To paint, or not to paint

wood 2I don’t know about you, but the reality staring back at me in the morning mirror is not always a pretty site.  Bob, bless his heart, thinks I look great rumpled and without any makeup, so there you have it, folks—love truly is blind.  But a little hair gel and face paint after the morning shower and before heading out the door to work does wonders to make a girl feel slightly more alive.

That, and a little caffeine, I suppose.

Writing this, in my small rural town morning sitting on my patio, there’s a rooster in the distance trying to wake up the hood, fully confident that he owns everything within earshot of his crowing.  Seems like that’s how we sometimes try to act, whether we believe it deep down or not (usually not), and not just the middle schoolers I work with every day, but us adults as well.  We’re just better at hiding it, making our insecurities more socially acceptable.

So God’s cosmic highlighter (which is what Bob likes to call it) hit my page this morning:

“Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary. O nations of the world, recognize the LORD; recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong.”

Well, no contest, that.  Any Christian will agree about God’s majesty, strength, beauty.  What I tend to forget—and I mean in terms of daily, moment-by-moment, mindful application and what comes out of my mouth—is that now I am His sanctuary!

Proof text:

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself…”

Which means honor and majesty surround me, and strength and beauty fill me…in the spiritual realm which, when tapped into through God’s truth renewing my mind, finds its way into my physical day-to-day living and breathing.  But like the verse says, I have to recognize it, acknowledge it.  What an impact that can have on others around me! (Which is the point, right?)

cosmetics-1543276_1920And that’s with or without Cover Girl. 

Psalm 96:6,7; 1 Corinthian 6:19 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Author: dawnlizjones

Tends toward TMI, so here's the short list: guitar and banjo (both of which have been much neglected as of late), bicycling (ibid), dogs, very black tea, and contemplating and commenting on deep philosophical thoughts about which I have had no academic or professional training. Oh, also reading, writing, but I shy away from arithmetic.

12 thoughts on “To paint, or not to paint”

  6. Great reminders. This verse has actually been helpful for me for learning to rest when I am tired/sick/migraine-y/etc. That and my husband telling me firmly to go to bed… and the realization that the worn out, always sick, grouchy version of me wasn’t doing my family any favors, either… :-/

    True story which is slightly related: when I was a young waitress, I used to call my makeup “war paint.”

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  7. I like that line to paint or not to paint…THAT IS THE QUESTION! I am always struggling with that I overdue myself with so much creativity and then I get burnt out and then I come back to it later. I think all artist are that way, so I am glad I’m with you there!!! What kind of things do you paint? If you can give my art and poetry a look, I am always looking for suggestions 🙂

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