Hello, My Name Is: Beautiful!


“Do you think I’m pretty?

I think you’re beautiful.

Beautiful?

You are so beautiful, it hurts sometimes.” - Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy

 

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you! - Song of Solomon 4:7

 
I won’t walk the road of circumstance that led me to feel ugly. That stretch of highway is a bit too painful. Even as I type the memories shred. They tempt with falsities, asking me to walk down the unbidden road of self-loathing and self-pity. It has taken me all of 34 years to understand what it means to be beautiful: a beauty that transcends human desire and human ideals.

I think this is a common thread in a woman’s life. We are taught at a young age not to accept ourselves. We don’t take praise easily. We undermine the things we have done well. Like a bitter pill, we swallow admiration. It is as if by not completely accepting our worth we retain some semblance of humility. How did we come to believe this form of rejection is a healthy characteristic of a Christian woman?

Even arrogance holds within itself a sense of doubt. It often exposes the fractures of a soul that does not know oneself well. The attempts to overcompensate bruise the true beauty and worth of the person that lies beneath the frigid façade.

So, how do we create a balance? How do we come to the conclusion that we are beautiful? There is abundant talk on inner beauty. This is the most worthwhile endeavor. It should be fostered above all else. But, I think women need to know they are physically beautiful!

Understand this for a moment, God does not create junk. God creates things and He calls them good. Think of all the things He makes that simply delight the eye: a mountain range, a sunrise/sunset, the ocean, a leaf, the night sky. There is no end to His brilliant display.

God also made us in His image. How utterly breathtaking is our God? If we are an image of God, are we not equally beautiful? Yes, the constructs begin internally, but are we not also physical works of beauty? I think about an elderly man and woman. I see their beauty in the laugh lines and the sparkle behind their eyes. I watch a Mama as she watches her children, grown and long left the nest, and I see the blush of youth touch her face as if she held them swaddled warm.

I have penned this before but, I believe one of my true purposes on this journey is to let people; women in particular, truly understand and know their worth. So if you get nothing else in this entire post, please know that YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Just like Lucy told Charlie Brown, “You have thick beauty!”

“How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves.” – Song of Solomon 1:15

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

I have met people who are physically striking, but bitterly ugly people inside. I call these people, “cream cheese molds”. Stand them up to any amount of heat and they will melt away to nothing. There isn’t a foundation for their beauty.

I have met people that, to me, were not physically beautiful, but as I got to know their heart and the care and compassion they express to others; along with their strong self-worth, they become some of the most gorgeous human beings I could ever behold.

Superficial beauty does not get us far. An authentic beauty does not just happen. It is formed by overcoming affliction and still having a tenderness of spirit that allows beauty to heal brokenness.

“You are imperfect, permanently & inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.”    
- Amy Bloom

“For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12

Your beauty captivates. It stills the breath in His lungs.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her. Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor (trouble) will be a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came up from the land of Egypt.” - Hosea 2:14-15

He sings over you:

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy!" -Zephaniah 3:17

I don’t know the exact moment I broke free. Yet, I know there is no going back. I am beautiful. There is no more ugly duckling hoping her grey dawn will be replaced with glistening white feathers. The truth is that ugly duckling was kicked to the curb the moment Jesus redeemed me through His blood.

In truth, we are all masterpieces orchestrated by His hand. He doesn’t create junk to put in His art gallery. He displays us with pride and joy. He delights in all of His creation.

“I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it well.” – Psalm 139:14

For our souls to know it well! This isn’t a contrived notion or a hopeful fancy. We are beautiful and breathtaking. The world can try to bring that fact asunder, but will fail in the light of His truth. So, raise your head high, and say thank you when someone gives you a compliment. Understand that your purpose is rare, special, and prized. You are a gem of high regard. You are sought after.

You. Are. Beautiful.

“Think of all the beauty still left around you & be happy.” – Anne Frank

“Splendor & majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” - Psalm 96:6

In closing, may I leave you with some quotes that are utterly and completely true:

“There is no exquisite beauty…without some strangeness in the proportion. - Edgar Allan Poe

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” – Coco Chanel

 

WORK IT GIRL!!!


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