Standing in front of the mirror, I can see the faintest line, no, maybe it’s a hair; actually, I’m not sure what it is. It’s sitting on the left corner of my upper lip. 

At 68, I have great distance vision, but seeing mid-range, well, that’s a challenge. Unfortunately, I don’t own a pair of glasses that allows me to clearly see the distance from the sink to the bathroom mirror.

Then I thought about my husband, he wears glasses, perhaps they will work! I searched his side of the sink until I found them, slid them over my nose, and peered back into the mirror. 

Bifocals and I don’t do well together, but I was able to find just the right angle to see out of the lower-right corner of the lens. There it was, a black hair. It obviously had been growing for a while, hanging over my lip just a smidge. I started to wonder why no one had said anything – husband, girlfriends, total strangers, anyone. Then it dawned on me, all the people I hang out with are my age or older. They couldn’t see it either!

I found the tweezers, plucked everything I could reach by contorting my head and my husband’s glasses, and checked the rest of my face. I wanted to make certain I didn’t have any other wayward hairs or hidden embarrassing imperfections.

Life is so funny.

Yesterday I was in my 30s. I exercised 6 days a week, worked full-time plus, volunteered, and still had the energy to read in the evening, stay awake long after 9:30 PM, and wake up the next day in a good mood to do it all over again. 

Today, I get out of bed, take a walk while greeting all the neighbors and their dogs (giving you an idea of how slow I’m moving), prepare breakfast, water the garden, and that pretty much does it for the day.

I just recently came to grips with a newly recognized reality – I’m not 30!

And what makes this epiphany so profound is that it has allowed me to accept there is nothing magical about being in your 30s, 40s, or 50s. The magic begins when we can love ourselves right where we are. The spectacular occurs when we can accept God’s beauty radiating through us, even with the embarrassing facial hair, declining physical strength, and no more career to define us. 

It is that precious space where we are stripped bare. No longer clinging to our definition of who we are but fully embracing God’s design.

In God’s economy, it has never been about what we look like, after all, He created us. He has never been impressed with our skills or abilities; they are all gifts He provided. It has always been about our hearts, our faith in Him, our willingness to trust Him, and those things come with age, maturity, and experience.

Psalm 139:14-16 beautifully expresses God’s perspective regarding us, 

…Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you…

The Message (MSG)

The world will try to convince us that we are not enough. But we can stand confident because we are:

A unique creation.

Sculpted by God’s own hands.

Fully known inside and out by the creator of the universe.

Wonderfully, marvelously made.

Today’s cultural standards and our ever-changing emotions may tempt us to believe we are not enough, but please remember, we are loved by a God who is More Than Enough.

Be blessed,

Allison