A Modern Parable

This is the story of two girls. And you know the struggle that most girls have, the desire to feel beautiful and the feeling of being ugly. Well, these two girls felt that way; and  they, like most girls, decided to do something about it.

Both girls felt that their primary facial flaw was the shape of their mouths.

Nellie tried to solve that problem by wearing the prettiest, fanciest lipstick she could find. She saved money and scoured the internet to find out which one was the best of the best.

Then, of course, she bought it and applied it. She wasn't super happy with the results, but hey - it was way better than it had been! And she could always apply it more generously whenever necessary. At least no one was seeing her naked lips anymore! She had hidden them well, and she was happy.

Never mind that she looked like a buffoon!

Heidi couldn't think how to solve that problem. She worried and cried; but then she noticed her friends' smiles, and that gave her an idea. She started consciously smiling at everyone she saw.

Soon she saw someone who was very sad, and she knew she could either be sad with him or try to cheer him up. So she smiled compassionately and said something kind, which put a smile on HIS face. He randomly said, "You're beautiful." She was taken aback, as this was the first time anyone had said that to her. And she determined to use kind words more often.

Moral: With everything in your life, you can either try to bury it, or you can invest it (Matthew 25:14-30) .

A Sweet Picture

Yesterday I was browsing the parenting shelves at the library. I know, I'm not a parent yet, but hey - sometimes there's some pretty neat stuff on those shelves. Anyway, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a most charming picture.

A tall woman, maybe 30 years old, was standing there in a pretty blouse and a long denim skirt with her thick brown hair braided around her head. In her arms was a blond-headed little boy, and the two of them were singing quietly together. The mama would sing a phrase of the alphabet song, and the little boy would sing the next phrase, all the way to the end of the song.

Although, to be honest, his phrases didn't sound very much like the song I'm used to and I probably never would have recognized the song if she weren't singing with him. But it didn't matter. That mama was having fun with her little boy, cultivating a good relationship with him, and teaching him all at the same time.

As I moved to the cooking aisle, the mama took a book off the shelf and started discussing the cover photo with him. "What are the people doing?" "What are those tools for?"

I just had to smile!