By Aimee Piersma
Photography by Allie Marie Smith
All this rain is worth it when I see a rainbow. This morning I made sure my girls saw it. Birdie glimpsed it before she ran off to class. Jellybean had more time. She said with awe, “That’s the first real rainbow I’ve ever seen.” That surprised me since I’ve heard her recite the colors innumerable times. And maybe she saw one last year or further back, but her four year old memory doesn’t reach that far. This was the first time, for her. I looked down at her when she was quiet. Her hands were folded in front of her face as she prayed. I think I heard “…thank you, God…”
She is so good at appreciating beauty and feeling awe.
Beauty that is the most striking is often unexpected beauty. The beauty of a woman who doesn’t fit the mold. A stream in the desert. An oasis. Beauty is a relief. The sight of it stops you, forces an inhale…a breath you didn’t know you needed.
I had a boss once whose beauty struck me often. She didn’t have a supermodel body, but she knew how to dress the body she had. The colors she wore suited her perfectly. especially in her makeup. The gap between her teeth was character, and framed by the perfect shade of lipstick. Her hairstyle was on trend and so her. She didn’t fit our society’s ideal of beauty, but she knew who she was and it showed on the outside. She was beautiful.
I’ve seen plenty of women who wear the best clothes for their bodies, know their colors and get their hair done regularly. But those things don’t make them stand out. This woman stood out because her appearance reflected who she is. She looked peaceful because she was peaceful. Her colors were soft because she was kind. She looked put-together and ready because she was reliable, trustworthy, and smart.
Her beauty was unexpected because it was rare. She was rare. The uniqueness of how she looked and the genuine loveliness of who she was made a stunning combination. I haven’t seen her in over ten years and I’ve met hundreds of other people since then, but I can’t forget her.
She loved Jesus. I know that’s where it all came from. Some hard things happened while we worked together, but it only revealed more of her genuine faith in a loving God who loved her and all of us exactly as we are.
His stunningly beautiful creation. As captivating as a rainbow.
Aimee is a Christian Image Consultant with a passion to teach women how to reflect God’s love and beauty in their appearance. More “style coach” than “stylist” Aimee teaches women how to discover their individual style and build a wardrobe that is fun, comfortable, and entirely useful. She lives with her husband and two daughters on the Central Coast of California.
