The other day I was at the dentist office after a 2 year lapse. I know, I know. Nothing to be proud of. But here's the deal, with no dental insurance and no obvious problems with my teeth, that's just the way we've done it. Oh, and for some reason I have a fear of going to the dentist. I would much rather go to my ob than my dentist. Weird, I know :O) So, the date had come and I prayed before I went in that God would be gracious to me and help me to relax.
God quickly answered my prayers. The hygienist was super sweet and made me feel comfortable and at ease.
Next the dentist came in and said, "so are you home on break?" Silence "What year are you?" Silence. I must have looked really confused because the hygienist then piped in and said, "remember this is Mikaela, she is a mom of two..." I then chimed in and said, "you know us from attending the boys basketball games." He shook his head in agreement and then remembered who I was.
In my flesh, I immediately felt a sense of joy and thankfulness that maybe I indeed could still pull off that I looked like a college girl. Ha, I can keep dreaming, right! But really, after his comment I held my head a bit higher and left feeling beautiful. After all, he thought like I looked 10 years younger.
If you know me well, you know that I spent much time processing that incident. I was wondering why that was such a boost to my ego?! Why would I take to a heart a compliment that a relative stranger would pay me, when God tells me that I'm beautiful ALL THE TIME...24/7. God's unchangeable promises say that I am made in His image and that I am a beautiful creation of His. That means I can and should always walk around with the confidence that I am a beautiful child of God's.
Not beautiful in the worldly standards, because really that doesn't matter. The overwhelming truth is that I am a beautiful daughter of His, whether I look 10 years younger or not. I'm beautiful in the sense that God made me and is making me a beautiful child of His. I will labor my whole life and when I graduate into heaven, that will be when I finally arrive. I won't arrive when I look 10 years younger or when I just lose that last 10 lbs. or if I just had a different body shape. That's a never ending chase my flesh and the evil one likes to keep me running after rather than the life-giving, life-changing truth that my inner beauty is evidence of God's power at work in my life. That matters! Am I faithful? Am I self-controlled? Am I patient? Am I loving? Am I kind? Am I gentle? I hate that I often times find it way easier to believe the lies of my sin, the world and satan, rather than embracing God's simple and freeing truths.
Not beautiful in the worldly standards, because really that doesn't matter. The overwhelming truth is that I am a beautiful daughter of His, whether I look 10 years younger or not. I'm beautiful in the sense that God made me and is making me a beautiful child of His. I will labor my whole life and when I graduate into heaven, that will be when I finally arrive. I won't arrive when I look 10 years younger or when I just lose that last 10 lbs. or if I just had a different body shape. That's a never ending chase my flesh and the evil one likes to keep me running after rather than the life-giving, life-changing truth that my inner beauty is evidence of God's power at work in my life. That matters! Am I faithful? Am I self-controlled? Am I patient? Am I loving? Am I kind? Am I gentle? I hate that I often times find it way easier to believe the lies of my sin, the world and satan, rather than embracing God's simple and freeing truths.
I guess, it's all about keeping the right perspective. And the right perspective is that it was very kind of the dentist to think that I was a college student, but the better truth is that "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised."
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