the Mirror

As I spent hours this morning cutting apples and making 'asslsauce' for my family in mass quantities, I had the pleasure of listening to my Christian radio station. One of the songs called, "I Want To Be Beautiful" has a line in it that says, "trying to make the mirror happy." How many of us Fat Old Moms can relate to THAT?

As I have already confessed, I spend a great deal of time obssessing about my weight and how I look. I know it may not seem like it when you see me strut into the local grocery store with my hair up in a clip, dirty T-shirt and my Happy Feet slippers on, but I assure you that has more to do with a lack of time and planning than the fact that I don't care. It probably means I was in the middle of making a recipe and forgot I didn't have a key ingredient.

How much time have I spent exercising? How many hours have I stared at a make up mirror, plucking errant hairs from my eyebrows and chin? How many dollars have I spent on pills that guarantee that I will lose weight without effort? How many gallons of cream have I applied to my skin on order to make it more 'youthful and vibrant'?

WHY? Does it really matter? Does God care if we have won a beauty contest? Does God care if we know how to do the queenly wave and have the brightest smile? Does God care if our boobs are perky and our stomachs are flat? When we enter the gates of heaven, will there be a scale at the podium? Will the angel have a BMI chart to determine if we are worthy? Should I get my split ends trimmed before I die ....just in case?

I challenge you to think of the people you consider to be His most faithful servants and then think of how they LOOK. When I review the list I have in my head, I see them all as physically attractive....until I think about it from a worldy perspective. The people who shine brightest with God's light would not necessarily secure a modeling career with Ford modeling agency. Some of them are downright UNattractive according to the opinions of those who can't see them for who they are.

I have come to the conclusion that the reason I find them so gorgeous or handsome is because of who they are, not what they look like. I also know some knock outs who have no moral code, and I don't see them as very attractive at all! (For those who would like to explore this all in greater detail, rent the movie 'Shallow Hal" with Jack Black and Gwynneth Paltrow....its a MUST SEE!)

Whose mirror are you using? I assure you, the one the world uses is like a fun house mirror at a carnival. Depending on where you stand, the image shifts and changes. Sometimes its funny. Sometimes it downright disturbing. If you use the mirror God uses, it is flat and clean and gives you an accurate depiction of who you are. If you don't like the reflection, primp a little, lift your chin (it makes your neck look longer!), comb your hair and reflect the light of God, and when you stand up straight and look right into it, you will see a princess (or prince!) If God is our King, how could we be anything but royalty. Now go and practice your queenly wave, and SMILE!