Philippians 2:5-7 - Your attitude should be the same
as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the
very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (NIV)
Some time ago, my dear friend, Ruth, met me at the
beach for the day. She lives in the United States, and we seldom have the
opportunity to meet. She handed me a book, and in it were these words:
Happy birthday to the Queen, you, who loves to give a
touch of lipstick to each soul you meet! I love you for it! Ruth.
I cried a couple of days later when I began to read
the book, which tells how, amid the horrors of life and death in a World War II
concentration camp, someone had the incredible idea of sending a large quantity
of red lipsticks to the prisoners. The women, thin and corpse-like, wore bright
red lipstick, with pride on their faces. It gave them dignity, hope, and
humanity. What a difference a bit of lipstick can make!
Ruth knew that my soul's desire was to love like God,
to give a bit of heaven to the people in my life, to add some lipstick to their
souls.
A few days later, at the end of the school year, one
of my students gave me a glass angel with a golden halo and gold-tipped wings,
holding a shell with a golden pearl in her hands. She said that I had been an
angel to her. Again, I cried.
Later that day, while I was playing outside with
Jackson, my son, my husband accidentally brushed the box with the edge of his
briefcase and knocked it to the kitchen floor. The angel tumbled out, and the
hands broke off. I was upset. The gift had been so special to me, and now, it
was broken. I went back outside and continued to play with Jackson. He asked me
if I was angry with Papa, and I said that, yes, I was. Then he asked if I would
forgive Papa, and I sighed and answered yes, again. The lessons of a child! I
looked down, and in the grass on the lawn at my feet was a tube of lipstick.
Tears came to my eyes.
In the night, I was praying and asking God to help me
understand all of this.
The hands of the angel were my hands. At times in the
previous months, I had felt as if I were handing pearls of love and wisdom to
kids at school who didn't want them, who were not interested in what I had to
give. My soul wanted to make a difference with "lipstick" and be transparent,
loving even the difficult-to-love, despite their response. God knows that my
desire and calling is to have the hands of an angel, giving golden pearls to
each one I meet. He knows how disappointing working with teenagers can be at
times and that sometimes I get tired. He asks me to forgive and love again. The
lipstick is right there at my feet. I just need to pick it up.
Prayer: Show us the way, God, and help us to be Your
lipstick and Your gift of pearls and Your hands of an angel. "May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my
Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14 NIV) Amen.
Rebecca Anders
randers@rogers.com
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Thanks to http://daily.presbycan.ca
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