you’re, like, really pretty

You’re like, really pretty. Yes, you. I mean it. You are. {Stop shaking your head and rolling your eyes at me.}

I don’t care what that boy in fourth grade said, what your daddy never said, what your mama did say, what the celebrity magazines always say, or what the commercial on tv just said. Any words or moments that have robbed you of knowing you’re pretty are just a pack of lies wrapped in the tissue paper of your soul. You have my permission to throw them out, burn them, or stomp them to dust.

Because you are really pretty. Beautiful, even.

God only makes beautiful things. He only makes what is good. And how He made you delights Him. You are sunshine on the waves, starlight in June, and rainbows of color bursting from prisms of glass to Him. It’s cheesy, and kind of corny, but it’s true. Go read Song of Solomon if you don’t believe that’s how God feels about His beloved. He is goofy and lovesick for us all- even all you men out there (which is kind of awkward when you think about it too much).

That nose, those eyes, that hair, your flawed complexion, the thighs you inherited from your grandmother, the hands that grab and hold too many bottles of anti-wrinkle cream, the lips that kiss the cheeks of your new baby, the back that stands bravely when it could easily break under the pressure, the knees you fall to when you can’t bear the weight any longer; these are the parts of you that God made, and they are meant to rise in faith and bless His holy name with songs of praise. Don’t rob them of their purpose by relegating them to the “10 things I wish I could change about myself” list.

It isn’t what we look like that makes us beautiful, after all. It is Who loves us, Who we trust to make beauty out of the ashes of our lives, and whether or not we believe He gives breath to dirt and spark to flesh, making us radiant with light and love.

My friend Cori and I decided one night that we suspect our heavenly bodies will look just like these curves and lumps of skin we carry around now. We will see our reflections in golden streets and laugh at the silly thoughts we endured on earth. We’ll die puffy, wrinkled, and slightly crooked and then we will find out that beauty had nothing to do with what we look like.

Go ahead and take God at His word. Consider yourself flawlessly gorgeous and then get on with your life. Isn’t that what you really want deep down- to be done agonizing over your appearance and just be content and secure with what God gave you?

You can be. Freedom is yours for the believing. Beauty is as beauty believes, and today you can take that and put in your forever pocket.

Because you’re like, really pretty, and I’m so glad you know it.