"Don't judge a book by its cover."
"Beauty is only skin deep."
I'm sure you recognize these sayings. They are telling us that "It's not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside that counts." This is such a simple lesson that I have heard countless times in my life in a million different ways, but it took watching my innocent little daughter playing for me to truly understand it.
Whenever I take my 11-month old daughter out, I usually have her dressed up in a cute outfit. Now that it's warm, I like to put her in sundresses, or cute shorts and shirts. She almost always has a bow in her hair and matching adorable shoes on her feet. What's funny is that to me, she doesn't really look like herself in those clothes. When we're hanging out at home, I usually put her in a onesie, or just a diaper because it's so warm. Her hair (which is extremely wispy and wavy) goes every which way, especially right in her eyes. She usually has drool running down her chin and sticky hands from constantly chewing on them. However, when she is in this sad state, I feel that she is truly herself. She is constantly in motion and has no regard for the hair in her face, the drool on her chin, or the stickiness of her hands. And I love that she doesn't care about looking disheveled. I usually groan playfully to my family and friends how she is a little messy tyrant, but I am secretly in love with her innocent disregard for her appearance.
I, on the other hand, care way too much about what other people think of the way I look. While watching my daughter playing the other day, with her usual unawareness of her appearance, I realized that I could learn a lot from trying to adopt her attitude. Now I don't intend to leave the house looking like a disaster, but I need to remember that God does not care about makeup or the latest fashion or my weight, but He cares about who I am, the real me, the messy me. Like my baby daughter, I need to claim the attitude that it doesn't matter how I look, but who I am. I am praying that God will keep reminding me, and all of us mothers, of this truth.
1 comment:
This is so true, my daughter loves to pick out her own clothes now and often looks quite funny - particularly since she also insists on putting her own hairband in as well. Of course I don't take her out of the house this way since I like her to look more 'put together.' But the truth is that she is adorable no matter what she has on... why can't we think of ourselves that way too!
Post a Comment