These years, they creep slowly over my face and the babies they have done their damage to my body. My skin has begun to relax, but with it my quest for perfection has relaxed, too.
The words grace and gospel have worked like a tonic and healed the dark places of my heart.
Beauty is as Beauty does, and Beauty birthed by sacrificial love doesn’t need lotion or to starve itself, nor does it come through science or medicine.
That kind of beauty glows from the inside of souls turned holy.
In all truth, my life has really turned out much better than I ever could have imagined. Loving marriage, healthy children, financial stability; these are blessings few women in the world receive in such abundance.
It could all go topsy-turvy tomorrow. The hard roads can come unexpectedly, I realize.
But these lines around my eyes and my mouth remind me of all the years He has walked with me, and that He will press the love deeper when I need it.
I couldn’t live any other way, but with Him as my God.
It’s not just that there isn’t another way, it’s that I don’t want or need another way. His Way is trustworthy, good, and faithful.
The gift of years is written in these crevices on my face. I am glad these lines all seem to lead down the same path that ends at His feet. I plan to spend many more years gaining many more lines.
Then someday, when I am all wrinkled up, holding my great-grandbaby against my chest, I will whisper what I know to be true:
“God makes all things beautiful in time, sweet love. Never believe otherwise.”
