Have you met her? The most beautiful woman in the world?
Let me tell you about her.
Her hair is a little frizzy, mostly flipped around in some sort of ponytail, if you want to call it that. The tone of her skin tells me she’s not concerned about being tan. The tiny roll just above the button on her jeans confirms motherhood. She’s got lines around her eyes from smiling so much and her teeth are slightly yellow.
But when she smiles the room lights up. She says hello to passing strangers and asks him or her how their day has been. If they ignore her, she holds her head up and greets the next person with love, never expecting something in return.
When she wakes up, she welcomes the day with a kiss of hope. Every morning is new to her, no matter how ugly the night before. She dreams and hopes and perseveres. She lives for others, but knows when to say no to preserve herself.
She is not striving for perfection. She doesn’t care about a cluttered drawer. When she looks in the mirror and sees stretch marks after her baby’s birth, she smiles in thankfulness for her child, instead of wishing her body looked like it did before children. She sometimes wears makeup, but never feels a need to.
Rarely does she worry about a new outfit or hairstyle, but instead she seeks to buy things for others.
She spends her money wisely and buys more for others than herself.
She doesn’t eye other women up and down, wishing she had body parts she lacks. Her skin is hers and she is content to be herself.
People often ridicule her or say rude things, but she simply smiles and offers a hug. They slip from her arms and walk away, ignoring her for months, but she sends cards and gifts and reaches out in love no matter how much she is rejected.
She has no need of blush, because her cheeks are pink from constant laugher. Her joy is the bright spot in anyone’s day.
When her children are asleep, she misses them but understands the value of time away. She loves her husband more than herself and values faithfulness. And when her husband cheats or lies to her, she smiles at him and tells him all the reasons why she loves him.
She welcomes the poor into her home and serves them with passion. People think she is haughty and proud, and she returns their discourtesy by sending them an anonymous money order to help pay their electric bill.
The world calls her “average” in the looks department. “She could be prettier if she were a little more fashionable,” one woman says. “She needs more color in her face, she looks dead,” another says. “Her hair is too frizzy, she needs to straighten it or something,” yet another says.
But even when she overhears those remarks, she can’t help but smile, because she’s not striving to be beautiful in the world’s eyes.
In fact, she’s not striving at all.
She simply rests in who God made her to be and He happens to find her the most beautiful woman in the world.
Her beauty, simple and shining, will transcend time.
But those who hate her… their beauty will die.
