My man was gone for the weekend, so I took our dimple cheeked daughter out on a date. She is miss drama herself so there was plenty to talk about as her brown eyes looked soulishly into mine in expression of her thoughts and feelings.
“There’s this boy……” .
What? Her, already?
I listened in amusement. And as I listened, I looked around. People, I love people.
Talk about the guy, girl situation, and there are lots of observations. Middle aged couples sat, seemingly a tad bored, guys on their i-phones while the ladies looked a bit wistful or sat quietly.
But in the corner sat a wrinkled old man, seemingly enthralled with his lady who was wrinkled and old as well. He held her hand, cupped into his, as she shared her heart. The attention he gave her was blissful, the desire for her was obvious.
People joke about men not needing to communicate, but I’ve seen enough men in love to know that they have amazing capacity to dig right into a woman’s heart and get her to be vulnerable with her deepest feelings. The wrinkled old man with his wrinkled old lady, well, he had her leaning forward while he gazed into her face and cupped her hand in his.
It was the sweetest picture I saw all day. And I saw a lot of sweet ones today.
I saw a one year old digging into his first piece of cake, chubby cheeks smothered in frosting. Pure sweetness.
I saw large, soulish brown eyes looking into my face while dimpled cheeks filled with cotton candy ice cream. I heard her dump her heart. It was sweetness itself.
I saw my nine year old son walk up to the woods with my four year old, dog in tow. The four year old turns and says, “Mama, we will be OK. Don’t worry, Mama.” My heart melted at the sight of them.
I saw a husband bring his wife a plate, then ask if there was anything more she wanted. Sweet thoughtfulness.
But none trumps the comparison of those two middle aged men, bored and preoccupied while sitting with their ladies, and the wrinkled elderly couple who were so in love.
If love grows with age, if wrinkles are a sign of long years together, if old-age love successfully defies the lie that to be loved you must be beautiful, then, well, I guess I’m ready to be old. And I’m thankful that age is not to be feared by Christian women who know that true beauty comes from aligning our hearts with the purposes of God.
The brown eyed, dimple-cheeked daughter may grow older with her worth aligned to truth, that the true essence of a woman is the soul–not the skin.
That true beauty is as beauty does–not as beauty looks.
That cultivating one’s appearance is healthy while fretting over an appearance you don’t have, is not.
That every woman has beauty to offer, regardless of age or appearance, and we have only to cultivate what has been given us.
That the day of one’s birth has been planned, just as the day of one’s death—and every single day in between is beautiful.
Let her know, just as she does now, that true love grows better, not worse, with years.
Women of Purpose 