We were at Walmart checking out and the cashier was new.

She was young with curly dark hair and a pretty face, but above that she greeted me with a smile of contentment.

She was pleasant to be around and I could not help but think she was sweet and pretty.

As we were walking away my 6yr old son said, “she is beautiful”.

My boys have told me on several occasions that I am beautiful also.

It is sweet and makes me smile but yesterday I realized it is also so much more.

I am shaping what my boys see as beautiful.

If I poured over magazines while bemoaning that I do not look like the photoshopped models and actresses in them, then my boys would see them as the standard for beauty.

If I complain about my looks and weight all day then they will assume that you have to be skinny and perfect to be beautiful.

Is that what I want?

Do I want the men of tomorrow to think no flaws equals beauty?

Or do I want them to think commitment, determination, compassion, and confidence are beautiful?

What if I make sure my role models are amazing women of God?

Women like Esther, Ruth, Mary, and strong Christian woman of today.

Sometimes as a mother of boys you do not feel the pressure as much to watch what you say about yourself.

You do not have a little girl wanting to grow up to be like mommy.

But I do have a little boy growing up wanting to marry a woman he sees as beautiful.

What are you telling your children beauty is?

I know I am going to be more mindful of what I say and do around mine.

I am building the men of tomorrow.

“Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30