Enormously Gorgeous

The following insightful piece appears in "Chicken Soup For the Kids' Soul":

My dad says I am ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS. I wonder if I really am.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Sarah says you need to have beautiful long, curly hair like she has. I
don't.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Justin says you must have perfectly straight white teeth like he has. I
don't.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Jessica says you can't have any of those little brown dots on your face
called freckles. I do.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Mark says you have to be the smartest kid in the seventh-grade class. I'm
not.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Stephen says you have to be able to tell the funniest jokes in the school.
I don't.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Lauren says you need to live in the nicest neighborhood in town and in the
prettiest house. I don't.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Matthew says you can only wear the coolest clothes and the most popular
shoes. I don't.

To be ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS...
Samantha says you need to come from a perfect family. I don't.

But every night at bedtime my dad gives me a big hug and says, "You are
ENORMOUSLY GORGEOUS, and I love you."

My dad must know something my friends don't.

--Carla O'Brien

We all need to be reminded from time to time of that which makes us
beautiful. We look for beauty in the clothes we wear or the make-up or the
tan. True beauty is found much deeper.

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward -- arranging the hair,
wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel -- rather let it be the hidden
person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (I Peter 3:3-4)

Alan Smith