Am I Beautiful?

I Peter 3:3-4 states:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Yesterday at church, I got to meet a woman who has been coming for a while but whom I hadn't had the opportunity to talk with.  So, before Sunday School began, I took a couple of moments to introduce myself to her and her daughter.  Here's the kicker:  the woman is blind.  I knew that about her from prior conversations but I treated her no differently than I would any other new soul I was meeting.  Well, almost undifferently.  I mean, seriously, it'd be kind of mean now wouldn't it, to offer her my hand of fellowship without first guiding her to it?

We chatted a couple of moments and talked about our names.  Hers was Mary and I told her I once had a sister with that name so it'd be easier for me to remember her with that association.  When I told her my name, she breathed happily.  "Stefanie.  Stefanie.  That is such a lovely name.  Tell me:  are you beautiful?"

What?  I mean, I know she is blind, but...but how does one answer such a question to a stranger?

I went to my old stand-by friend Humor, and joked "Well, my husband thinks so.  He tells me I am beautiful all the time."

The class was about to start so we concluded our conversation and I was left pondering about her words for the rest of the day.  Am I beautiful was the question posed.  As I think about it, and about what makes a soul beautiful, I am stumped.  Often I get complimented on my pretty blue eyes and I have to agree:  they are gorgeous!  But can I take any credit for them?  Hardly.  God gave them to me and as I think about that I wonder:  do these eyes of mine look at others or do they see them as they really are?  Do they focus on the outer appearances of others (okay visual image of Matthew McConaughey leave me now!) or do I look more deeply at the things which really make one pretty, wholesome, attractive?  It is written that Jesus was not a handsome man in Isaiah 53:2 (He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.).  However, folks flocked around Him everywhere He went.  What drew them to this Man, to this Creature, this One?

Perhaps it was "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight" as I Peter states above.  Obviously, the qualities and characteristics of Jesus still make thousands flock to His side daily, albeit via the power of prayer and learning of Him through the scriptures.  His beauty is beyond compare.  The impression He leaves upon our hearts is indescribable.

So, am I beautiful?  When others look upon me, do they see my freckles, my scars, my usually mussy hair, and the laughter in my eyes?  Or, do they look beyond the joviality and see the hidden pains, the unshed tears?  Do they hear the catch in my voice when they realize the chuckles are really hiding hurts that though buried often like to pop up and say "we're still here" at the most inopportune times?  Do they see my ugly, blackened heart or do they see how Jesus took those blights and is turning them into something of rare value and beauty?  He promised to complete me.  I'm not there yet so you tell me:  what do you see when you look at me?  Maybe your opinions can help me to better answer my new friend the next time she and I chat.