Beautiful!

Recently, my daughter attended her senior prom. The amount of preparation in getting her to the final event was rather daunting to say the least.

Making her look beautiful was the easy part.

Making her feel beautiful proved much more difficult.

But she got there. Eventually.

And my heart was filled with joy as I watched her stand confidently next to her dazzling friends and dates, and the cameras caught the sparkles of their collective beauty.

Not because she looked so absolutely gorgeous, but because she felt it.

She was finally able to catch a glimpse of the beauty we see in her every day.

For the most part, she has no idea how beautiful she is, how special the combination of her uniqueness of heart, mind, and body contribute to the captivating young woman she has become. Not that I want her to place her value on appearance, since humility is much more flattering on her than conceit would be. But neither do I want her to fall into the pit of self-criticism I myself have stumbled into when I’ve chosen to listen to the lies that the world and my inner self have shouted—the details of how so specifically I don’t quite measure up.

For the most part, as teenagers (well, as women for that matter) we spend a lot of time taking inventory of our faults, sitting around thinking about what’s wrong with ourselves. Naturally, this practice leads to nowhere other than a diminished view of self worth. And although I have focused more than my fair share of thoughts toward this same depleting mentality, observing a similar destructive, albeit common, pattern of contemplation in my own beautiful daughter makes my heart ache.

So, as I thought about how much joy I felt when I saw her realize how beautifully and wonderfully made she actually is, a subtle reminder popped into my own head—something about how wonderfully made my Heavenly Father has told me I am.

Oh, but how very seldom I feel it or believe it.

And how my inability to realize my beauty must make his heart ache.

So often we seek to get joy from God so our lives may be full. And he gives it, in abundance!

But do we ever really think about how we might give him joy?

I can’t help but think that in the very same way my heart brimmed with joy as I witnessed my daughter experience the truth of her own true beauty, so would my Father in Heaven smile to see me trust his words confirming my own exceptional value.

For me to taste my true beauty is but a small, treasured gift I could give my Maker.

For we are all so beautiful in his eyes, no matter the declarations of the world.