Since I will be turning 60 on my next birthday I have really been kind of bothered by that. You know, you begin to scrutinize yourself in the mirror, discover lines and wrinkles that seem to have appeared overnight. You look at your sagging jawline, your body that seems to be destroyed by gravity, your energy level seems to diminish. You know, AGING.
I rush to buy the latest wrinkle creams, anti-sagging creams, firming creams, anything that I can afford creams…. trying to repair the effects of the aging process. The mirror is no longer my friend, and I look at the face and body of a stranger. You know they say the first thing to go is your memory, but I disagree. It’s vanity. I see myself as not attractive, and a little depressed on something I have no control of…getting old.
But how does God see me?
Through a friend of mine, God gave me this picture and a lesson.
In our teens and twenties, we are like a young rose, a bloom so soft, and pliant, a promise of beauty.
In our thirties the flower begins to expand its petals, becomes fuller, and lovely, the true color of the rose begins to be visible.
In our forties the flower expands even more, the color begins to fade a little, maybe a petal or two will fall away. Still the flower is lovely and captivating.
In our fifties the flower expands larger, it’s petals are full and fragrant, a fully mature flower. People seem to be drawn to the flower, wanting to capture the beauty of it before it wilts and dies.
In our sixties and beyond the flower is fully expanded, the colors are fading, petals are falling away but the mature flower is the most fragrant of all. The Lord sees us as stunningly beautiful.
As Christian women consider this: A bouquet of roses is more interesting when there are flowers of each stage of its life. The bloom, the expanding flowers, the full flowers, and even the fading flowers.
Each flower contributes something to the arrangement.
The bloom is vibrant, and tender, and its aroma is just beginning to release its fragrance. Like young women who are discovering who they are and what they long to be.
As the flower begins to mature the shape of its life begins to open, and reveal the person that they are. The gifts, and the callings begin to become more evident.
Growing still, the flower begins to fully mature and become the stability and the center of the bouquet, it is inviting and lovely and fragrant.
Older blooms still…are fully shaped, and fragrant with the experiences and wisdom they have gleaned from life.
The word teaches us, older women are to teach the younger women, and younger women are to respect the older. Each of us have something to contribute to the lives we encounter. Each of us are beautiful and fragrant with the presence of God. Let us become the bouquet of the Lord, stunningly beautiful in His sight.
Titus Chapter 2