My Bible Study has been reading “Beauty Begins.”  In it, the authors ask their readers to take the focus off themselves.  They challenge us to step away from the selfie and instead, post pictures of beautiful people who radiate true, inner beauty.

This got me to thinking about all the beautiful people in my life.  People who exude inner beauty, grace, and confidence.  People who make me feel more beautiful, more graceful, more confident…

My Mom

The first beautiful person that pops into my mind is my Mama.  I am blessed with a Mom who has accepted that I am infertile and will never give her traditional grandkids.  She has fully embraced her role as a doggie Mammo and loves our exchange daughter with her entire heart.  Her support of this blog was immediate, and she is one of my biggest Facebook fans!  To say I am blessed that God chose her to be my Mom is an understatement.

Two Amazing Aunts

I have two amazing aunts—one has children, the other is childless.  Both are strong and kind and smart and loving.  Neither make me feel badly for living my life the way that suits me best.

Grandmas & Great Aunts

God also blessed me with incredible grandmas by blood and a lovely great aunt by marriage.  My Grammy is one of the kindest women I know, showing love to so many through her generosity.  My Mamaw had the sweetest spirit.  I don’t believe I ever saw her in a bad mood.  As for my Nana…  Well, when I accidentally left my doll, Victoria, at their house and called crying because I could not sleep without her, my Nana promised that she had her all tucked in with a blanket and that Victoria would be okay until I could come get her the next day.  ?  And my Great Aunt Dot is so loving and sweet and kind…  And childless, as well.  She is a beautiful example of embracing a childless life, loving nieces and nephews as her own.

In-Laws

Other beautiful people brought into my life by marriage are my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  They have accepted our infertility, our love of Maddie and Bruna, our desire to be super-involved with our nieces’ lives.  Both have been supportive of my telling our story on Not So Mommy…  And perhaps most importantly, they have both accepted me for me, and that is a truly beautiful thing.

Lifelong Friends

And that brings us to friends who are family…  I have three lifelong friends who I have known since elementary school.  They are gorgeous, and they don’t even realize it.  They were tender when telling me they were going to have littles, they let me be involved in their kiddos’ lives, they accept the good, bad, and ugly of me.  I simply do not know what I would do without them…

New Friends

My newest friend, and beautiful person, happens to be childless, as well.  We met when we hosted Bruna because she and her husband also had a foreign exchange student.  She is a dog mom and aunt, like me.  She is giving and gracious and sweet and kind.  When I met her, I finally felt like there was someone else out there like me.  I finally felt like I might not be quite so different…

Beautiful People

These women, from 39 to 92, are the most beautiful people I know.  I am blessed that they love me, that they accept me, that they show me grace.  And I need to make sure I tell them that.  I need to make sure they know how truly beautiful they are.

Fabulous one, I challenge you to think about the beautiful people in your life.  Reach out to them, tell them what they mean to you, let them know how amazing they really are.  What an incredible place this world would be if we only spread compliments and love so freely…

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Photo Credit:  PALMOA Aviles on StockSnap.io