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by Rhonda Rhea
Why is makeup so much tougher after 40? Not that I’m 40, of course. Let’s just say that as I was beginning my third annual 39th birthday celebration, it became apparent to me that I wasn’t exactly “applying” makeup in the same way. Instead I’m “filling in the grooves.” It’s more like arts and crafts - or maybe brick laying.
Maybe there’s a scientific explanation. There’s more surface area to cover when you consider all those extra creases, folds and furrows. And where the skin used to be stationary, now it’s “mobile.” It’s clearly tougher to apply mortar when the skin is stuck to the sponge/trowel. Actually, I should be thrilled that my face is now as versatile as my hair. I can wear it up. I can wear it down. Pin it back. Change the color. I can throw it over my shoulder like a continental soldier. Ah yes, there’s something to be said for versatility.
And my face is much more ethnically balanced than it used to be, too. Nevermind that the makeup job that now takes twice as long as it did ten years ago only makes me look half as good.
I’ve noticed that worrying about aging is pointless - and it causes wrinkles. So worrying about wrinkles could launch us all into an unending worry/wrinkle cycle. Who needs it? I’d rather laugh.
That’s the good news. We can laugh about it all. As a matter of fact, it seems I have more to laugh about at this stage of my life than I ever have before.
In her book, Living Somewhere Between Estrogen and Death (Word Publishing, 1997), Barbara Johnson shares her anti-aging remedy. She says, “It won't actually turn back the clock, and it's certainly not a new wonder drug. In fact, it's been promoted since biblical times as a cure for a wide variety of problems (see Proverbs 17:22) ... What is it? Laughter.”
The perfect gift for an aging person. Of course the perfect gift could only come from Him. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17a). He created laughter. It's not sacrilegious or disrespectful. He enjoys it when we use His gift. In some of my most precious quiet times, I've pictured the Father laughing. Even that mental picture is a wonderful, peace-giving gift.
You’ve heard that beauty is only skin-deep. If you count all those crevices and furrows, my skin is deeper now than ever before. Doesn’t that mean I’m getting gorgeous? And even though I now have to buy wrinkle cream by the drum, Psalm 16:6a says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” So what if they’ve fallen all over my face? I’ll just call them laugh lines and let everyone marvel at what a happy person I am.
Rhonda Rhea writes award-winning inspirational humor columns for other Christian publications in the U.S. and Canada. Look for her new book, Amusing Grace, at your local Christian bookstore. Click here to see her website.
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