There I was, in the middle of the large playroom at The Tot Spot, trying to multi-task by keeping one eye on my son, one eye on the chaos of children around me, and both hands on my little girl cradled in my arms. Some kids were playing house, others playing with puzzles, and still more playing dress-up.
The next thing I knew, a little girl with lovely long blonde hair and dressed up with a pretend bridal veil and a lacey skirt popped up into my vision – literally! She was standing on the miniature trampoline in front of me. She looked at me with the most precious look and said, “Am I pretty?” The look on her face was one that expected me to say yes, she just needed to hear the words!
A flood of learned lessons (Beth Moore, John and Staci Eldredge) filled my mind – are not we all little girls wanting to feel pretty, beautiful, wanted? Do we not just want to be princesses in God’s kingdom? I put the biggest grin on my face that I could muster (fairly difficult considering I had just been to the dentist and my cheek and lips were still numb) and told her with all the heartfelt feeling that I could (praying there was no drool rolling down my chin), “You are absolutely bee-u-ti-full!” My heart leaped as I saw that confident smile light up her eyes once again, upon hearing what she needed to hear.
All of us little girls just want to feel beautiful. I really do not need to prove this fact all that much as it is evident everywhere that we go. Cover those wrinkles! Lose some weight! Wear this make-up! Put on these clothes! No – THESE clothes! Drink this drink and you will be happy and beautiful! Read the secrets in this magazine! Look no further than this book! Pay me this money and I will whisper the secret in your ear! That is the voice of the world, taunting us, tempting us, making us believe that our beauty is conditional.
It is not.
The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. – Psalm 45:1
My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. – Song of Solomon 2:10
We have all have played “princess” and “queen” parts in our imaginary play at some point, right? Perhaps even dream of it at night even now, desiring to escape heartache and this difficult world in which we live. How often do we long to be a child again, to create those beautiful imaginary worlds all around us? A cardboard box becomes a castle; a Radio Flyer wagon becomes the King’s coach; a neighborhood boy or brother becomes the valiant knight. Instead, our castle’s mortgage payment is due in a week, the car is in need of repairs, and perhaps we feel lonely and just want to be rescued from the stress and burdens.
Even in the midst of The Tot Spot, I watched the same little girl graciously playing with another dressed-up girl in the midst of their little kingdom, and saying to her, “I’ll be the princess, YOU be the queen.” What a heart of gold she must have. That is true beauty inside and out. My sweet sisters in Christ, you ARE beautiful, inside and out. It is free. It is no secret. It is not conditional. The next time you see a little girl, big or small, tell her that she is beautiful, whether she asks or not. I gaurantee you that she needs to hear it. And so do you.
You are beautiful, you are a Princess, and the Kingdom – the JOY of God’s Kingdom – comes soon.
Go ahead, put on your crown.
Encouragement
) when I have been in the grocery store with my child in the midst of my PPD. So, how many times have you talked to yourself with this mantra, hmmmm? **I’m raising my hand really high**