Advice from Audrey Hepburn

There's a quote by Audrey Hepburn that goes like this:

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. 

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. 

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of each of your arms.  As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. 

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.  The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. 

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but the true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.  It is the caring that she lovingly gives and the passion that she shows.

The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years.

When I was in Costa Rica, on my last day with my host family, it finally dawned on me the significance of the third line of Audrey Hepburn's advice.  You see, normally I dislike when people run their fingers through my hair.  I don't always mind people playing with it, but I have hair that is an odd mixture of curly and wavy, and if people start combing their fingers through it, well, it tends to frizz out big time and doesn't hold any of the original curliness.  So if I'm having a decent hair day and I don't want it to get messed up, I'll generally refuse to let people touch my hair for any length of time, especially kids who don't understand the nature of my hair.  It was just one of those weird things.  And when I was in Costa Rica, I normally refused to let my younger host brother Luis or little Emma or young Jimena at the church touch my hair, because I was worried about it frizzing out.

My host family always fawned over how soft my hair is compared to theirs.  I don't think it's soft at all, but my family sure thought so, and that's a huge reason I think why people always wanted to touch it.  But I was really reluctant to let them.  Every now and then I would, but it was with a great deal of reluctance.

On my last day with my host family, when I woke up, I discovered poor Luis was not feeling well at all.  Therefore, after quickly packing up the rest of my things and eating breakfast and saying a tearful goodbye to my host dad as he left for work, I stayed with Luis and helped my host mom take care of him until I had to leave.  And as I took care of him and talked to him and stayed with him and loved on him, I freely allowed him to mess up my hair by running his fingers through it.  He kept saying how soft it was and kept touching it and enjoying playing with it for a while before I had to go.

I really don't understand why people like playing with my hair; my best guess is that it's unique and nobody has hair quite like mine.  But in that instant I finally understood what it means to have beautiful hair by letting a child run his or her fingers through it daily.  That a child like Luis took delight in touching my hair, something that admittedly feels really good for me too, filled me with joy.  I was happy that he was happy.  It was technically a small sacrifice (no matter how important it felt in the moment), and yet it brought so much joy to both of us.

True beauty doesn't come from what we do on the outside.  There's a aesthetically-pleasing type of beauty that comes from enhancing one's eyes with eyeliner, or from wearing certain outfits, or from doing up one's hair all nice.  But as Proverbs 31:10-31 in the Bible advocates (I'll leave you to look it up here), and as Audrey Hepburn echoes, the character of a woman is what gives her real beauty.

Beautiful Princess of the Most High God, remember this as you go about your daily life.  Remember that you already are beautiful, and that each moment you are awake you have the opportunity to express this beauty and let it shine through you, the beauty that is Jesus Christ living in you.