Now that I have what someone called an "undercut" hairstyle, when it gets close to trim time, I often find hair in my face when I need it least—like bending over to weed or cooking. So I went out one day and bought myself some old-fashioned barrettes, the kind I had as a teen to hold back a thick mane of long, black hair. I looked at the colors offered and picked up a card with dark brown and black barrettes, just as I always had before. The first time I used them and glanced in the mirror I was stunned.
"You idiot," I told myself. "You are no longer a brunette and haven't been for over ten years now." I should have picked up the silver barrettes. Luckily, I seldom wear the things "out." Most of the time I am trying to keep hair out of my face while I work.
But that little episode reminded me yet again about the futility of looking in a mirror when you don't pay attention to what you are looking at. James tells us that God's Word is a mirror. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholds himself, and goes away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was (Jas 1:23-24). For some reason, I leave the mirror and forget how gray I have become. (I think everyone knows why.) My brunette barrettes testify to that. Far worse is to forget the character flaws I see when I look in God's mirror.
But those barrettes can also testify to other things. I am now in a new era of my life. I am no longer a young mother. I am no longer a middle-aged small business owner. I am now the "older woman" Paul addresses in Titus chapter 2. I am now a grandmother. I am now a mentor. That means new responsibilities, new work, and a different example to set. When I keep trying to be something I am not, will I ever truly fulfill God's purpose for me as His servant?
Those barrettes are sitting in a decorative glass bowl on my dresser. Maybe I should take another look at them. I have a feeling they will be a better reminder of who I am and what I need to do than my dresser mirror ever did.
But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continues, being not a hearer who forgets but a doer who works, this man shall be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:25).
Dene Ward
"You idiot," I told myself. "You are no longer a brunette and haven't been for over ten years now." I should have picked up the silver barrettes. Luckily, I seldom wear the things "out." Most of the time I am trying to keep hair out of my face while I work.
But that little episode reminded me yet again about the futility of looking in a mirror when you don't pay attention to what you are looking at. James tells us that God's Word is a mirror. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: for he beholds himself, and goes away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was (Jas 1:23-24). For some reason, I leave the mirror and forget how gray I have become. (I think everyone knows why.) My brunette barrettes testify to that. Far worse is to forget the character flaws I see when I look in God's mirror.
But those barrettes can also testify to other things. I am now in a new era of my life. I am no longer a young mother. I am no longer a middle-aged small business owner. I am now the "older woman" Paul addresses in Titus chapter 2. I am now a grandmother. I am now a mentor. That means new responsibilities, new work, and a different example to set. When I keep trying to be something I am not, will I ever truly fulfill God's purpose for me as His servant?
Those barrettes are sitting in a decorative glass bowl on my dresser. Maybe I should take another look at them. I have a feeling they will be a better reminder of who I am and what I need to do than my dresser mirror ever did.
But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continues, being not a hearer who forgets but a doer who works, this man shall be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:25).
Dene Ward
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