The little first grade student went to
her art teacher with tears in her eyes.
”Why are you crying?” the teacher asked.
The little girl held up a blank sheet of paper
and said, “My daddy said I was beautiful
and I wanted to draw it.  But I don’t know
what beautiful looks like?”
The art teacher picked up the little girl
and put her on her lap and said,
”You have asked a very profound question,
young lady. Let me see if I can answer it.
Have you ever seen a butterfly?”
The little girl nodded her head yes.
”Well,” the teacher said, “people look at
butterflies and see all the different patterns
and all the different colors in their wings,
and they say they are beautiful.
But did you know that that butterflies 
can’t see their own wings?
They can’t see how beautiful they are,
but everyone else can.
You are like the butterfly.
You can’t see how beautiful you are,
but your daddy can.
He can see your patterns and colors,
just like the butterfly.
The patterns he sees in you are your behaviors,
Beauty is how you act, how you treat others,
the kindness and caring that you show.
The colors he sees in you are like a box
of crayons that you keep in you heart.
Beauty is within you,
how you use your crayons to
color the world with your love
and brighten the lives of others.
So, perhaps you can draw a butterfly
on your paper and see beauty
in the patterns and colors.”
The little girl smiled and went
to draw her butterfly