Hands That Serve

My day today included a band concert, a soccer game, and the decorating of a birthday cake. In the middle of all of this, overlapping and in between, I made a huge pot of chili, made apple crisp, and attended a retreat for little girls that taught about True Beauty. I'm worn out, BUT! it was absolutely amazing. We had lots of little girls, aged 4 to 12, learning how to take care of themselves and learning about God's definition of beauty. These girls walked away feeling beautiful and pampered. Several of them came over from the local children's home and it was amazing getting to be a part of taking their hands and helping them see their own beauty.

My table was all about the hands. Our class was called "Hands That Serve" and I read an excerpt from this old book, Beautiful Girlhood. It is an amazing book and is old enough to be open source. If you're a girl, read this. If you have a girl, read this. My section told the story of classmates talking about how to have pretty hands, comparing stories and tips that included keeping hands out of the wind, not washing dishes, and applying the best lotions. Their teacher, overhearing them, announced that she thought Jennie had the prettiest hands in the whole school. The girls thought this sounded ridiculous since Jennie's hands were rough and chapped and red. The teacher explained that she had seen Jennie's hands taking food to sick neighbors, helping her younger siblings, and helping her widowed mother in housekeeping, firewood, and milking. Her hands were hands that served and this teacher felt they were the most beautiful hands in the world.

The girls that came through discussed ways that they could serve others. Each group was of a different age range and their answers varied greatly, but all of them were excellent. One answer that was given by each age range was so simple yet so very effective: giving hugs. It was beautiful watching them looking for ideas. It was fun watching them choose their fingernail polish colors and stickers. They felt beautiful. And they are. God says so.

Now we're off! Time to deliver a birthday cake and then eat chili and apple crisp with a great group of friends.

And then sleep.

I am sooooo sleeping well tonight.

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