He called Me Beautiful…

He called me beautiful…

…but that means nothing!

Who does he think he is to determine my beauty? He doesn’t even know me! He is just a stranger I hope to never see again. How dare he call me beautiful! And what exactly is his evidence that I am beautiful? Is it the thick pea coat I wear to shield myself from the cold air? Maybe it’s the thick, winter hat I wear pulled down just above my eyelids to block the snow from hitting my face. Or maybe it’s the scarf I wear up to the bridge of my nose so the wind doesn’t make me get the sniffles.

He couldn’t even see my skin. He couldn’t see anything besides my eyes which I kept on the ground because the wind made them tear up. He didn’t see me. And I don’t just mean the five layers of clothing I had on underneath what he could see. No, I don’t mean the long hair I kept hidden underneath my hat. No. I mean…he didn’t see me! How could he?

What exactly is he complimenting me on when he doesn’t know about the times I had to make a meal out of two pieces of bread and mayonnaise. I ate with gratitude and no complaints. Now, that’s beauty. He didn’t know about the times I spent crying myself to sleep only to rise again ready to take on another day. He doesn’t know that the only reason I’m even alive in this winter vortex is God sparing my life over and over and over again. No. He doesn’t know that. He can’t see that. It’s all these broken pieces of me that begin to form my beauty. And that is why his insincere compliment upsets me.

What about the girl who would have believed it?

Ladies when a man calls you beautiful, that shouldn’t be what defines your beauty. Sometimes you don’t know his motive. There will be times when you don’t know what he is even basing it off of. You have to know that you are beautiful with or without his validation. I know I am beautiful. Why? Because I am made in the image of God and He is perfection. He carefully wrote my story and created my destiny based on my great grandmother’s prayers seven years before I was even born. He took His precious time molding me and forming me while I was still in my mother’s belly. And now he sees me and knows my name even though I am nothing more than a flawed creature in comparison to my creator. He sees me. I am good enough for God to look at despite everything else he must govern. He takes time to walk with me. That is why I know I am beautiful. God wouldn’t waste His time on anything less.

So, I don’t mean to be egotistical or cynical when I say….

He called me beautiful…

…and I didn’t stop to listen.

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