MAKE-UP, PLEASE!

I have a love/hate relationship with make-up.

When I was younger, I loved when my parents finally gave me permission to use make-up.

It was fun experimenting with various colors of blush and lip glosses. Then I graduated to multi-hued eyeshadows and lipsticks. I was never an eyeliner kind of girl – but mascara and me were best friends!

Yup, when I was younger, make-up was a hobby.

Now it's a necessity.

These days my make-up routine is a carefully constructed procedure that has been honed over the years.

In my teens, as I said before, it was simple.

Now my Michaelangelo hands deftly paint a cover-up that would rival Watergate.

Foundation to even out sun damage.

Concealer for those lovely brown age spots – (Why are they called liver spots? Maybe because I hate them as much as I hate liver?)

Oh, who could forget the corrector for those black circles under my eyes that scream "middle-aged insomniac"??

An eyebrow pencil for over-plucked or random gray hairs.

OK, I've got to stop here and insert the truth – I actually don't pluck my eyebrows.

For a long time, I never did anything with them. But sometime in the late 1980's, I finally admitted that those two furry caterpillars were just way too thick and unruly to be considered feminine, let alone flattering.

I remembered my mom with her trusty tweezers and magnified mirror, patiently plucking those little suckers.

Like Mom, like daughter…

Well, until I actually started plucking them.

OUCH. THAT. HURTS.

So, here's my confession – I actually SHAVE my eyebrows. Yes, I do. And I cannot believe that I am admitting that on the Internet. It worked fine in the beginning, but now there are parts of my eyebrows that will never be the same – hence, the eyebrow pencil now becomes a master of disguise – because the last ½" or so of my brows are nothing but pencil…(and after a day or two, stubble).

OK, where was I?

Oh yes, eyeshadow on the lids to disguise the drooping.

Lip liner to stop color bleeding into the wrinkles around my lips.

Lipstick?

I lean toward the brownish tones, and ones with a blue undertone. Makes the teeth look whiter.

Blush for sallow cheeks.

At long last, I am finally ready with my *public face* – and I look at least 10 minutes younger.

You got Venus de Milo??

I'm more like Venus de Many Milos…there's a lot of mileage on this old *mug* of mine!!

Make-up is no longer simply my friend – it is my ally in this "youth and beauty" world. I've told you all before that I enjoy buying those stupid "celebrity" magazines sometimes at the market checkout stand.

I'm a sucker for the ones with photos of stars in their bathing suits – I love to gloat over their cellulite – (ah, without Spanx, you're just like me…sorta).

But I really love the issues that show pictures of the stars without their makeup. Hah, they're just like me…sorta.

Anyway, where on earth am I going with all of this?

Well, the obvious lesson is how much we concentrate on our *outsides* while neglecting our inside beauty, our inside grace, our inside spirits – which should be full of kindness, gentleness, mercy, and compassion.

And that's a good lesson.

But what I am thinking about today is Jesus.

And how the Bible describes Him.

Isaiah 53:2 (NIV): "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."

Jesus would not have walked the "red carpet" in Hollywood…He would not have made money modeling in magazines. By the world's standards, Jesus was not one of the *beautiful people.*

Have you ever wondered what your reaction would be if Jesus walked the earth today? Would you be attracted to Him? Would you follow Him? Would you even recognize Him?

I'd like to think that I would.

Because I like to think that I would have seen something in His eyes – something tender and strong, compassionate and compelling – I like to think that I would have recognized Him as someone who would not excuse my sins, but who would love me anyway.

Do you long to see His eyes?

Yes, we certainly long to see Jesus face to face, don't we?

But right now, through His Holy Spirit, Jesus is walking the earth in the faces of His children.

Do you see Him?

I saw Him the other day in the face of my friend who sat and patiently listened to me talk about my troubles.

I saw Him this morning in the smile of my mother.

I saw Him in the precious little man who rode in his motorized wheelchair for blocks to attend church on Sunday morning.

I saw Him in the faces of children laughing.

I see Him…

Do others see Him in me?

Where do you see Jesus? How do you think others see Him in you?

Linked today with Joan at SHARING HIS BEAUTY

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"