Freshening Up My Make-Up

Yesterday as I was under the hair dryer in the beauty salon, I saw the woman next to me freshening her make-up.  After just having had her hair washed and blown dry, she needed to re-apply the make-up that had gone AWOL in the process of getting her hair done.  In my chair I sat thinking, 'I don't understand why she wears make-up.  She's already beautiful.  Or is the make-up what makes her beautiful?'  In the end I wasn't sure.

Today I was at a friend's home.  She has been dealing with some family issues and I have the privilege of visiting with her once a month or so to give godly counsel on the issues that she faces each day.  I say it is a privilege because I am only worthy to enter into such an intimate place in her life by the grace of God.

Before leaving her home, I prayed with her as is my usual custom before departing.  She told me that she felt better since we got to talk and that she always feels more at peace after talking to me.  Then she told me that I have a beauty about me without even wearing make-up.  She told me that my beauty is my peace and that it shows.  "We should sell it as a cream," she joked.  "Twenty-five dollars for a jar sound good?"

As soon as I got back to my house I turned to 1 Peter 3:3,4 which reads,

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of a gentle and quiet spirit, which of great worth in God's sight.

It is humbling when people give such compliments.  I think about how just moments earlier I lashed out at my son prior to putting him on the school bus.  (By God's grace I apologized to him afterwards).  So for my friend to tell me that she sees me wearing a disposition of peace makes me want to be better for Christ...to freshen up my make-up.

Conversation Starter

Our son is working on a project in his social studies class.  It involves looking at a problem that might plague a modern day family and then outlining a solution to that problem.  Guess what problem he picked.  Credit card debt.

After showing me the initial stages of his project, I asked if I could give him some help by sharing the process that we went through to get out of consumer debt.  He accepted, and I began to tell him our tale focusing on three important principals: setting up a budget, living below our means, and creating an emergency fund.

Little did I know all of the questions that this discussion would generate.

"How many credit cards did you have?"
"Why do we eat out just because we have a coupon when we could save more money and not eat out at all?"
"I heard you talking to a lady one time who said that she had nine credit cards at one time.  Why does a person need so many credit cards?"
"What do you do when an unexpected expense comes up?  Where does the money to pay it come from?"

I was pleasantly surprised by all of the thoughts that so quickly came to his mind.  Needless to say I enjoyed answering all of these questions because I love to discuss managing finances.  But more than this, I am happy to see that my son is thinking about matters that many people don't even consider until they reach adulthood.