"She told me I'm fat!" My daughter wailed, her face red from tears and pain.
"Who told you you're fat?"
"My sister!" She cried even harder.
My oldest daughter (age 9) ran into the kitchen a second later. "She told me I'm fat first--"
"Stop!" I said, holding up my hand. I took both their hands in mine and I led them to the dining room. I pulled three chairs out and put them in a triangle--the whole time praying for wisdom from God.
"I want both of you to sit down and I want to tell you something very true and very, very sad."
The tears instantly stopped as I gained their attention.
The entire time I was praying, not quite sure where this conversation was going, but I knew God had a message for my little girls...and for me.
"When God created life, do you know what He made last?"
They shook their heads.
"Eve. As his very last act of Creation, before He rested, He created a woman."
Both of my girls stared at me.
"And when Satan came to the Garden to put into motion the fall of mankind, who did he go to?"
"Eve," they said in unison.
"Yes, Eve. God created Eve last, and I've always believed He saved the best for last. God loves women. He calls the whole body of believers His bride. He chose a woman to bring Jesus into the world. Women are very, very special to God. And that's exactly why Satan went to Eve in the Garden, he knew she was especially important to God. And from that day, when sin entered the world, until this day when you two called each other fat, Satan has been working at destroying women. One of the craftiest ways he does this is by making women believe they are ugly, fat, stupid, worthless, and on and on."
"We can fight him back by calling him those names too!" My oldest said very seriously as she punched the air with her fist.
I shook my head. "No, we can fight him back by never making a woman believe any of those things are true. We can fight him back by building up our sister and telling her she's beautiful and perfect exactly how she is. It's our job to tell other women how wonderful they are, but more importantly, to tell yourself how beautiful you are."
My girls looked at me and I stared straight into each of their faces, one at a time. "You are beautiful and perfect exactly how God made you." I said to both of them. "I don't want you to ever forget this conversation for the rest of your life. I want you to remember where we were sitting and what I've said, because it's one of the most important things you'll ever learn. You are very special to God."
I hugged each of my girls and then asked them to apologize to each other. My oldest jumped up and went back to her room, but my second daughter, the one who had been in tears just moments before, looked at me with her beautiful green eyes and said: "Just today, when I was taking a spelling test at school, I told myself I'm tall and beautiful."
I pulled her to my side and nodded. "Keep reminding yourself of that every single day, and don't let anyone else ever tell you different."
After the girls were both gone, I thanked God for this special conversation and I pray, with all my heart, that my girls will never forget what I said.
Your Turn: Do you remember an important conversation you had with your mom? If you could tell all the little girls in the world one thing, what would it be?
