My Cinderella

Last night while driving home I was thinking about my beautiful daughter. Remembering the time in her life when she became my Cinderella. It started the moment she was born, she has always been beautiful. That face, those big eyes, that full head of dark hair that turned blonde after it all fell out. Such a pretty baby, such a tender hearted girl. I can't remember a time in her life when her dad and I didn't think we won the lottery of little girls.

Todays Question: "Why Cinderella?"

Because there was time in Tessa's life when she didn't feel that way, when she felt yucky. Have you ever noticed that once you start to reflect it's hard to stop? I also went through a time in my life when I didn't feel beautiful. I remember feeling so awkward and insecure, wishing I looked like every pretty and popular girl in my school. What other people saw in me I could not see myself. I do not come from a family of complimenters, no one is more surprised than me when I get one, so I can process why I didn't know what to do with compliments and was relucatant to beleive them. Tessa did not grow up in the same enviroment, she's been tortured all her life with parents who always tell her how beautiful she is. Even her dad calls her his beautiful daughter, I however can't get a compliment out of that man. Oops..sidetracking again..sorry. So, these thoughts and reflections made me think of Cinderella, at 51 I still love that story and for me, it has nothing to do with the handsome Prince. It's all about Cinderella discovering how beautiful she is. It is a transformation story and I assure you there is nothing I like more than transformation stories. Fact or fiction.

It took me well over 40 years to figure out I was beautiful, to stop hating pictures of me, to stop thinking I was nothing special. In fact I was almost 50 when my Cinderella moment arrived. I'd had glimpses over the years so this isn't a poor me party. I have never felt completely ugly, just average. But now I honestly feel beautiful, I even love my fat, and my flaws, they are mine, and that is what sets me apart, I'm who I'm supposed to be.

Tessa didn't like her nose, I think that her nose is perfect and highlights her eyes remarkably, not once has anyone ever told me anything other than how pretty Tessa is. But Tessa, has to see it herself. So many strangers tell me how pretty she is, girls at drive-through windows have told me she should run for Ms Canada, men seem to think she has no mother because if I'm walking with her no one is looking at me. Rude I know. The thing about a Cinderella moment is it has to come from you. No one else can give it to you...regardless of how many compliments you get.

And now...I'm going to tell you what I tell my daughter often, and all the other girls I know. Don't wait until your almost 50 to figure out how beautiful you are! Don't have your Cinderella moment when your life is over half spent.

How? My biggest realization, that pivitol moment, came from the most beautiful person I've ever met...Jesus. I realized that I am made in God's image. Nothing I've ever discovered about God, His Son, His Holy Spirit, is anything but beautiful. Whether what He does makes sense to me or not. I am loved by the creator of the universe and He makes all things beautiful in his time. So my Cinderella moment came when I realized that God loved me and created me in His image. When I figured out that if the God of all things loves me...I can't be anything but beautiful. And from that moment on I am the transformed beauty I always was...what changed...me. I opened my eyes to my own beauty and quit picking apart God's wonderful design.

My Prayer: "Help us all to see how truly beautiful we are Lord, designed by the maker of all things, created to praise, and yes that includes praise for our wonderful design. Thank you for making all things beautiful."

Be Blessed with a Wonderful Day

"Inward beauty is a remarkable thing, once you see it...everyone else can."