Reflection

With the New Year upon us, we find ourselves reflecting. Time has a way of shifting before our very eyes. Is it possible that the year has come and gone so quickly? Something is brewing in the air, and I look back over a life time of events and wonder how this year it is possible that I will face a half a century. Was it not my mother who was old and not I? I think back to the skinny little girl whose hair was always in her eyes and wonder if the remainder of my life will move even faster. Time is but a vapor, something to try to grasp.




Growing older often times finds us searching the mirror. We inspect our locks to see if we have new natural highlights in gray tones, or if our pooch has pooched further. We look from the front and the rear to make sure it’s all still in the same spot and has not melted down and out. Sometimes we look long and hard inspecting the results of ‘father time’ in hope of a miracle, to be pleasantly surprised by the magic of our beauty cream.




About a decade ago I found myself recognizing the tiny alien lines that had appeared out of nowhere. I couldn’t help but think, “That wasn’t there yesterday.” I began to reflect on how fleeting life is. It’s strange how a mirror can trigger us to reflect on life.




As a child, I use to love to look in the mirror and pretend to be in a commercial for what ever product was at hand. Yes, I was a drama queen and the mirror was my playground. As an adolescent, I looked to it for approval; rarely did I find it there. And as an adult the face staring back was a critical one, quick to find every imperfection (inside and out). The years followed right along whispering the ticking of the clock, tick tock, tick tock. One day I was inspecting the increasing crevices and something strange happened. I felt a gentle nudge from the Lord as he whispered, “You see with your eyes, but I see the heart.”




I realized that as often as I looked and no matter how hard, I couldn’t really see clearly. I could only see each individual line and detail of my face, but I wasn’t seeing the full picture. I had failed to step back and see that in some of those fine little lines there was a story to tell. Each line was a brush stroke in the portrait of my life, the years of experience as a wife and mother, the journey I had as my mother faced terminal cancer, and the season that was marked by the tornado that took our home, were all displayed quietly in each detail of my face. In all of the little details there lies a great story of hope and faith; a tale of sin and grace, depression and joy, hurt and healing. One day I passed by the mirror after a day of cleaning and no make-up to hide behind. The mirror called out… “You’re getting old.” But I heard the breath of the Lord say, “But you’re getting younger on the inside.” It is with each passing year that a new step is being taken toward the one who holds the mirror, the one who sees the full picture, the one who makes it all come together. The voice in the mirror is a liar, fickle and forever changing. But the one who holds the mirror never changes.




In life, we all have our own mirrors in which we look but do not see… Sometimes we rush through our daily routines peeking at the tangible, and forgetting there is more. We hurry to work so we can make a living and provide for our families. ‘Matter’ is all we sometimes remember, we forget that all the matter (or stuff) in this world really doesn’t matter after all. We focus on what we can only see with our eyes, which can be discouraging, frustrating and exhausting. Whether it is financial problems, in-law problems or health issues, we must step back and draw into our souls the true story of our hearts. There is a story in all our lives, a purpose and a reason! God can see that tale, that journey, so we must not lose heart. Perhaps if we step back far enough maybe those tiny lines (and maybe even the deeper creases) will disappear and we’ll see ourselves in the reflection of His eyes. Hope is then ours, to face the future and all its pages. He knows the lines of our lives, and sees the final chapter.

Focusing and truly seeing is the key to finding Him and his miracles all around us and through the strands of our life. Look beyond the mirror to the one who holds the truth. Maybe today we can look with our hearts not just our eyes and see our true reflection.




1 Corinthians 13:12: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”