beauty on the inside

My girls cannot go anywhere without being stopped and told how beautiful they are. Anywhere we go, we always get sincere, well meaning people who come up to them or me and say how beautiful they are. Very sweet, actually. And they are beautiful. Extremely. 

Sometimes I say, "Yes, thank you, but if we aren't beautiful on the inside, the outside doesn't matter." I have told my girls that outside beauty can only get you so far, it fades, but inner beauty never fades.

As the older girls have grown, they have been privileged to see beautiful on the outside, and ugly on the inside. I think they get it. I think they understand what I have been trying to say all these years. And for the most part, they treat people (excluding their siblings *wink* we are still working on that, strange how we treat the ones we love the most, the worst) kindly. They are great with little kids. They are well liked by their teachers. They're friendly. They have huge hearts. They know who they are, and are not afraid to be them. 

The outside beauty continues with the younger two. And I will continue to try to impress the importance of inner beauty on them. 

Being a parent is hard. Raising a girl is hard. I don't think anyone comes out of childhood without things that have taken root in our hearts. Or things that we will need to work on. That is all apart of the growing process, that doesn't stop when you are 18. In most cases, that is just when it begins. I am so different now, than when I was 18. I was talking to a dear friend a few weeks ago, and she said to me she is scared of having a girl. That she is in her 40's and is still getting to know herself. It took me a minute, and I thought about it. And I said they get to see me grow. It's true. They do, they have, and they will continue to see me grow. I don't plan on stopping. I have such a long way to go. There were so many things that I believed as truth, so many ideals, and black and whites. I have found there is a lot more gray than I used to believe there to be. My girls have gotten to see me grow into a woman, especially the older ones, as I had them at 16&18. I pray that the journey into finding who they truly are in Christ isn't a long one. I am along for the ride. 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30