Dear Leah, While you're just three years old, I'm already making a mental list of all of the things I want you to know about this life -- this crazy life.  One of them smacked me in the face while we were at the pool last week. 
As I watched you and your brother swim, play, giggle, splash and have an all-around great time, my eye was drawn to the "candy" around us.  Perfect body there; gorgeous man here; fake stuff on the other one; too thin; too thick; not quite right; BLECK.  In short, I found myself looking around, comparing myself to all of the other people in the pool, dressed in next to nothing, and even lusting (Lord forgive me) for some of the perfect male bodies that were floating around.  Sigh.
And so, there's this:  No matter what you look like when you're a grown up, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Full stop.  If you're tall or short, athletic or skinny, curvy or straight -- God made you and he loves you.  Fiercely. 
You don't need to be rail thin.  You don't need to have big breasts.  You don't need to be taller or shorter.  You don't need to be darker or lighter.  You just need to be YOU.
I do believe in staying in shape and hope to model that to you (....ehm....).  Being healthy and treating your body as God's temple is not only Biblical, it's wisdom.  However, and this is a biggee, don't make it an obsession -- because like so many things, at the end of the day, it just doesn't matter either.  Yes, be healthy.  Yes, exercise.  But don't make it a life goal.  Much of the "eye candy" out there requires hour upon hour of work -- away from loved ones and God's work -- to maintain.  Don't obsess about your appearance for appearance sake.  And please, for the love of God, do not judge other people for whatever they look like!  They are wounded too and there's room.
Know this, my daughter:  however you look twenty (or forty) years from now, you are beautiful.  I see it already.  Your superficial beauty grows everyday.  I pray that your inner beauty will grow too, because when Christ is the center of your life, you will shine like the Son (sun) and your outward looks will pale in comparison. 
I love you, round and round the world.
to be continued.....
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