I used to see mothers in public who seemed not to care for their appearance and it made me sad. I did (and still do!) not want to be the woman who 'lets herself go' when she has kids. However, I can say that I have a whole new level of sympathy for these ladies thanks to my godson. I find that if I do not shower-->dress-->hair-->makeup early in the morning before he's awake, it's difficult to find time or energy to do it once he's up. Sometimes I'm able to hop in the shower mid-morning when he naps, but he inevitably wakes back up before my hair and makeup are done, and he NEVER goes for sitting on the floor while I finish. I can testify that applying eyeliner with one hand with a wiggly 6-month-old menace in the other arm is a harrowing misadventure that I hope not to have to attempt many more times in my life.
The little problem with this scenario is that I STRUGGGGGGLE to get up in the morning. Short of buying myself a flying alarm clock which requires me to get up and catch it, I have tried nearly everything I can think of to try to become a morning person. My latest tactic is to have the song "Brazzle Dazzle Day" from the movie Pete's Dragon as my alarm clock. That song is too chipper a tune to remain grumpy if it's the first thing you hear in the morning! However, I have a magical ability to hit the snooze button before two bars of it have escaped my Blackberry. I so want to blame my lack of morning-person-ness on how exhausting my godson can sometimes be, that's not really the truth: I haven't been a morning person since puberty hit! Besides, who could blame a cherubic monkey face for their grumpiness? He's almost always cheery in the morning, despite having to deal with grumpy Auntie Guine - so I have no excuse. What I've realized is that if we don't hit the ground running in the morning (be it with personal grooming habits or our prayer life), it becomes so easy for the cares of the day to suck it away from us.
Mary Kay Ash used to get up at 5 am every morning, because she'd heard in a business talk somewhere that getting up that early 3 times a week was like adding an extra work day to your week. So she did it 6 days a week and accomplished 8 days of work in 6. She even invited the consultants to join her in this effort, and apparently many of them did (although I must admit I don't know many nowadays who do, other than NSDs are powerhouses of self-discipline). MK would recommend that before starting any work, a woman make herself presentable for the day. She'd say "A woman who looks good feels good - and as a result, she will also 'work good'!" - and I have to admit that in spite of sympathizing with those moms, I still agree.
Please understand, I'm not suggesting that women have to listen to how the media/pop culture tells them they should look - anyone who knows me and my struggle with my weight could tell you I'm clearly not trying to fit some moviestar image. I do assert however, that women as the crescendo in God's symphony of creation, the finishing touch and the crowning glory - that we should strive to glorify Him by looking our personal best.
I've had serious discussions with people who think that Christian women shouldn't even wear makeup, and I have to disagree. Although our concern can't be for the outward appearance over the beauty of the soul and the heart, we are still physical beings and our body is holy! My classic line is this: If our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and people have always adorned temples with flowers and color and art, then in the same way a woman can use cosmetics to 'adorn her temple'.
The refutation of this is to say that too many girls use makeup to 'cover themselves up', and I agree that's true. However, that's part of why I love MK so much - we are a teaching-oriented company that instructs women how to take care of their skin and how to apply makeup so that they are highlighting their best features, not covering them up. I think girls/women who wear too much makeup have probably not been instructed how to apply it correctly, and that's why I love getting to teach them (especially teenagers with thick eyeliner and too-dark bronzer).
Parting thought: "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God." - 1 Corinthians 10:31. So get up in the morning like it's on purpose, put on your lipcolor and mascara, and glorify God in all you do!
PS -A treat for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBJlpz3WWY
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