Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Real Beauty

In our Sunday afternoon girls' Bible study at Fortress, Sheena and I have been trying to find ways for the girls' to see themselves through God's eyes.
So often, growing up in the crime-ridden neighborhoods of the inner city, where drugs and prostitution are part of your everyday, where your self-worth is dependent on being either invisible or exploited, seeing yourself in a positive light is hard. Imagining that God loves you ANYway is nearly impossible.

As a reward for attending our class faithfully this semester, we rewarded the girls with a makeover to end the lesson series. This past Sunday was makeover day. First, we took the girls to a beauty supply store and let them choose a hair product. Viola wanted tracks (hair extensions), TeTe wanted a wig, and Royleesha chose a perm (a relaxer to make her hair straight).

We arrived at my house and got down to business. I'd never given a perm before, much less on hair like Royleesha's! She has 4 times as much hair as Dani does, and I thought DANI had thick hair! It took me an hour brush through and seperate all the hair into sections, and apply the solution. Then it took forever to dry and flatiron it afterwards. But the results were stunning. Royleesha was beautiful, and part of what made her so was the sparkle in her eyes. She FELT gorgeous!

Sheena laid Viola's tracks and made TeTe's wig, and Cara did the makeup. We had a photo session in my front yard when it was all over. It was such a fun afternoon, just chatting with the girls and spending good, quality time together. I'm going to give each of them a framed 8x10 from their portrait session, with the caption "This is how God sees you... every day... no matter what." I hope they continue to believe it. They are beautiful, most especially when they believe that God thinks so.



7 comments:

ArlaMo said...

Your girls are gorgoues, Stacy. They all three have the most beautiful smiles. What an impact you will have on them - teaching them about real beauty!

Donna said...

What beautiful smiles! Their hair looks great too but those smiles are gorgeous!!

I love the idea of the framed photo and the caption. A wonderful reminder of a wonderful day.

Melita said...

What a wonderful thing you have done for your girls :) Their smiles are stunning, and you're right, their eyes are sparkling!
I think what you do is amazing - you should feel so proud at the difference you are making in their lives

Sherry said...

Stacy, These girls truly are beautiful - but it's not just their face and hair. Their countenance is different. They have a glow in their smiles that truly shows that they "got it". Good on you and the other ladies who have shown these girls that they are "fearfully and wonderfully made".

Lee said...

Their beauty is shining through their eyes and smiles. Just beautiful, indeed.

Brynn said...

What beautiful girls & beautiful pictures! What a neat reminder of such a fantastic day.

Anonymous said...

Girl you can do hair! That may be your new passion!!! All three of them are gorgeous! You will forever remind them of what unbaised love is!

Karen K