Two nights ago I was doing a little purging while looking for some papers. As I was doing so, I ran across some pictures-pictures from days which seem so long ago. I was a lot heavier (I lifted weights regularly); I had a suit and tie on (gag); my beard had little to no gray (now it is almost all white/gray; Jo’s hair was permed and full; Tami was in college and “looked like” a professional; and Janna was in high school with short hair (she has beautiful, long hair now). I also found my high school report card from my Senior year. Let’s just say the two “A’s” (phys ed and driver’s ed) did not add credibility to my “you need to study” shtick to my girls.
Pictures are funny. They remind you of what was, often leaving one incredulous at the “was I really like that?” moment. “Did I really look like that?”
My recent bout with COVID (12/20-2/21) when I lost 48 pounds in about 3-4 weeks left me looking like a refugee from a concentration camp. My appearance changed drastically. I’m grateful that for the most part I’m back to looking like my normal (good-looking) self. 🙂
This whole thing came back to me when I read something Bob Goff wrote:
One thing we know for sure is that Jesus never cared about appearance…Jesus was more concerned about the experience than the appearance. He came to start a movement, not put on a display. He released His Spirit to spread love all over the world, and love doesn’t depend on people looking pretty. (#272-p.321)
After seeing myself at my worst during the COVID fight, I deleted that video. I didn’t want to be reminded of how bad I looked.
I’m glad God doesn’t care what I look like. I look in the mirror and am appalled; He looks and calls me “His own.” And THAT is the greatest feeling in the world!
“Father, thank you that You call me Yours. Thank you for not being embarrassed about the way I look or linger on how I feel about myself.”
B, I remember seeing you after the battle you had and must admit, was shocked to see how much weight you had lost… and not in a good way.
Your post reminds me of the verse Matthew 23:27 NLT
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.”
I have on occasion spent too much effort trying to whitewash my tomb.
Trying to make the outside appear as if there are no problems, no issues, the perfect life… false humility.
The older I get the less I care about the outside and far less about appearance. It is freeing.
I can’t hide the inside from God and that is what really matters.
I knew I was losing a ton of weight and felt the lack of energy that comes with it. But the video was a real shocker for me. On the other: I’m glad you have found more emphasis on the inside than faking the outside.
Thank goodness, Bill, that God looks at the heart, not our appearance. It can be fun to run across old photos, but the memories can also remind us too much of the way we were before age paid a visit. Looking in the mirror, please Lord, let me only see Your child.
Blessings!
I look and laugh Martha. I know I’m getting older and expect the change. But more than anything, I want my heart to be His.
You lost the weight I found! LOL
Seriously! Thank God for not seeing us as we see ourselves!
Don’t know about the first Ed but most heartily agree on the second.