Haircuts and Hearts

Last week Hannah said she wanted her hair to be as long as Rapunzel. Yesterday, on our way to our friend's house for hair cuts, she told me she wanted it really short. I asked her several times just to make sure, but she was adamant. So we went for it. It turned out really cute! I made sure that I got a shot of the back so you could see the fabulous "stacked" bob that Laura (haircutter extraordinaire) gave her. I knew she loved her short 'do when she wouldn't stop staring in the mirror as we were getting ready for bed last night!

Today at her girl scouts meeting, the subject was "inner beauty". During circle time, they passed a mirror around and each girl had to tell something they thought was beautiful about their outside and something they thought made them beautiful on the inside. When it was Hannah's turn, she instantly said, "My short hair". When the leader asked about what was beautiful about her inside, she said, "My heart". She didn't elaborate, and I wasn't even sure that she knew what the leader was really asking. Some girl after her said, "My skeleton", so I wasn't sure if Hannah was confused and was just naming a body organ.

When we got in the car, I told her I loved her answer and asked her what made her heart so beautiful. She said, "My heart is beautiful because Jesus lives there. It's His home!". I 'bout cried, no lie. She made my week.

Isn't that what we all want? To be seen as beautiful, not for anything that is fading away on the outside, but for something that is everlasting, that can never be taken away? Hannah is beginning to grasp the true meaning and value of beauty--that we are lovely and worthwhile because we are loved and made worthy. We are lovely because the God of the universe has made us His own. We are valuable because He said we are--and He never changes His mind. I hope this is a mindset that stays with her through out her life. I am thankful that God has put her in my life to challenge me to live out the true meaning of beauty for her to see. I can easily fall into the trap of forgetting these truths and focus too much on my outside. I am thankful that God gives me these good little reminders to keep my eyes fixed on what is true and important!