When Life Gets Too Hard to Stand....Just Keep on Rolling

My sister sent me this video and it touched my heart.  I sat there thinking about my girls and the inner and outer beauty they have.  I have often joked that I hope my girls have acne when they are teenagers - horrible thought for a mother to have but true.  I had acne and as much as I hated it at the time it taught me a lesson.  It was something so insignificant compared to what others face but it taught me that the inner beauty is far more important than the outer beauty and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I remember one time in particular that still stands out to me today.  I was about 16 and my family was going to the open house of the San Diego temple.  I had to go straight from work (Little Ceasers - yes it's true!) and I didn't have time to lay out 5 cute outfits and then spend time narrowing it down to the perfect one.  Plus my hair had Little Caesers hat head and I was really broken out.  I remember feeling so paranoid that I would see someone or happen to meet the man of my dreams that one day when I wasn't looking my best.  As we walked into the temple my eyes darted left and right not taking in the beauty of the moment but looking around to see who might "see" me.  Then it hit me where I was.  I was in God's House.  He didn't care that I had a ton of zits.  He wouldn't see the hat head or the last minute outfit.  He saw "ME".  I was overcome by a feeling of love and care that envelped me.  I knew that I was worthy no matter what the outside looked like.  I finished that tour with the knowledge that no matter what I was special.  I wish I could say that I was never worried about appearance again but that would be a lie.  I am female right?  I could make you laugh with stories of sunburnt pregnant vanity, falling down in front of the whole football team and many, many stories that would point out that I still do worry at times.  Yet underlying all of that is the sure knowledge that while the outside is a nice thing to dress up, the inside is what makes me me and is what I can take with me into the next life.  If only I can give my girls the AHA moment that I had and let every girl know that they are loved, valued and special.  That despite the Glamour magazines and the airbrushed celebrities the inner beauty is the one that determines who you are.  I look at the girls in the video below and realize that in many ways we are the ones with the handicaps that go through life thinking the outer shell is important.  These amazing girls are forced to learn quickly that their inner self is the one that shines through and makes them more beautiful than any super model.