focusing on true beauty

I have been working on making shorts for my children’s summer wardrobe.  They all desperately needed them and so that has been my sewing focus.  One morning, my son woke up and went into the sewing room, picked out a pair that were finished the night before and came down stairs dressed and ready for the day.  My response:

“But I did not take a picture of those first!”

What?  Did I just say that out loud to my 4 year old boy?  Even before I started blogging, I did try to keep a photographic record of the clothes I have made, but when you blog, good pictures are important.  But how important?  Are they important enough to focus on making perfect pictures documenting my sewing skills over focusing on providing for my children?

I think this is a good micro example of a macro problem.  Too often I want to create a picture of a beautiful family.  I want a beautifully decorated and always clean home.   I want my children to wear nice clothes, coordinating if possible, and behave in a calm and peaceful manner.  I want to attend church have people look at us and think, “What a great family.”

None of these desires are inherently bad.  But they are not what make true beauty.

I want more than a “happy home” that is created by outward beauty.  Being a mom means sometimes having an imperfect appearance and the beauty I seek and long for in my home has nothing to do with clothes, home decor, or housekeeping.  A few weeks ago a 13 year old boy sang a song at my church.  It was Something Beautiful by Needtobreathe.  It sums up my heart on this matter.  Here is a bit of it:

Verse 1
In your ocean I'm ankle deep,
I feel the waves crashin' on my feet;
It's like I know where I need to be
But I can't figure out,
yeah I can't figure out
Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your tide rushes over me,
There's only one way to figure out
Will you let me drown,
will you let me drown

Chorus 1
Hey now, this is my desire:
Consume me like a fire
'Cause I just want something beautiful to touch me -
I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees
Waiting for something beautiful.
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh... something beautiful.

Through this song, that 13 year old boy reminded me of something extremely important.  Outward beauty and shiny, pretty, clean things are not the stuff of true beauty.  True beauty comes from Above and Within.
So, I did make a bunch of shorts.  And I took pictures of them. 

Some pictures of them looking nice, some on children, some after they were worn and quite dirty, and some of them crumpled up on the floor. 

These pictures document the clothes I made.  But they also document that I am raising 3 amazing people.  People whom I am lucky enough to get to know and hopefully impart character traits that will allow them to embrace what truly is beautiful.