters more than any other comes from inside, from the heart.  Not in her hair or her body size or even those freckles.  

Before she even realizes that she has physical beauty, I want her to understand true beauty.

Let me ask you this: have you ever met someone who doesn't necessarily have any striking features but something about them still stands out?  There's just something about them that makes them undeniably attractive.  That is inward beauty.  I, personally, think you can see it in a person's eyes.  

So what makes a person beautiful from the inside out?  

In Galatians 5:22 we are told what the fruits of the spirit are: "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith."  I think theses qualities in a person's life make for quite a beautiful person.

And I suppose this is a pretty important lesson for all us humans as well: 1Samuel 16:7 -  

But The Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.  For The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but The Lord looks at the heart."

We have been teaching our kids this concept since we thought they could understand it, usually in regards to other people that they come into contact with.  We want them to understand that what makes a person great is not what they wear or how they look.  It is what's inside that counts.  

But in a world that puts so much value on the outside, I don't think we can spend too much time teaching our children to value the inside, both in others and in themselves.

And it's not a bad reminder for us grownups either...

KC