beauty{full}: spoken love

There is more to say about scars in relation to the topic of beauty, but I'm waiting for permission to tell a story that is not my own. If you don't hear anything else about it, that's why, but I'm hoping to come back to that topic later in the month.

For now though, I want to swing back to something we talked about earlier, the concept that being loved makes us more beautiful, inside and out. And not just being loved, but knowing we are loved. Because--what is that old saying--if a tree falls in the forest and no one is listening, does it make a sound? This is the same concept:

If we are loved but we don't know it, does it have any effect on us?

If we love others but never tell them, does our love provide any benefit for them?

Spoken love leaves two-way beauty marks. It beautifies both the speaker and the hearer. So why do we not do this more? This is, perhaps, one of the easiest ways to surround ourselves with beauty: by speaking it into existence in the people around us.

So I want to take a moment to show you this in action. Below is a video of the Little Man reading "daddy's book" to his brother. Every night we read this book before bed. Normally, the reading is punctuated by Tiny interjecting the name of the country where the Man is or the boys breaking into fights over who gets to turn the page or just a general "mmmhmm"ing from both boys after a statement that they particularly resonate with that night. This week, Littles decided to start "reading" it himself. A few of the words get skipped. (Apologies on the formatting--I've been trying to get this video up all night.)



Littles misses his daddy because he loves his daddy. This love makes him stronger and more beautiful inside and out, day by day. Sharing this video with the Man is one way that he can tell his dad how much he loves him. He is speaking love to his father. This in turn helps the Man be a better dad, a better worker, a better man. The love of his children transforms my husband inside and out.

I have thought often how wonderful it is to have a husband that I truly miss, how beautiful it is for my children to have a dad that they want to spend time with. Sometimes this is a hard reality when he is gone. But when we take the time to tell him, it becomes something lovely.

Let this be one small encouragement to you: choose beauty--speak love into someone's life. Even if it makes you feel awkward or the words sometimes get caught in your throat.

{If you're looking for the rest of this series, all the links can be found here. Thank you so much for joining with me this month.}