We recently had our house repainted; it was long overdue. The house itself was lemon yellow and the soffit and trim were all deep brown. If Lou Rawls had sung a 70s song about a house, it would have been ours! I painted strips of colors all over the house and finally decided on Khaki Green and Mississippi Delta — beautiful tone-on-tone colors that brought new life and made me instantly feel better about our house.
My house reminded me of my life as a woman. I spent $120 on new makeup last year because I’d had a hysterectomy, gained weight and needed something new to make me feel pretty and womanly. I’ve done the same with hair, clothes … and mostly it works … for a while. But even with a makeover, we still can’t escape ourselves. You know, the part of us inside that really bugs us so we try to distract ourselves from ourselves.
What you don’t know about our house is that the inside is still a mess. There is one whole bathroom that gets mold around the tub, the tile is mildewed and soggy, the mirror is broken, and the lights hang from the ceiling. The kitchen has chipped tile; a mushy, stained countertop; and a stove that doesn’t work right. But, if you just drive by or stay outside, you wouldn’t know that the inside needs work because the outside looks so nice.
Can you see where this is going? The spiritual part of this blog is this: Go ahead, Girls, and make yourself feel pretty, but don’t ever neglect the inside and being honest about what ick is in there. Then, enlist all the help you can from Father God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit so that the “fresh coat of paint” you just put on isn’t a cover up, but a reflection of what’s on the inside.
Sally Hall
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This was great, Sally. How true it is - we can look 'put together' on the outside, but be a mess inside.
ReplyDeleteI want my fresh coat of paint to be a reflection of what's inside, rather than a cover up.
And I also want to be real about the struggles in my life. When we spend our time hiding the mess, I think we hurt ourselves AND others. Ourselves because we're missing the opportunity for support, and others because they may think they're the only ones who struggle. Ya know?
Thanks for sharing.
~Karen