There’s a Way
“She’s gonna kill me for sharing this, but I think it’s a good pic of my beautiful wife.”
My cousin posted this on Facebook the other day. He has every reason to be proud of his wife. They are raising two boys together, and they just celebrated 12 years of marriage.
He was right. It was a good picture, and the comments agreed. “Gorgeous! “You out kicked your coverage.” – and my favorite, “No filters needed.”
I told him my wife hates my favorite pictures of her. “Funny how that works,” he said. “They are their own worst judges.”
I was watching a reality show with my wife the other night. The commercials were all aimed at women. One was for a product that made the whites of your eyes whiter. “They’re running out of body parts,” I said. “They’ve convinced y’all your hair’s bad, and your skin’s terrible, and your lips are too thin. Now they want you to bleach your eyes to be beautiful.”
There is a billion-dollar business in telling women they aren’t enough when there are so many husbands like my cousin who know they are. I hear men brag or complain about home life every day; I’ve never heard, “She’s alright, but her eyes ain’t white enough.”
The word beautiful has been said around my house over and over the past year. My wife has lost 155 pounds since starting a Keto diet in 2018. Every time we have company, they say, “Amanda you look so good,” or “Girl, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
The praise is well-earned and appreciated, but what I really like to hear is them saying “but you’ve always been beautiful” because she has. Weight loss has just helped her to see what the rest of us already knew.
We have a hair agreement. She doesn’t cut hers short, and I don’t cut mine off – but she came close to breaking it a few weeks ago. She had it cut shoulder length.
I fussed about it a day or two. Then she wore it curly. She looked so beautiful I couldn’t pretend to not like it.
We had a friend at the house who was telling her how good it looked. Amanda said, “This is how my hair is naturally.” I said, “Well, God didn’t make a mistake.” Our friend said, “He is so sweet to you.”
I wasn’t trying to be sweet, just honest.
I think that’s how it works: no mistakes. God made us just right. Psalm 139:14 says we are wonderfully made. Remember that the next time you look in the mirror. There is a purpose in every imagined flaw.
Someone will love the nose you think is too wide and the mouth you think is too big and will get lost in the eyes you’ve been told aren’t white enough.
You might already have that person, or you might still be looking for them. Either way, when they tell you you’re beautiful, believe them.
Will Stults is a performing songwriter from Russellville, Ala. See more at www.willstults.com.
