Recently, i went to take a picture of a friend, who was looking lovely sitting with the light behind her...and soon as she saw me, she put her hand up, covering her face.
"Ugh, don't take pictures of me, i look horrible!"
Actually, no, she looked beautiful...as always. I see her as a lovely lady, with caring eyes and an incredible smile.
So do her children.
But years from now, the kids will have very few pictures of their mother, because she always avoided the camera, because, in her opinion, she looked awful or was too fat, or she had an ugly smile, or or or or. The list can go on.
Trust me, i know. I feel heavier than i ever have, i see wrinkles that weren't there last year, my hair must hate me, because it never looks right.
But take a picture, please.
Because when i am gone, my kids can look at the pictures and say "Yeah, that's my mom."
Kids don't care if you don't look perfect. They don't care if you have wrinkles, or you look heavier than you would like. They want to have pictures of the mom exactly the way they remember her, with the huge smile that make the eyes crinkle a bit. Heavy? Maybe, but that is the mom, the person they remember sitting at the table struggling through homework, in the kitchen making dinner, the first face they see in the morning getting ready for school.
God didn't make you perfect, He made you mom. Wrinkles and body weight and crazy hair, that is all part of who you are that HE created.
He created you as a wife, as a mother, as an aunt, as a friend - body and skin don't matter, your love and your caring and your presence, that is what matters.
So when i go to take a picture of you, it is because i know that picture will one day be treasured by your children, by your spouse. It may be seen on facebook, it may be hidden away for years to come. But one day, it might come out, and make someone smile and pass it around the room and say "Look, it's a picture of mom - wow, look at her beautiful smile."
I love you.
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