She is more than Beautiful

How many times do you tell her she is Beautiful? 

 This is something that I have struggled with for many years. Even though I know B loves me with every ounce of  love he has in  his heart, I still get embarrassed when he tells me, "You are beautiful."

 This week I was talking to a dear friend of mine. We were discussing the word "Beautiful." I tell her many times how great of a friend she is, how she makes me a stronger person, and how beautiful she is. When I say that she is beautiful I noticed that there was never a response. In fact, she always changed the subject. This began to become a challenge for me. I thought she did not have enough confidence in herself. I thought she was just like me. Little did I know, that was far from the truth.

This is her response to me asking the question, "Why can you not accept it when someone tells you that you are beautiful?" :

 " I know that when you say that I'm beautiful, that you really mean it and you're not talking about just physical. I really do appreciate that. I'm just not really comfortable with the word because I hate that so many girls put all of their effort into it and base their worth/status on being "beautiful". It's such a trivial thing, especially because we have no control over how God made us. That word and "pretty" have always, sort of, left a bad taste in my mouth. I do not want my worth to be defined by how I look. I'm more than that. I've put effort into being more than that." 

 WOW! 

 My next statement to her was nothing but an apology. An " I'm sorry for not understanding." Of course then I started to question myself. "Why do I even question my beauty?" " Did my God not make me with the beauty that he desired me to have?" Gen. 1:27 . Sure, I have corrupted it with MY acts of over eating and lack of exercise. But, he made me what I ought to be.

 Little did I know that I was going to learn a valuable lesson about myself. All of these years of not liking my outer beauty was lacking the trust I had in my Father. I am blessed with a husband that has loved me no matter what my jean size was. I am beautiful. I'm beautiful because I am me. I am me because I fear God. I trust that he made me how I ought to be.

 I also have worked hard at being "more". I work everyday to be more Christ like, more of a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend.

I hope that when you read this you will also strive to be more

Be the YOU that God made! And, LOVE it.