Crown of Beauty Magazine The Beauty Issue | Page 14

By Annalee Hunter

My beautiful brunette sister. She's successful, funny, spontaneous and possesses a million other small beauties that I see within that makes her a stunning creation.

When God created my sisters, He gathered a thousand rays of sunshine, millions of flowers, hundreds of shining stars from the night sky, a wild raging river and placed all of them in their hearts. They are fierce, loving, wise and automatically make you feel like you're by the beach on a sunny day (they get it from our mother). I praise God there has never been competition with guys or clothes (okay, maybe clothes) between my two older sisters and me. We are incredibly close. It always amazes me how we shared the same womb, childhood and experiences that no one will ever understand besides us. Sisters are bonded for life.

Then Kip Moore gets in the picture and messes up everything. My self esteem was ruined at a country music concert. Pre-concert I was feeling good. I felt pretty. My sister and I were jamming to some Kip Moore songs. Post concert, I felt like a china doll with visible porcelain cracks known as my vulnerabilities. (More on that later...)

Few things can shake me, however, under my strong exterior, I am quite fragile. I constantly have to fight for a positive self image. I feel bad when someone expresses their insecurities to people who reply, "Shut up! I don't want to hear that!” People who respond like that also say things like, “When I hear girls say they want to lose weight when they're already a stick, makes me want to punch them." This is usually said in a joking way, but remarks such as these still wound an already tender soul. When a person says something similar to the statement above, they make the person who expressed their emotions feel invalid and insignificant. Every girl, no matter if you're a Victoria's Secret model or not, has insecurities of her own.

Thankfully, my sisters have always been wonderful about not making me feel inferior to them. They let me voice my self-doubts and then either hold me while I cry, or knock some sense into me by saying, "You're a Hunter! Hunter's are strong and can endure even the hardest of trials. Buck up!" You gotta love family. They are the most honest out of all the people you will know. Blessedly, my family is considerate and gentle towards my feelings when speaking truth. Nevertheless, no amount of sugar coating could prepare me for my let down after the concert.

Okay, back to Kip Moore. Kip Moore was the pre-show for Eric Church. Boy, do I love me some Kip Moore! We were in the pit section. So, we were pretty excited because we were literally in the front row. I mean, we could touch the stage. Yeah, pretty amazing, right? Well, this also made it very easy for the performers to notice us...more like notice my beautiful, tall, tanned, and long-haired brunette sister. A few moments after Kip Moore entered the stage, he noticed my sister and stopped singing for a second, did a double take, and tripped a little bit. I was so excited for her, but in the back of my head I was thinking, "Why didn't he notice me?!" I quickly moved on from that selfish thought and enjoyed the concert. But then, Kip Moore sang to my sister out of the thousands of other people there. He didn't sing to anyone else, just her. Once again, I was happy for her, but had the same question running through my mind. I pushed the selfish thought away. But, here's the thing about "pushing things out of your mind," it doesn't get rid of those thoughts. Just like anxiety medication won't get rid of anxiety, it only subdues it.

But wait, there's more.

After the show, Kip Moore had a signing for his fans. My sister, with all of her nervousness, asked if she looked okay. In that moment, I wanted to be that insecure girl who lashes out, in her opinion at prettier girls who voice their insecurities. Basically, I wanted to punch my sister and knock some sense into her beautiful head. I had to pump the brakes and realize in Christ, there is no room for jealousy, only love.

MOMENTS WHEN YOU DOUBT YOUR WORTH

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