“True Beauty” by Mandisa

Just the other evening my 9-year old daughter and I were flipping through a familiar magazine. The content was generally appropriate and she saw a familiar face and wanted to look closer.

As she was looking over the picture, she looked up at me puzzled and asked, “Mommy, why does her hair look like that?”  She continued, “I know that’s not really how her face looks.”

I looked at the picture and knew exactly what she was referring to. Each curl was strategically placed and her usually freckled face was void any of its natural speckles and shades. She appeared to be somewhat of a perfected version of herself.

 I replied, “Honey, she’s been airbrushed.”

I went on to explain a little more about what that meant. Once I finished, she looked up at me with concern in her voice and said, “Mommy, do you do that in your magazine?”

I looked down at my daughter and simply replied, “No, we don’t.”

Within seconds she had moved on to something new and it was as if nothing that she had seen or heard had affected her very much at all.

But I knew it had. 

I believe my daughter’s heart was being expressed through her question.  She wanted the affirmation that the girls in the magazine really were “Girls Like You,” me, and her.  Though I do not have anything against airbrushing, in certain instances, in this moment I was glad to be able to affirm my daughter in her question and worry!

I pray that the simple discussions between my daughter and I, leave a lifelong stamp on her impressionable mind and plant truth in her heart.  No matter how brief the conversations, the exchanges our girls have with us will impact the truth that they believe.

What truth does your girl need to be affirmed in? You cannot erase realities but you can help her to define their impact on her life and her future.