I had an entirely different post written and ready to publish.  All about mine and Coconut #1’s adventure at kids summer camp.  And I may post it later.  However I ended up having to go on a last-minute shopping trip to Wal-Mart for Coconut #3’s birthday celebration tomorrow and I saw something that made me literally stop in my tracks and my heart hurt.  There in the toy section for little girls was a bright pink box with glittery letters that read, “I Wish I Was….” mega makeover box.  A box for little girls to make their wishes come true in becoming NOT who God made them to be.  I Wish I Was…skinnier, prettier, more popular….insert whatever adjective you can think of there.  Coated in pink feathers and zebra stripes but really it’s the  world reaching our kids as young as possible to teach them that who they were born to be isn’t good enough.  Planting seeds of doubt, insecurity, and outright lies in innocent hearts and minds.

And it hit me as I stood staring at this box that aims to teach young girls that the sum total of their worth will be summed up in a dress size someday that it’s ultimately our fault as parents.  And I don’t mean our fault by purchasing something like this for our kids.  It’s much deeper than that.  It starts before you ever walk into the store and your impressionable offspring begins to desire something like this.  It starts when you as a mother look into your mirror at home and say, “I hate my body.” Or, “I hate my hair.” “I’m so ugly.” And your daughter stands by listening to the self talk come out of your mouth.  Up until this point she thought you were the most beautiful woman in the world.  If she’s anything like my daughter she probably wore your shoes and envisioned growing up to look just like you.  But now she has just learned by your own admission that you are “ugly” and “fat”.  And so the cycle is perpetuated.  What are we teaching our daughters??

As mothers we have to stop the flow of negativity that comes out so easily when it comes to us and our bodies.  If it kills us, we’ve got to speak positive things, especially in front of our daughters.  We have to plug into the beauty God see’s in us as opposed to how the world views beauty.   More than anything we have to take our daughters by the hand and lead them into the truth and realization that they are created in the perfect image of God.  And that no amount of dieting, hair dye or makeup could make them any more perfect than that.

Proverbs 18:21 says “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.” Whatever we speak and cling to will be made evident outwardly in our life.  Choose to speak life and teach it to your children.  Finally, give your daughters a gift that no one can take away.  The knowledge that her worth is wrapped up securely in Christ and as the daughter of the King, her place is forever settled.  It’s my desire for my own daughters to read this someday and it not be a revelation to them but simply a reminder of the way they were raised.  My prayer is that they would have no need for a “I Wish I Was….” box because their life in Christ was one that others wished for themselves.

Until then I will do my best to practice what I preach and exchange the lie hidden in the toy aisle for the truth found in my Savior.  I dare you to do the same.