Reason #294
I love washing my face before I go to bed at night. Well, really, it's kind of a love/hate feeling because I hate the process of getting ready for bed. By the time I am ready to go to sleep, I just want to fall into bed. I don't want to take the 5 or 10 extra minutes to wash the day off of my face, but I always do... even when I can barely keep my eyes open.
Each morning I cover my face with make-up. Depending on the time I acutally get out of bed also depends on the amount I put on. But I always have some form of make-up on my face. And, truthfully, I feel much better that way. It's kind of my little mask I suppose you could say. I can conceal my "problem spots," play up my features and add much needed color to my pale complexion. But by the end of the day half of it's worn off and the other half is smuged. It doesn't look near as good after it has been on my face for 10 hours. And so each night, I wipe it away. I wash off the day. The dirt, the grim, the leftover make-up, all of it goes down the drain. Any attempt to cover a blemish, a dark spot, or under eyes circles has now been removed. And although I prefer the way I look with it on, my face feels so refreshed after it has been cleaned off. Soap suds, warm water and I am now 100% me. Bare faced. The same girl, I just look a little different.
As I wiped water away from my face tonight, I thought about how nice clean skin feels. I thought about how I am glad to be able to remove the day from my face each night before I go to bed. No matter what happened during the day, I can just wash it away. I can create a clean palette so that in the morning, I can start fresh. In the morning, I don't have to try and touch up the day before, I don't have to try and fix or replace what got smuged or rubbed off. Rrather, I can just start from scratch and put new make-up on. It's easier that way, too. Easier, faster and it looks much better.
And I thought about how God does this for me. Each day, at the end of the day, He's there. There to refresh, to wipe away the dirt and grime from the day if we'll just let Him. There to rejuvinate and cleanse. No matter what happened during the day, no matter what we faced, what we heard, what we experienced or felt, He's there to wipe it all away. We may put on a mask to cover it up. The stress, worry, anxiety, anger, sorrow, disappointment, we try to conceal it. But if we give it over to Him, He takes it and He removes it. Washes it away with His love and His mercy. And so we may look a little different. We may feel more exposed when we aren't hiding behind our masks. But it's okay. Because we're still us. The same us, just a refreshed, cleansed version of ourselves. And it feels good. It feels good to let go of it all. To give it up and create a new palette for the next day. Because we don't have to carry those feelings around. We don't have to shoulder them day after day. But the grime gets on us, and the mess of the world can, too. And so I'm thankful to serve a God who washes the day away with His compassion and grace. A God who even used the lifeblood of His precious Son to wash away our blemishes and cleanse us for good. And mostly, I'm thankful that He gives us the opportunity to start from scratch each morning.
#294 - Because He cleanses us and allows us to start from scratch.
"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." - 1 John 1:9
Each morning I cover my face with make-up. Depending on the time I acutally get out of bed also depends on the amount I put on. But I always have some form of make-up on my face. And, truthfully, I feel much better that way. It's kind of my little mask I suppose you could say. I can conceal my "problem spots," play up my features and add much needed color to my pale complexion. But by the end of the day half of it's worn off and the other half is smuged. It doesn't look near as good after it has been on my face for 10 hours. And so each night, I wipe it away. I wash off the day. The dirt, the grim, the leftover make-up, all of it goes down the drain. Any attempt to cover a blemish, a dark spot, or under eyes circles has now been removed. And although I prefer the way I look with it on, my face feels so refreshed after it has been cleaned off. Soap suds, warm water and I am now 100% me. Bare faced. The same girl, I just look a little different.
As I wiped water away from my face tonight, I thought about how nice clean skin feels. I thought about how I am glad to be able to remove the day from my face each night before I go to bed. No matter what happened during the day, I can just wash it away. I can create a clean palette so that in the morning, I can start fresh. In the morning, I don't have to try and touch up the day before, I don't have to try and fix or replace what got smuged or rubbed off. Rrather, I can just start from scratch and put new make-up on. It's easier that way, too. Easier, faster and it looks much better.
And I thought about how God does this for me. Each day, at the end of the day, He's there. There to refresh, to wipe away the dirt and grime from the day if we'll just let Him. There to rejuvinate and cleanse. No matter what happened during the day, no matter what we faced, what we heard, what we experienced or felt, He's there to wipe it all away. We may put on a mask to cover it up. The stress, worry, anxiety, anger, sorrow, disappointment, we try to conceal it. But if we give it over to Him, He takes it and He removes it. Washes it away with His love and His mercy. And so we may look a little different. We may feel more exposed when we aren't hiding behind our masks. But it's okay. Because we're still us. The same us, just a refreshed, cleansed version of ourselves. And it feels good. It feels good to let go of it all. To give it up and create a new palette for the next day. Because we don't have to carry those feelings around. We don't have to shoulder them day after day. But the grime gets on us, and the mess of the world can, too. And so I'm thankful to serve a God who washes the day away with His compassion and grace. A God who even used the lifeblood of His precious Son to wash away our blemishes and cleanse us for good. And mostly, I'm thankful that He gives us the opportunity to start from scratch each morning.
#294 - Because He cleanses us and allows us to start from scratch.
"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." - 1 John 1:9