Kids Say The Darndest Things!!

Everyone who has children knows that they can be hilarious. They can say the funniest things and make you laugh out loud. However, sometimes their biting wit can unfortunately be directed at you. My youngest child, AC, has been on a roll lately when it comes to helping me out with the "compliments". Did you pick up on the sarcasm? The first incident occurred after a trip to Walgreens. I went to buy some new lipstick, nothing big or special. However, I was feeling good about my purchase and thought that the color looked pretty darn good on me! I turned around after applying said color and asked AC what she thought about my lipstick. She looked right at me and said, "I can't tell that you are wearing any lipstick." Ok. Hmm. Not the response I was looking for. Shot down by a 5 year old. The second incident was at Wal-Mart. This one was more touchy because I was trying on bathing suits. I think I had about 10 different ones to try on in the dressing room. AC patiently waited as I tried on each one and refrained from making any comments about my appearance. When I finally narrowed it down to two choices, of course I HAD to ask my shopping partner her opinion. She bit her lip, furrowed her brow and pensively studied me for a few seconds. Then she said, "Well it doesn't look too good. But I think it is the white socks you have on." At this point I was pretty delirious from all of the trying on and started laughing hysterically. I was sweating from the exertion of pulling lycra on and off repeatedly and I personally think they heat the changing rooms on purpose. White socks. This was what was causing the bathing suit to be a fashion don't. Nevermind the cellulite or the stretch marks, people, the white socks are causing that to fade into the background!! Let's just end this story with the fact that I left Wal-Mart empty handed. One of my good friends took her 5 year old dress shopping recently and had a similar experience. She asked her daughter what she thought of the dress she had selected and she said, "You can't wear that dress. That is a skinny dress and you need a fat dress". She also left the store without making a purchase. While my friend's daughter was definitely more blunt about her opinion than my daughter, it had the same effect on both of us. It hurt our feelings. Even though I laughed at AC's white sock comment, I knew she was purposely trying to think of a nice way to tell me that I did not look very good in that bathing suit. Heck, I already knew that! I have definitely struggled with my self esteem over the years. I have tried to look or act a certain way to fit in with certain crowds of people at school, at work and out in the community. I have tried to change myself a thousand times for all of the wrong reasons. The change was never permanent, though. I never felt truly convicted in whatever change I was trying to make. I wasn't doing it for the right reasons. I wasn't doing it for ME. I wasn't doing it to become the person that HE created me to be. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." We are not just any painting in the museum...we are each a masterpiece! I see so many young (and older) women struggling with this same issue today and hope that it doesn't take them as long as it took me to figure out that they are worthy and valued in their Heavenly Father's eyes. Each one of us is a daughter of the most high King. AC tells me that we are all princesses and God is the King. I think she is right. I'm claiming my title, what about you?