Those of you who know me probably know that I'm sort of an addict when it comes to thrift stores and vintage finds. I stop by the Goodwill and Salvation Army regularly, and my kids sometimes get dragged along. This time I had Evie with me and she was in a nearby aisle looking at toys. As always, she came to me after few minutes saying, "Hey mommy....there's a doll I want to show you." I sighed, and said something about how we don't need any more toys in our house, while I reluctantly followed her to the shelf.
She pointed to a porcelain doll with long, blonde curls wearing a lavender dress full of ruffles. "Isn't she beautiful?" Evie said. I agreed, she was a very pretty doll. Then Evie continued, "But she is missing part of her arm." Sure enough, one of her porcelain arms was broken and only half of it remained. My first reaction was to tell her that she didn't need a broken doll. But with everything that's been on my mind lately regarding our son and children with limb differences, my heart suddenly melted.
I asked Evie, "Do you still think she is beautiful?"
"Yes."
"Are there people in the world who are born without an arm, or who lose their arm in an accident?"
"Yes."
"Are they beautiful?"
"YES, and I think it even makes them EXTRA special!"
Needless to say, we brought the doll home.
I'm not saying that dolls are anywhere near as important as people, or that we should start rescuing broken toys, but this was such a neat opportunity for us to stop and think about what defines beauty, and what defines "broken". I believe God used this doll to help prepare Evie's heart for meeting her brother. She is aware of his limb differences, and she knows that he is MAGNIFICENT and LOVED and VALUED by our family and our Heavenly Father. Every time I walk into her room and see that doll (I think she named her "Annabell") I am so moved, and so thrilled at how God is working in each of us.
