Do you see what I see?

       These things hang around in every house, come in different sizes and shapes, show up where you want them and can even be scary especially in the morning.  You don't even have to say a word, all you do is look and it can lie or be overly truthful.   Now before you run and get a rolled up newspaper or flyswatter, I have to say - it isn't alive, at least mine isn't and I know yours isn't either - except for one.  Have you guessed it?  A mirror!!

        It became more and more evident that my mirror and I were just not getting along.  I noticed its cruelty as I would turn the bathroom light on and gave me its panoramic view of how I slept the night before.  Then there were the pictures...hair done, make up on just right, teeth sparkling, dressed for the day - my reflection from the "mirror" was totally good.  An idea of taking a profile picture at this time with my cell phone would be good, after all our girls do it all the time and they look great!  They get in front of a mirror, smile and there is another great picture on Facebook - wow, is all I can say.   On my last try at getting a good picture, I see two different people!  One in the mirror is different from the picture on my phone, what happened to the make up, the hair and by the tenth photo shoot, my smile is pretty much gone!!  

        If I am having this problem, I just wonder if others do too.  I've seen on Oprah (forgive me for that) where a skin-on-bone covered woman would look into her mirror and all she would see is fat.  There are also people going through surgeries to repair the imperfections the mirror tells them they have.  Of course, we cannot forget the movies we've seen where the man stands in front of the mirror, sees the tight abs and buns but in reality that only occurred when he was 16. 

         What makes anyone, myself included, believe these mirrors in what they are telling us?  They have no mouth, no soul, yet we believe them over someone who does!  My husband will tell me how pretty I look and wants to take me to a movie and dinner.  Yet, I believe the mirror!  Sometimes I want to say to him, "Yeah, have you talked to the mirror?  That's not what IT said!"  Well, that can shoot an evening down the drain, but I so appreciate his persistance in telling me I'm pretty.

         The only mirror that ever told the truth was the one in Snow White.  However, I wish the artists would have made Snow White ugly!  It wasn't her outside beauty that made the mirror state she was fairer than the queen, it was the inside beauty permeating through.  The queen was beautiful on her own, but her jealousy made her truly ugly and to the point of murder!!

        While our girls were growing up, I told them that beauty goes far deeper than the skin.  If there is beauty within, there is beauty without.   The most beautiful person can turn into a frog (warts and all) just by opening their mouth or doing an acts of unkindness.  The Bible says "out of the mouth, the hearts speaks". 

          As I think about this love-hate relationship with my mirror, I realize there is more in the picture than meets the eye.  I realize my "Satisfaction of Reflection" or my SOR may never measure up consistently with what I would like.  If I cannot change the outside except through extreme measures, I can continue to change inside.  Continuing acts of kindness, remember that I am loved by family and friends brings happiness and a smile which gives me a face lift. I can remember the ultimate love and sacrifice Jesus gave me which brings a faith lift. 

         Instead of thinking you need to remove all the reflectory glass in your home, think what makes you happy, love yourself where you are now, believe that God loves you because you truly are "beautifully and wonderfully made" (His word) - All of these and more cause a mirror to change from something that tauntingly hangs around to wonderful works of art.