What Matters Most

I remember when I was 6, there was a mean girl in my class that always picked on me and made fun of my eyes.  She said they were an ugly color and that they were too far apart.  She liked to laugh at me with all of her other mean girl friends.  At the tender age of 6, it absolutely broke my heart.  And it made me believe that I had ugly eyes and that they were too far apart.  I went home crying to my momma, who tried to reassure me that I was beautiful and that my big blue eyes were beautiful. 

But deep down, I didn't believe her.  Because moms have to say that you are beautiful.  But other people don't.  So obviously Nicole (that was the mean girl's name) was telling the truth.  Obviously I had ugly eyes that were too far apart.

It took years for me to believe that I am beautiful and that my eyes are not too far apart.  It took years for me to learn to block out what those mean girls had told me.  

Thankfully though, I was not friends with those mean girls.  I learned early on that I don't want to be friends with mean girls, if that's how they treat each other.  And thankfully, I have always had very true, very loyal friends. 

Presley is not even two years old yet, but it absolutely breaks my heart to think that one day she will have to learn the mean girls lesson.  It breaks my heart to think that some mean girl might make her question her worth, her beauty, and her purpose as a child of God. 

This being a parent thing is hard.  Really hard.  I remember my mom told me that having a child makes you feel like you are walking around with your heart outside of your body.  Yep.  That's about right.

It's not just Presley.  It's my sweet Brooks too.  In a world with so much hurt, so much pain, so many "mean girls"...how do you teach them to listen to the voices that matter and to ignore the ones that don't?  How do you teach them that their worth is in the eyes of their heavenly Father, not in the eyes of the world?  It's a daily struggle for me lately.  And I don't think I will ever have all the answers.  I think I am gonna be on my knees, praying for wisdom and guidance for David and myself for many years to come.  

But for now, all I can do is love them unconditionally, be the voice that encourages them, and the arms that hold them...on the good days and the bad days.  All I can do is teach them that what matters is their heart, and that they are children of God.

Thankfully, I have the amazing support of many fabulous friends and fantastic mommy friends.  Real friends, always ready to encourage me and support me and pray for me (and with me).  That is priceless to me.  My prayer is that my children will be blessed with friendships like the ones that I have been blessed with.  My prayer is that my children will have friends that point them towards Christ.  Friends that remind them that what matters most is their heart.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7