14 years of slavery, or Real Beauty

Peace be with you.

1 Peter 3: 3-5
³ Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. ⁵ This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.

A few years ago, I was getting ready to go to MOPS. I was putting on my mascara, because I ALWAYS put on mascara before leaving the house at that time. ("That time" =Ages 14-28) I was yelling at my kiddos to GET THEIR SHOES ON! FIND THEIR COATS! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
And then, the 1 Peter verses came to mind. The Holy Spirit put them there, I'm sure.
And I realized that I spent all my time getting our bodies ready for MOPS, feeding, clothing, etc. and NO time getting our spirits ready for the day.
And I knew that God wanted me to skip the mascara and check in with Him through prayer and Bible reading instead. And to nuture my kids' souls, and not care so much that they wear matching clothes. Who am I trying to impress? Wouldn't the moms at MOPS be more blessed if I and my children walk in smiling and a bit frumpy than if we walk in looking all matchy and pretty with grumpy faces?
I quit my slavery to outward appearances that day. I put peace and joy before clean and matching. And God is good, and we are still almost always clean. LOL
And God really does bless others through my less than perfect looking family of 6 soon to be 7. There's a stain on my blouse, but a happy, cooing baby in my arms that people can't get enough of.
Cade's hair is sticking up, but he is holding an old lady's hand telling her about something (apparently) fascinating.
Praise God for His goodness. And for the freedom He gives. Letting go of my mascara wand has brought me great joy and freedom.
I had to let go of wanting people to think I'm pretty, but guess what? I'm only fair-to-middling, even with make up. LOL
But with Christ's love shining out of my face, I'm RADIANT!  RADIANT!
L'oreal can't put that in a bottle.
XO
Jocelyn