Last night I felt "uncool" in every sense of the word.
I took all three kids to the football game last night by myself. (The Brownsboro Bears stomped the Crandall Pirates, by the way. GO BEARS!) It was quite literally "uncool" outside. It was hot to start with and then the humidity was killing me. Climbing up and down those bleachers time and time again for all of the potty breaks we needed to take was making me sweat terribly! I felt disgusting.
But then I began to feel uncool in the figurative sense. I looked around and saw all of these women around me, with their hair fixed cute and their nice clothes and jewelry, just chatting and having a great time. And there I was, in the same jeans I had worn to school, a t-shirt and boots, with my hair and make-up almost untouched since 6am that morning, drenched in sweat, with kids crying, fighting and tugging on me from all directions. Very uncool.
I found myself feeling flustered and exasperated, almost to the point to where I couldn't even carry on a conversation with anyone. (Not that I really like to chat it up alot at the football games. I like to watch the game...well, as much as I can while wrangling my kids.)
I have often thought I need to put more time and money into my appearance. It is just that those things are not easy to come by in our household. If I had some cute shorts, I definitely would have been wearing them last night, instead of those hot jeans. And maybe if I had not spent so much time convincing Emma Jo to keep her hair up like I fixed it, I could have spent some time on my own.
This is a picture of me 10 years ago. I was in college.
And this was me this past spring with Emma Jo. Although it's a sweet picture of the two of us, and is one of my favorites, I have to notice that my hair is virtually unchanged from ten years ago and obviously I have spent less time doing my make-up and accessorizing my wardrobe.
But time and money for myself just seem like a luxury I cannot afford. I think alot of mothers of young children feel this way...I guess I just didn't see many of them sitting around me at the game last night. I felt ugly and outdated and to make matters worse, I felt that there was nothing I could do about it. Does God care about how I look or is he angry that I am even worried about my appearance at all? God probably doesn't care for me to spend alot of money on new clothes, a new haircut or fancy jewelry. Those things won't make me a better wife or mother.
But author Janet Treadway said this: "Does your appearance reveal an attitude of indifference or a sense of responsibility, of modesty or of temptation, of respect or of disrespect, of carelessness (sloppy dress advertises a careless person) or of dependability, of honesty or of dishonesty? Every Christian lives in a 'window' before the world and is responsible to properly represent the principles set forth in the Scriptures."
While perhaps it doesn't matter that I don't have all of the latest styles in my closet and I can't afford highlights for my hair, I can at least take some more pride in my appearance. I can probably find the time to look and dress nicely without spending all day in front of the mirror or my entire paycheck either!
