True Beauty
October 2008
I
had every intention of getting up early to work out heartily, get
myself a large Starbucks, and take pains in picking out a cute, layered
outfit, straightening my hair and putting that perfect smudge factor
on my eye shadow. My alarm was set for the just the right amount of
time. It was going to be a good day. Only I had my phone on mute, so I
never heard my alarm. I woke up fifteen minutes before I had to leave,
which gave me just enough time to slip my unexercised body into the
pair of black pants that have rescued me many a tired morning, brush my
teeth and slap some foundation on my tired face….looks like it was not
going to be a good day after all. I fought with my mascara all the way
to work, wrestling the wand out of the tube and trying to scrape off
the clumps before I brushed my lashes with it. By 159th street, I
looked like some evil hybrid of Cruella DeVille and Lucille Ball. My
hair was kinked in strange patterns due to the ponytail holder it had
been in all night long, and I realized in the bright morning sun that I
was desperately overdue for an eyebrow grooming. They looked like they
might try to conquer my entire forehead.
The beautiful,
creamy-skinned bride with the toned, elegant back that I saw on the
bridal shop billboard on my way into work didn’t help. I sighed in
surrender and put my sunglasses on, only wishing that they could remain
a permanent fixture. I put my hair back up into a ponytail, and for the
first half of the morning I walked around feeling disgusting and
half-baked and inferior, trying not to let anyone get close enough to
see my disheveled state and avoiding extended social interactions, even
at the water fountain. Until I overheard someone else talking. “The
worst is when your lip gloss is all worn off except right around the
corners of your mouth, you know? I was walking around like that for
like four hours without even knowing! But what can you do at that
point? I just laugh it off.” I recognized the voice. It was one of the
most beautiful girls I knew. And for crying out loud, she had issues
with her cosmetics, too. Another girl chimed in with her hilarious
commiseration. “I went to work out the other day and I ended up going
into the nail place next door instead. So much for that idea!” So there
were other girls who struggled with going to the gym! Not everyone was
ecstatic about their morning runs and their ab exercises. I felt a
glimmer of hope. I rounded the corner to fill up my coffee cup and the
beautiful girls welcomed me. I shared one of my own tales concerning
falling short of the beauty ideal, and within minutes we were all
laughing. My heart felt so much lighter, so much more empowered to dust
myself off and try again. I no longer felt like an outcast or an
eyesore. I felt like a normal and accepted woman.
We all
have days like this. Mama said there would be days like this….But what
do we profit by beating ourselves up all day for who we are not? What
do we gain by comparing ourselves to cover girls who I’m not sure even
have pores, let alone blackheads or wrinkles? What benefit is it to us
to yearn for the long legs of Gisele or the petite frame of an Olsen
twin when we cannot add one bit of height to our stature? God tells us
that he knit us together before we ever set foot upon earth (Job 10:11,
Psalm 139:13). He carefully shaped our bones with His loving hands,
making some long and slender and some short and sturdy. He gave thought
and time to carefully choosing unique traits for all. He is a God of
creativity and a lover of beauty – think of all the varieties of
flowers! The soft, fresh carnation, the rich, velvety rose, the dainty
white lily, and robust gardenia – individually they are breathtaking
and all together they are a stunning bouquet of beauty. No rich, red
rose wastes its short life span wishing to be a stately hyacinth. It
just blossoms and blooms into exactly what it was created to be.
Neither should we waste our lives longing to trade in our freckles for
an unblemished tan or our large feet for smaller ones.
Don’t
get me wrong…of course we all want to look as nice as we are able to in
order to represent our God and feel confident as women, but we must be
balanced. Matthew 6:27 reminds us that no one can add one bit to their
own height (ok, minus the 4-inch black pumps in the back of your
closet). This is God’s way of reminding us that there are some aspects
of our lives and appearance that we had no say in designing. But that
doesn’t mean we are deficient or incomplete. It doesn’t mean that we
are second-string or unsatisfactory. God put effort into our faces and
figures, our eye colors and hair colors, our skin tones and the shapes
of our noses. Let’s remember that we all have our days – clumpy
mascara, flat hair, zits the size of Pompeii, overgrown eyebrows, and
bloated bellies. But God’s love is so much bigger than the pimple on
our chin or the dimple on our thigh. Let’s take time to praise Him for
His creativity – and when your sunspots resemble the exact shape of the
Big Dipper, praise Him for His sense of humor.
****************************************
You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and you knit my bones and sinews together.
Job 10:11 (NLT)
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 (NLT)
Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Matthew 6:27 (NKJV)
By Jennifer Yakopin