You have such a pretty face.

"You have such a PRETTY FACE!" the sales woman said as she looked me up and down and then rang up my purchases. "Thank you" I replied. " No, really...your face is SO pretty!" she said, again.  "Thank you" I replied again. She looked at my like I didn't hear her. But I did. And all I wanted to do was scream at her "You know, the rest of me is pretty too! I am pretty on the inside!"

 I am not a small girl...I have a big ol' booty...and big thighs...and a flabby stomach..and I have been chubby, or overweight for the majority of my life. But, I do have a pretty face, and nice hair...and people have always told me that, ever since I was in junior high. But to me, "You have such a pretty face" meant...." You are fat" or "You would be GORGEOUS if you could lose some weight" (you know I have actually had 3 different people tell me that, on three different occasions) or "you are not good enough...ALMOST, but not quite." . I have struggled with an eating disorder and have done some pretty stupid things to lose weight...because I wanted to be more than a pretty face.

In the last 4 or 5 years God has really been working on me. He's trying to make me more than just a pretty face. He's not doing it my way: He's not doing it by me sticking my fingers down my throat every time I eat. He's not doing it by me running 6 miles on the treadmill then taking 4 laxatives and drinking 3 cups of coffee every morning. He's not doing it by giving me a boob job, or lipo on my hips and thighs.

He's doing it His way: He's working on my heart, making me pretty on the inside. By teaching me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self control. He's doing it by helping me remember to read His word, by giving me trials that absolutely BREAK me and cause me to only trust and rely on Him. He's doing it by putting life giving people in my path, that speak love and truth into my life. He's doing it by strengthening my marriage and my friendships. He's making me more than just a pretty face.

So now, when someone says to me "You have such a pretty face!" I nod and say "Thank you!" all the while, knowing that they see my big ol' booty and my big thighs...but HOPING and praying that they also see the inside. That they see Christ in me, and not just a pretty face.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is fleeting but a women who fears the Lord is to be praised.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.