Recapturing Beauty FINAL Challenge

This was held in the Wilk. Talk about a powerful challenge! When I arrived with munchkin in her stroller, I felt surrounded by beauty. All these incredible women who were going through the same challenges I was for the past 10 days, all of us rediscovering or "recapturing" our beauty. I could jsut feel the excitement! I got my t-shirt, and munchkin and I sat at the outside of the group, mostly so munchkin would have room to wiggle around on the floor and play.

We were given 10 dots, and on them we wrote the "labels" that we felt we or others put on us. Then we put the labels on us. I can't tell you how... ashamed... I felt. Munchkin was looking at me all confused and started trying to take them of of me. They started reading the children's story You Are Special by Max Lucado. But I saw munchkin the whole time. Looking at me funny and trying to take off my dots. I kept telling her, "no, munchkin. Don't take off mommy's dots. They need to stay on her."

wow. What was munchkin seeing? I was her beautiful mommy, devaluing herself. She knew those shouldn't be on me. She tried taking them off. But I wouldn't let her. Man, how often have I refused to let go of a negative label? Do I really "need" it? What am I teaching Naomi by defeneding my negative self-image? Do I want her to learn to do the same thing?
NO!

I want to teach her that she is beautiful. because she is. I want to teach her that her worth can't be taken away from her. that she will always be beautiful. even when she's small right now. even when she hits puberty in 3rd grade, like I did. even when she has acne. even when she is told that she isn't by stupid boys, or magazines, or tv shows, or anyone else. But how can I teach her that if I don't believe it about myself? what kind of hypocrite will I be if I expect her to always know that she is beautiful, if I can't show her how to believe it? That's why I'm beautiful now.

After reading the story, we went one by one and removed the labels. Thank you, WSR, for such a great challenge. We need to let go of those labels and stops justifying them, defending them, believing them, I let munchkin take off the ones on my face, slobber all over them, and drop them. They will never stick to me again. Because I'm beautiful. Because I know I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father. He loves me. Because Jesus Christ is my Savior and He died for me. He loves me.
I am BEAUTIFUL!