Just Another Plain Jane

Rare are the moments when my girls will play quietly together for long lengths of time. As it happens, I have been blessed this morning one of those. It is rainy and cold today; and their entire morning has been spent upstairs. I have seen two children's faces in the past hour and a half. I know I should be slightly concerned with precisely what is going on up there, but instead I took full advantage of it. I spent the morning going through all of the apostle Paul's letters. So many good nuggets in there. Time usually only allows me a few moments of alone Scripture reading time. Or any alone time at all, for that matter. But lately I feel like a dry, withered flower...spiritually speaking. God knew that. Hence, the morning of solace.
Lately I have found my quest in life bringing me back to the same theme....simplicity. Back to basics. Living life simply. Uncomplicated, uncluttered and unchaotic; so that I may focus more on the things I ought to. It is so very easy to get caught up with the things of this world. To become distracted with plans and goals that really don't matter in the end, anyway. It seems we always search for improvement in all the wrong areas: finances, positions of power and prestige, external attractiveness.
Paul's words to the church in Thessalonica touched a deep part of me this morning. Something I had read several times before, but never really paused to let it penetrate my heart.
"I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do."
Mmm...good stuff. Now, I will be the first to admit, I've not been blessed with a voluptuous, curvaceous body to flaunt. I have never been the type to stand out in a crowd. No one has ever said, "Wow! Look at that hot chick over there!" I have always been your typical plain Jane. For years, I think I was a tad bit bitter about that fact. I wanted to be noticed, wanted to be outstanding. After all, isn't that what our society pushes? If you don't have the right bust, behind, nose or thighs...well, then, change it! Or, if you can't afford to, accentuate your good assets. (Whatever that means.) Either way, don't be just a plain Jane. Take a moment and think...how many actresses, famous people or singers are simple plain Jane's? Most are strutting immodest clothing, sporting wild and fancy (and somewhat colorful) tresses, handing over thousands for plastic surgery, own a closet full of the most expensive name brand clothing, flashing eye catching jewels, and yet sadly are still not fully content.
Could it be that Paul was right? It's better to be a plain Jane. To live life simply and not draw attention to myself. To be known for the things I do, rather than the way I look. Where was Paul when this young gal struggled through the skin tight mini-skirt stage (and thought it looked good)? Or the devastated pre-teen whom resorted to bra-stuffing? (Guilty as charged. Oh, the shame.) How about when this post-partum young woman lived in panty-hose to suck in all the leftover baby weight? Or dare I even admit the one thousand and one hairstyles....colors, perms and highlights? (Horrors!)
Not that there's anything wrong with looking nice. Our husbands will certainly thank us for being presentable. However, I think deep inside all of us women, we know where our own fine line is drawn. The one between looking nice and presentable, and trying to stand out in a crowd. We just sometimes lose focus on where true beauty is found. (Am I the only one?)
I will hereby consciously make an effort to do the following: correct my eye from glancing at tabloids at the grocery store, ban all Victoria's Secret commercials, focus more on my kids at the beach (and less on the bikinis walking around), and stop getting frustrated with my mirror, stretch marks, difficult hair and chubby thighs. It's not their fault, anyhow.
I, Rachael, am just another plain Jane. And I would rather like to strive to keep it that way.