This past week I was challenged to, once again, evaluate my thinking about age, maturity, and standing up to society’s expectations of what is admired. It isn’t new that our culture celebrates the young, strong, and wrinkle-free. And, you know what? They should be celebrated! But here is the part that our culture seems to forget…..no time of life should be celebrated to the exclusivity of other seasons of life. Not to the exclusivity of other God-designed people.
Darling Magazine recently published an article titled, Darling Letters: The Gift of Getting Older where Stephanie Taylor calls aging a gift! So does the book of Proverbs.
Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31
A crown of splendor sure sounds like an amazing gift to me! Each season of life brings a beauty unique to that season. Isn’t it like our loving Father to give us beauty throughout life?! Why, oh, why would I begrudge His gifts to me and hold one in higher value than the others? The longer we walk through life with the Lord, growing into the women He has designed us to be, think of all the things we get to enjoy.
- Experiences
- New places
- More friendships
- Next generations
- Deeper relationship with the Lord
- Wisdom
So I embarked on a weekend-long endeavor and began noticing women of all ages, walk up to them, and simply tell them how beautiful they are. I was discrete because I didn’t want to embarrass them or appear to be some weird lady in the grocery store! But I also spoke with sincerity and looked them straight in the eyes so they would know, somewhere in their spirit, that the God of all creation created them too. The appreciation in these women was undeniable as they would almost whisper a surprised, “Thank you.” It occurred to me just how many of us have not been told lately that we are beautiful…
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24
I also shared the article above on my Facebook page. I wanted to encourage my friends – young and old – to embrace the beauty of the season they are in, while appreciating the beauty of prior seasons and anticipating the beauty of what is yet to come. Then, just to put an exclamation point on all of it, I invited them to post a picture of themselves in the comments. Here is what I learned:
- While many are comfortable reacting with a blue thumbs up or big red heart, far fewer are comfortable posting a picture of themselves.
- Women in their 50’s and older were more likely to post a picture.
- People are more likely to join you if you’re the first to jump in the pool! (I posted my own pic first.)
Is it possible that we have become too focused on what we don’t appreciate that we miss the beauty altogether? Perhaps we see the jiggly abs and forget the life that they also carried. Is it possible that we are discouraged by the wrinkles on our face and forget they were created by laughter? Are we unsure about our appearance with braces and therefore minimize our smile? Maybe we are still developing our gift of music/voice/writing/(fill in the blank with your gift) so we hesitate to share the beauty of it as it is right now with those around us. Do we still hear critical comments from voices of the past who try to convince us that the lies spoken are actually true?
You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:7
Your Father, the Lord of all creation, calls you beautiful! You are created in the image of God Himself and granted many gifts from Him. Let that sink in today and receive the freedom that comes from truly knowing you are a created-with-a-beautiful-purpose daughter of the Most High. I think you’ll find yourself a little kinder to yourself, more joy-filled, and freer to highlight the same truth to those around you. We are surrounded by those who simply need to be reminded…
You are adored.
You Are Adored 