Me, Beautiful?

What makes you feel beautiful, ageless? 

 B.C. (before children) I felt beautiful when I saw my flat stomach in the mirror, when my chest was, shall we say, perkier?  When my hair was done and make-up applied. Granted, I am only thirty years old, but circumstances make me feel older than that on most days.

When I saw this contest and thought about writing this post I had to think about what makes me feel beautiful now.  When you live with chronic illness, feeling beautiful is a rare occurence.  I have bruises on my stomach and hips from my injections, I have gained weight (a fabulous side effect of many medications) and no amount of concealer can masquerade the dark circles under my eyes. 

But, thankfully this post gave me pause to reflect on the moments I feel beautiful.  When one of my boys strokes my face as I’m reading a story, the way my husband looks at me like I’m the only woman in the room, when my grandmother compliments my complexion, those are the moments I feel beautiful.  And I feel beautiful when I feel strong, when I make it through a difficult day or procedure, when I push through pain and fatigue to be the mama, wife and friend I am called to be.

Most importantly, all I have to do is look at myself through my Heavenly Father’s eyes.  He sees no faults, no fat, just my motives and my heart.  Thankfully, those things are far more beautiful than the package they come in.

If you are going to BlogHer, be sure to stop by Our Ordinary Life and tell them what makes you ageless for a chance to win money towards your trip.