You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.
– Song of Songs 4:7
I believe that God placed a desire deep in women’s
hearts to display beauty, to delight others.
I’m not writing tonight to expand on theories of self-image or what
society expects of our sex. Rather, today,
I experienced this character quality in a strikingly pure form and I want to
share it as simply as I can.
Every year, my husband and his mom participate in
a Salvation Army event where volunteers take kids in need shopping for clothing. This year, I joined the tradition. We met early in the morning at the Salvation
Army building and were paired with a child.
Jeff was able to go with Henry, a boy he’d shopped with the previous two
years. I went forward with Jeff and a
blonde third grader with red-framed glasses named Katie boldly took my hand and
told the coordinator, “I’m going with this girl.” That settled it!
Jeff and Henry sat in the first available seats
on the volunteer-driven city bus, while Katie marched me to the back row. “We have to sit in the very back because we
both have long legs,” she explained. I
got to know her better during the ride and she shared painful bits of family
history that didn’t even make her flinch.
“Is that guy your boyfriend?” she asked.
“No, he’s my husband. We just got married,” I said, showing her my
ring, “It’s the real deal!”
“Wow! Did
you know a lot of people can’t afford a ring like that?” she said.
“Yeah, it’s a really special ring. But, do you know what? I would want Jeff for my husband even without
a ring. He is way, way more valuable
than jewelry!”
“Oh, I can tell.
Just from meeting him. You got a
good guy there.”
We arrived at Wal-Mart and our bus load of
volunteers and kids descended upon the kids’ clothing section en masse. Katie needed snow boots and there were none
in her size. She tensed up and started
zipping around the aisles, asking other adults if they’d seen any more
boots. I caught her by the shoulder and
suggested we put a hold on shoe shopping for now.
“This is meant to be a fun trip. Let’s make sure we’re enjoying our time
together, okay?”
Katie agreed and we switched to the clothing
section. I could tell she was both
excited to choose whatever she wanted and nervous that I’d say no to
something. She had an eye for anything
with sparkle and would pull frilly things off the shelf, smiling, only to
quickly thrust it away when I came over to look.
“It’s not important to get that. I just need some jeans,” she’d say.
We came up with a strategy: we wouldn’t worry, but just grab some things
that appealed to her, knowing that we’d have to narrow it down to the budgeted
amount before checking out. Katie lit up
and impulsively handed me a Hello Kitty black and gold tutu-style skirt.
“Just for fun,” she explained. I loved it.
Over at the dressing rooms, we ran into Jeff and
Henry. They were content, having found
just what Henry wanted in a short amount of time. Some tennis shoes, a few hooded sweatshirts,
a jacket – they weren’t even going to try anything on. Meanwhile, I showed them our sparkling bounty
of Frozen, Hello Kitty, bedazzlement that required whittling. Jeff and Henry joined the line with us, to
keep us company. They unwittingly became
audience members for Katie’s favorite part of the morning.
While she was in the dressing room, we could see
Katie’s little purple-socked feet under the door, turning circles in front of
the mirror. Even though there was a huge
line of kids waiting for the rooms, she methodically put different outfit
combinations together and showed us one by one.
When the dressing room door opened each time, Katie stood there,
beaming. Jeff, Henry, and I commented on
how great she looked and Katie just soaked it up.
When she went back in for the next outfit, I looked
up at Jeff and said, “You realize this is the best part of the experience for
her, right?”
He smiled and nodded, and we anxiously awaited
the next stylish revelation.
It was eventually time to check out, and Katie
needed to make a decision. She very
maturely set three items aside that she was okay with returning, including that
Hello Kitty tutu. Together, we did the
math on the remaining items and it totaled exactly one dollar under budget. God is so amazing.
Song of Songs is a romantic sort of passage, so
it may seem strange to apply it to an eight year old girl, but I know God was
with us, waiting for Katie to emerge with each outfit on, waiting to tell her,
You are
altogether beautiful.
