The Bold, The Beautiful, and The Toothless

Norah lost her first front tooth last week, and she was pretty nervous about how she would look. She was concerned that she would look goofy and that kids would laugh at her. We sat her down to remind her that over half her class has toothless grins, and that she's in good company. We reminded her that everyone has funny smiles when they are between the ages of 5 and 8!

She felt better, ready to face her class with her one-less-tooth face.

Then came a couple nights ago...

A second tooth, in an awkward spot got very loose and was very uncomfortable.I told my sweet girl that it should come out.

Enter hysterics and insecurities.

Through tears our girls lamented about how she would look extra silly with another tooth lost, and she just couldn't handle it. Again, cuddled on my lap, I reminded her that she's not alone in her toothlessness. I also reminded her of where her true beauty must lie- in her heart.

God isn't looking at who she is on the outside, but is concerned with how she loves others, and serves him.

She knew.

She just wasn't ready to serve him with a greater degree of toothlessness- and that was okay.

Tonight, she had had enough, and the dreaded question came to me, "Mom, my tooth is bothering me. Can we get it out?"

What to do?! Casey was still in bed. he's the one who can stomach such things, and in the meantime, her gums were irritated and started bleeding again. I had to step up to the plate.

We were both nervous, and I won't go into details on the positioning of roots, teeth being squished together or that I had to try and pull the tooth three times before success was achieved. No, no one needs to know all about that.

After the howling stopped, I calmed down (insert rim-shot), and Norah raced to the mirror concerned about her appearance. She was alright. She had been able to think about the reality of her two-times-toothless grin, and so she was okay.

But I could tell she was still concerned. Why else would she run to the mirror? I had promised the kids that we could watch a movie. so I turned to Netflix, and saw that there was a new movie I hadn't watched yet, "Sweet Pea Beauty". I didn't really think about what the content was, but just thought that it was cool to see one that we hadn't watched before.

Perfect. Timing.

After watching it Norah said, "I think that was a good reminder for me to have tonight. I'm glad I watched that."

Me too. Me too.

For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7b