Miss "Maybelline" and "Meh"

I have a lot of musical tours under my belt and have met and toured with some great people.  I will never forget my first touring group.  I was in high school and since school was in session we only performed on the weekends.  Many times, we would have more than one performance and ended up staying overnight in host homes where we would get paired up with another in our group.  Now, I need to explain something before we go any further. At that time, I didn’t have the highest regard for my looks.  Like when our teenagers describe something that is uninspiring or unexceptional as “meh”?  I was “meh” regarding my looks.  I mean, I knew God didn’t make mistakes, I was in his image, and all that, but I felt like maybe, compared to other girls, He may have held out on me a bit.  So, you can imagine my dismay when I got paired to room with Diane.  Diane the gorgeous.  Diane the poised.  Diane the super talented. Diane the MODEL.  Yes.  A model.  Did I mention she was gorgeous?  And, guess what?  She ended up being my “roomie” on every weekend tour that year.  Yep.  Miss "Maybelline" and “Meh”.  

I thought I would take advantage of the situation, so I asked her to help me be more “put together” in my looks. We both realized, however, that God made me a free spirit whose hair will never cooperate no matter how strong the beauty product. And make up, well it was like a little girl trying to play grown up. She would remind me that I was beautiful in my own way, but it took a while for that to sink in. And every weekend I roomed with her, and with every failed make-over, I realized that not only was Diane gorgeous on the outside, her heart was even more so. Her patience and gentleness with me as I struggled with my self-esteem made her even more beautiful.  That probably should have frustrated me more, but it only made me desire to have the same spirit.

1 Peter 3:3-4 says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  When my heart was open to the fact that true beauty comes from a gentle and quiet spirit, a heart that loves God with every beat, my whole perspective and motivation changed.  I went from outward make-overs to inner transformation.

Do you have some “Miss Maybellines” in your life?  Maybe for you it’s someone’s talents or gifts you compare yourself to and feel like God may have short-changed you.  Genesis 1:27 says that, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” You were made in His image.  God is inspiring, exceptional, beautiful, creative.  You are also these things.  So, go from “meh” to “marvelous” my friends knowing these things come from within a heart that loves God and is transformed by His love!  No beauty products or “As Seen On TV” gimmicks needed.  Only heart that, with the Holy Spirit’s power, lives out the characteristics of the One who made them.

Not so “meh” anymore,

Lisa