So, God has blessed me with fair skin. Before you think I’m a racist, a supremacist, or just completely full of myself, hear me out. I didn’t always think of my fair skin as a “blessing.” As a good, high-school-aged, Georgia, southern girl oughta, I tanned my skin e-ry summer (and even went to the tanning bed in spring to prep for summer! Hand to forehead! So dumb.). But in the south – and almost everywhere at the time, really – no one wanted to look “pasty white” in shorts, and everyone would groan in early summer about how their skin glowed (“hide your eyes, people! I’m coming to the beach!”). So, in a nutshell, somehow fair skin (once a prize in earlier centuries) was totally out. You were either made fun of for it, or you apologized for it, or you hid it with clothes, too much sun, or self-tanners. Kind of ridiculous, huh? Who said fair skin was ugly? Who said ANY color of skin is ugly? The answer starts with you. You think it, you internalize it, you propagate it. It’s that simple. When I made this realization – thankfully, in my early twenties – I made the choice to love the skin God gave me, and to love and appreciate alllll the beautiful skin colors God has created in this beautiful world. With daughters of my own now, I love that I can squash the comparison game (that has already started with my 8-year-old) with absolute, concrete conviction. I always tell my children that God created each of us in His own perfect way. Each of us is beautifully, uniquely, perfectly, intentionally, and purposefully created exactly as God designed. To say, “I’m ugly,” is not only an insult to your Creator, but it’s also laughable! To say that God, the Ultimate Artist, “messed up” is just ridiculous. End story: you are beautifully, and “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14

Stepping off my pulpit now. Speaking of color…. Did you know that green is “the new hue” for motos (if you even care about that stuff)? I actually didn’t when I bought this at F21 recently, so I’m accidentally on trend with it.;) It sold out pretty fast, but I shopped some others for ya, below.