New Years Day: Party right off the cliff and thoughts on beauty

Our family began the year 2013 at Myrtle Beach.  I hope to spend my retirement years near a tranquil beach some day, so it was a great place to start a new year.  Sometimes I consider myself already retired since I left my career to raise my children, but I hope to return to the career world some day.

As my husband drove us home that day, we discussed finances while I drafted our family budget for 2013.  With our healthcare costs expected to increase between 50% and 400% depending upon employer contributions (if any) and with payroll taxes increasing 2%, it was the most difficult budget to draft ever.  We don't even know yet how much taxes will increase again when all the new Obamacare fees go into effect later this year.  When I found out the extent of pork contained in the government's fiscal cliff deal which includes $41 in tax increases for every $1 in government cuts (those cuts never happen) vs. 2:1 or 3:1 ratios under previous presidents, and that all those tax increases were being used for more government spending instead of paying down the deficit, I found the first day of 2013 to be downright depressing.  God is in control, though, and this financial crisis could bring more people to their knees at the foot of the cross than ever before.

The kids brought some joy and festivity back to our New Year's Day by throwing us a spa-themed party that evening.  They set up stations throughout the first floor. They labeled each room with homemade signs.

When preparing the beauty salon, our 6-year-old asked me, "Do we have any pickles that I can place on your eyes?"  I suggested that cucumbers might work better.

They set up a massage parlor where my daughter played soft music and gave back rubs.  There was a game room where they set out their favorite board games to play.  And my son insisted that we have a laser tag area.  My daughter challenged me to a lazer tag duel (the game manufacturer spells it "Lazer Tag"), so I vented my frustrations with our corrupt government in a friendly game of laser tag.  My daughter, who receives love best through "quality time," cherishes those fun filled moments with her mom, even if I beat her!  Okay, so she's not the only overly competitive one in the family.

Please pardon the old workout clothes and lack of make-up or hair styling in these photos.  The truth is that I spend most of my days looking about as unkempt as I am here.  I have found that whenever I start to obsess over the outward appearance, my inner beauty fades.  One of my goals for 2013 is to focus less on the outside and more on the inside, releasing more of my selfish heart to my sovereign King so He can take full residence.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

Why do we as women try to cling to our youthful beauty, coloring our gray hairs and pouring anti-aging creams into our wrinkles?  Why is cosmetic surgery such a profitable industry?  Why do magazines air brush and photo shop models to the extent that they barely recognize themselves?

Why can't we just accept the truth?  We are growing older every single day, like it or not.

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

I'll soon be 40.  Instead of rounding down this past year when someone has asked my age, I've been rounding up.  I've been "almost 40" for the past nine months.  I guess I've finally decided to celebrate my years on earth, especially those years in which I have been growing in my relationship with Christ.  Each day I wake is an accomplishment and a gift.

Some of us have experienced so much joy in life that deep laugh lines are prominent facial features.  For a time, I refused to smile because my lines are so noticeable.  Why am I ashamed to show the world that I have lived a joy filled life?  I have spent more time smiling than frowning, so I'm going to start showing off those wrinkles and accept reality.  Each day I grow older, my outward body is slowly falling apart.  Each day I live puts me one day closer to eternity with Jesus. Will I be ready?  Some may disguise the aging process, but none can stop it.   When our days on earth are over, will Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?  Or, will He look at a plastic complexion and say, "I barely recognize you because that's not how I fashioned you.  You never took time to get to know me, so depart from me for I never knew you"?   I am resolved each day to know Him more deeply and experience His presence more intimately than I did the day before.

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Disclaimer:
This resolution does not mean that I will no longer use hair color or wear make-up, although after my last do-it-yourself home hair coloring disaster, I may try to establish a new fad of wearing a bag over my head.  I asked my husband what he thought about me letting my hair go gray, and he said, "No problem, but if you go gray, I'm shaving my head."  I think it's important to make ourselves attractive for our husbands, and I rather enjoy rubbing my fingers through his soft, salt-n-pepper hair.  But I will not obsess over the aging process itself anymore.   It is what it is, and God knows better than I do what is best.