BEAUTIFUL!

Beauty is so often seen today as such a physical thing. And even then, it is often seen differently by different people in different parts of the world. Example...in the western world...ultra thin, ultra sleek or ultra exotic is how people strive to be seen and is what many people think they must look like in order to be one of the beautiful people.

I just heard an interview with Jessica Simpson recently. No, I'm not a Jessica Simpson fan club member, but I did see an interview she made about a new movie/commentary she was making about beauty and the different ways people around the world viewed it. She was saying that in one country, I believe it was in Africa, the women had to be very, very obese to be considered beautiful. They spent much time in the fat huts, fattening themselves up to hundreds of pounds so they would be fat and beautiful to their men. The men in their villages liked their women to look like hogs. Man, too bad that is not the case here...I'd be a raving beauty!

Jessica also mentioned to what extreme women went to in order to cleanse themselves and the types of things they ate/drank in order to make themselves beautiful. Example...animal urine, milk from some exotic animal, etc. All very disgusting to her and stuff the western world would give back...if you know what I mean.

People today use beauty products, anti aging products, liposuction, face lifts, microdermabrasion, other radical medical techniques that cost thousands of dollars in order to feel beautiful. Yet, it never seems to be enough.

Today, I got an e-mail from a friend who was visiting a Rafiki village (one of many orphanages run by an organization that used to be a part of BSF International) in Rwanda. Her husband works on military training projects in Rwanda occasionally, and this trip, my friend and her son were able to travel along with him and stay at one of the Rafiki villages often visited by her husband when he is in the country. My friend is the children's supervisor in the BSF class with me and loves children. This was a real treat for her to see all the children along with one whom she and her family sponsor.

Jan, my friend, and her husband, sent me pictures of them while at the village the first couple of days. The picture I have included is one of my favorites. Jan is seated with the children taking portraits of each child. The look on the faces of the children and the look on Jan's face radiate the love of God like I've never seen before. The beauty I see in Jan, is God's radiance upon each child seated around her.

Yes, beauty is seen differently by many people. But there is no denying, the beauty of God seen in the face of those who love and serve Him and the beauty of those of whom His love shines is more beautiful than any man can ever work for/make themselves to be.

So today, I am thankful for my friend Jan and the love she shares with each child in that Rafiki village. It is God's love that shines through her on each little face, radiating beauty both in her and upon each child. It is a beauty that surpasses any man can ever hope to attain on his own.

Jan and the children at Rafiki village in Rwanda