What is beauty?

She asked me what beauty meant.  I thought I knew until I had to answer a four year old.  How do you explain to a child who has seen ugliness, who has felt sadness, and is told there is something wrong with you?  

The saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  But, is beauty that subjective?  Pageants claim to admire the entire woman, but let's be honest, their decisions are heavily weighted towards  certain measurements.  

Beautiful princess abound in fairy tales and movies.  They have the perfect wardrobe, the perfect voice, and marry the perfect guy.  Again, have we defined beauty in unreasonable terms?

To give full disclosure, I believe that beauty can be seen.  Many people whom I have never met will catch my eye simply because.  Queen Vashti was beautiful, lovely to look at. God is to be seen in all his glory and beauty.  But, I have to believe there is something more, which is a good thing because there are more days than not that I look tired, weary, drained, and far from beautiful as the world defines it.

So, how to teach a little girl to be beautiful.  Show her Jesus.  Teach her to smile.  Help her heart to heal.  Help her to have courage.  

God tells us that beauty is vain, but the woman who fears The Lord will be praised.

He also challenges woman to dress up the person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God's sight is very precious.  

This definition of beauty does not include hair color, dress size, implants, or straight teeth.  Rather, it shows to others the real you on the inside.  

I want others to view my four girls as absolutely, drop dead gorgeous not because of what they are wearing, but because of what they are sharing.  

My little girl asked me again today.  She is thinking.  I will keep answering.  You are beautiful, little girl.