Recently, I was given an amazing beauty product..."Meaningful Beauty" by Cindy Crawford. It's awesome. Along with the product is a handy water-proof "Daily Routine" sheet. On the top of this sheet is a message from Cindy, "(the product) can help transform your skin and diminish the visible signs of aging." Simply amazing.
Life does this thing to us. Life is made up of time and time's clock ticks without pause. Every time I look at my beautiful children, I'm reminded of that. When I think of the time I walked through the woods hand in hand with my dad, or that time that I threw my shoe at my big brother, busting his lip, because he blew his nose on me (sorry, tangent); when I think of those moments and realize those moments weren't yesterday, time wins again. The pendulum's steady swing seams to go faster the older I get. And with time, life's blows take a toll on my heart the same way the wind does my appearance.
I've been blessed to come across so many people. Some, life seems to have gotten the best of. They're bitter or defeated, a hard peach pit or a battered doormat. But then, there are those Rare Beauties that leave me inspired and awestruck. One comes to mind. Her name was Margaret. She always had her hair up in a seemingly careless fashion with a few long locks framing her face. Her face, it radiated; she glowed. Maybe she used Meaningful Beauty, but that's not the glow I'm talking about. She beamed with beauty!
Her smile was painted red and contagious. Her eyes were shiny blue waters that you could just swim in. She'd wave her hands high in church, reaching to the heavens as she sang with the angels. I was always so captivated by her. As I'd watch her from the church stage, I never wondered where she came from...or where she was going. I simply relished in each moment she was present, deciding she was who I wanted to be when I grew up. She was over 90 years old when I was in my mid to late 20's. She died a couple of years ago and it was a loss. Funny, I hardly knew her, yet, her unfading beauty left an imprint on my soul.
What did she have that others don't? I bet you're expecting me to say Jesus. Yes, she knew Him absolutely. Truth be told, however, some of the most embittered people I've known are Christian. They know Jesus, they love Jesus, but they're just not that pretty. Have you met anyone like that? (If it's me, please message me or something. You may remain anonymous.) Seriously, though, I want to be like Ms. Margaret, with beauty seeping out of me like sap out of a tapped tree. Pure, 100% Beauty, dripping on all who walk by; mesmerizing all who see the slow, sure flow of the tree that never runs dry.
How do I do this? The biggest culprit of an aging soul, I believe, is the weather this life brings. Just like we can't stop Father Time, we can't dodge Life's curve balls and not be hit. Tragedy strikes, hearts break, walls are built as pieces of us are conquered by the storms that blow in. We don't know it happens. Sometimes, the revelation hits us in a moment of perceived rejection, or driving down a road while choking back a sudden on-set of tears. At these moments, we perceive something to be terribly wrong. Our heart is calloused. What we've called "guarded" has now become an impenetrable fortress. Whether it's death, abuse, stinging words, bad choices, the wind whips our heart and we come to a point of sub-consious decision: Wall-up or Fight back; be transformed for the better, or the worse.
Inconclusively, our hearts age by life's experiences. Whether we do so gracefully or not, I believe, is determined by what we choose to do with and in the storms. In the words of a Rare Beauty that I recently met, "You must learn to embrace the storms." Wow. I imagine what that looks like and what moisture that could bring to a dry heart. To cry, to grieve, knowing that "every tear is precious to the Lord". If every tear that we cry is precious to the One who created us, could it be that tears are an important part of the anti-age serum? Could it be that they are healing, cleansing, refreshing for the soul?
Then, to understand that there is a "time for mourning, and a time for dancing", that we can mourn for the loss of innocence, time, purity; or, because of the pain, the wound, the scars, move on, and dance! We can celebrate in the lesson of the storm, the hope that we have in surviving, the person we have been transormed into which, if we choose, is someone more beautiful than before.
So, while for outer beauty, wind can wrinkle the skin, for inner-beauty, it can strengthen the soul. I desire to be beautiful to my deepest core. I don't want to be a peach pit of a person. Rather, I want to remain soft, trusting, and lovely. I've begun a mission: to find beauty. Hold me accountable, tell me your thoughts, join me in the quest. I feel I MUST know Beauty. Meaningful beauty. Perhaps, my beauty can touch yours and yours can touch someone else's. Then, maybe, we can be a world of trees dancing and waving our arms to the heavens while the winds of this life toss our branches to and fro. Beautiful!
Her smile was painted red and contagious. Her eyes were shiny blue waters that you could just swim in. She'd wave her hands high in church, reaching to the heavens as she sang with the angels. I was always so captivated by her. As I'd watch her from the church stage, I never wondered where she came from...or where she was going. I simply relished in each moment she was present, deciding she was who I wanted to be when I grew up. She was over 90 years old when I was in my mid to late 20's. She died a couple of years ago and it was a loss. Funny, I hardly knew her, yet, her unfading beauty left an imprint on my soul.
What did she have that others don't? I bet you're expecting me to say Jesus. Yes, she knew Him absolutely. Truth be told, however, some of the most embittered people I've known are Christian. They know Jesus, they love Jesus, but they're just not that pretty. Have you met anyone like that? (If it's me, please message me or something. You may remain anonymous.) Seriously, though, I want to be like Ms. Margaret, with beauty seeping out of me like sap out of a tapped tree. Pure, 100% Beauty, dripping on all who walk by; mesmerizing all who see the slow, sure flow of the tree that never runs dry.
How do I do this? The biggest culprit of an aging soul, I believe, is the weather this life brings. Just like we can't stop Father Time, we can't dodge Life's curve balls and not be hit. Tragedy strikes, hearts break, walls are built as pieces of us are conquered by the storms that blow in. We don't know it happens. Sometimes, the revelation hits us in a moment of perceived rejection, or driving down a road while choking back a sudden on-set of tears. At these moments, we perceive something to be terribly wrong. Our heart is calloused. What we've called "guarded" has now become an impenetrable fortress. Whether it's death, abuse, stinging words, bad choices, the wind whips our heart and we come to a point of sub-consious decision: Wall-up or Fight back; be transformed for the better, or the worse.
Inconclusively, our hearts age by life's experiences. Whether we do so gracefully or not, I believe, is determined by what we choose to do with and in the storms. In the words of a Rare Beauty that I recently met, "You must learn to embrace the storms." Wow. I imagine what that looks like and what moisture that could bring to a dry heart. To cry, to grieve, knowing that "every tear is precious to the Lord". If every tear that we cry is precious to the One who created us, could it be that tears are an important part of the anti-age serum? Could it be that they are healing, cleansing, refreshing for the soul?
Then, to understand that there is a "time for mourning, and a time for dancing", that we can mourn for the loss of innocence, time, purity; or, because of the pain, the wound, the scars, move on, and dance! We can celebrate in the lesson of the storm, the hope that we have in surviving, the person we have been transormed into which, if we choose, is someone more beautiful than before.
So, while for outer beauty, wind can wrinkle the skin, for inner-beauty, it can strengthen the soul. I desire to be beautiful to my deepest core. I don't want to be a peach pit of a person. Rather, I want to remain soft, trusting, and lovely. I've begun a mission: to find beauty. Hold me accountable, tell me your thoughts, join me in the quest. I feel I MUST know Beauty. Meaningful beauty. Perhaps, my beauty can touch yours and yours can touch someone else's. Then, maybe, we can be a world of trees dancing and waving our arms to the heavens while the winds of this life toss our branches to and fro. Beautiful!
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