The Difference in Christian Women

by Marsha Lenski
(Decatur, IL)

Ahhh. Have your cup of tea with you? Maybe you prefer a latte? Whichever. . . .fall back into that comfy chair and let's visit again.

We were getting together regularly to chat honestly about something that we all deal with sooner or later. Remember? It's that "aging" thing that means staying beautiful bears what seems to be such a high price tag.

I'm not so sure that the price tag on aging and staying beautiful is all that scary. In fact, I'd like to hear what you have to say about another perspective.

God wants us free. Truly free. No encumbrances, no deceptions, no fears and nothing fake. The price for all He wants us to have as His daughters has already been paid for us. When that Truth emerges from my heart, especially as I watch all the changes in my body, I just want to dance! I can have it if I want it. No cost. Already bought and paid for.

I've been shown that I need to make a decision about where beauty comes from and whether time has anything to do with it. Our Lord said it so well, and I quote from The Message:

"Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Matt. 11:28-29

I've been learning new things in this era of my life, thankfully, because that's how I want to live out this God-ordained time. If we quit learning we die a little, I think.

My husband has been a great teacher and he probably doesn't even know it. We've been traveling a lot lately, Johnney and me. He's been living out of a suitcase for years in his career, and I certainly am gaining a fresh appreciation for his expertise, patience and strength.

He's the man when it comes to maneuvering on the "traveling" trail. Wow, is he good at it! I'm sure he's spoiled me now to the point where doing it alone would turn me into a sniveling puddle of mush.

Anyway, we've been on three trips together since July 1st, and I'm beat. This ol' bod of mine is threatening mutiny for a little rest from our mini-vacations!

Now, there we were in the Denver airport waiting to board our flight. I meandered over to one of those gate area convenience stores and pawed through magazines for something to help me pass the flight time home. Here was this "gotta have it" magazine I used to love, again displaying someone ravishing on the cover, and sporting three cover article titles to savor my attention enough to get me to buy! "Ten quick ways to dump belly fat". "Hide your age successfully". "Now you can afford that face lift".

It made me think about how inundated we are. The more I see these come-on's, the more I sense the possibilities that come with their price tags: complicated, spendy, unhealthy or maybe even dangerous.

I sighed with a secret kind of gratitude and walked empty-handed to the gate. My body never was and never will be perfect, and I'll never be 18 again. That's fine. I run my fingers through my head of thick silver hair that I'm enjoying so much, and give my hips a love-tap remembering what our daughter said when she saw me a few days before upon my arrival in San Diego: "Mom, your hips are gone!" (I'm also enjoying a new way of looking at food and choosing what goes inside this "temple" of mine, and I'd lost 12 pounds since she'd seen me last.)

I glanced at my hands. My nails are as weak as I am, but I smiled at the natural youthfulness I notice without the acrylic nails I had once assured myself were necessary for my survival.

Most of all, in that moment, it was the look on my husband's face as I made my way back to the seat next to him that lit up my day. He knows I'm enjoying a new-found freedom, and he's enjoying it, too. His eyes told me of the real treasure I possess, and it was altogether enough for me. "You're beautiful," he whispered with a smile, "and I'm glad you're here with me".

After twenty-five years of building a life with John, my faults and shortcomings considered, priorities are ever changing as I learn to trust God's gifts and God's plan. Our three daughters and our son are grown, and they don't hear what we say so much as they watch our lives.

Living freely and lightly with a confident trust is what I want them to remember about me. The simplicity of living in the love of Jesus is where I've found that a Christian woman experiences dignity,true beauty and ageless destiny.