I got a great gift for Christmas. It was from my husband. And I tried hard not to seek out any hidden messages in the gift and to just be thankful. I guess the message wasn’t too hidden anyway.  Nope, not at all.

Here it is 🙂

Yep. So I thanked him graciously (and meant  it. ) And I have used it and love it and am truly thankful for him getting something I probably wouldn’t have gotten myself. But I did take the opportunity to raz him a bit about it. I mean, I’m in my  early 50s and he’s getting me age renewal cream. So a few days after Christmas, I had to put him on the spot because  I just wanted to see what he’d say…

And so the man gets a bit uncomfortable and starts talking about exfoliation and about how Christy Brinkley swears by it. And I quote, “She’s a  freak of nature. I mean look at her, ” he says. “She’s almost 70 and looks like she’s 30. ” Well, I’m no Christy Brinkley, and my poor husband knew he was backed in a corner and it was probably best to not make too many more comparisons with me and the ultra-beautiful freak of nature. I must say that I enjoyed the conversation thoroughly because he rarely misses an opportunity of making a good joke or putting people on the spot.  So I def had to not miss this rare opportunity to put him on the spot.  (But I’m not sure if he’ll ever buy me Oil of Olay regenerating system again for Christmas.)

So that’s the story, but here’s the point. There’s value in getting rid of the old. Beautiful, fresh, life-giving value.

Our skin cells regenerate all the time. They are born and then rise to the surface. It makes sense that it’s good to get the old dead cells out of the way to make room for the new. Yeah, to exfoliate is probably pretty good for skin.

I’m thinking it’s good for the heart as well. Maybe some things we hold on to need to find their way to the surface and be whisked away as well. Maybe sometimes we hold on to hurts and aches and bitterness that weigh us down rather than lighten the load. Heavy hearts usually have a thing or two weighing them down. Maybe a regimen of  periodic heart to hearts with ourselves can ensure that we aren’t holding on to things that aren’t ours to hold on to anymore. Some things take time to heal and be lifted. But some things take rooting out. There’s a difference. Kind of like the difference between exfoliation and replication of cells. Regeneration and rising to the surface of cells  is a natural process that is out of our control and takes time. But exfoliation?  Some of that we can do on our own. Just takes a little bit of time and effort. Yeah am thinking the concept of exfoliation is good for the heart as well.

And it’s probably good for the mind. I can’t help but think that our minds are like mansions with rooms upon rooms upon rooms…some filled with clutter and garbage and stuff that just needs to be gone. In the midst of that garbage can be jewels and treasures that need to be readily accessed but just aren’t accessible.  Because it’s hard to be quick-minded when we have to wade through things to get to what we need. But how often do I daily fill my mind with more clutter to have to wade through?  More often than I’d like to admit. Old things  weighing us down, cluttering heart and mind make it difficult to have resilient spirits.

Resilience has become one of my favorite words in recent years. Do you know what it means?  To bounce back.  To rebound. In the Latin, ‘resilire’ means to rebound or recoil. Having elasticity. When I think of the word resilience, I think of quiet strength. It’s cool to me that the  word “silence” is almost spelled out in re-sil (i) ence.  Because most of the most resilient people I know are those who have endured so much and  bounced back in the quiet.  It puts its energy in the bouncing back, not in announcing victory or shouting of strength to the mountaintops. Resilience doesn’t look to the left or right. It finds strength in deeper places…

…So that it can…bounce back. Rebound. Get back to where it started from. I love watching a good basketball game. One of my favorite things to see is  when  a player jumps up to make an amazing shot and misses and then? Then…another player gets the rebound and makes the shot. A resilient spirit is nourished by the getting back up again and taking the opportunity of second chances.  Or third. Or tenth.  Resilience is the strength that comes in the rebound, the getting back up again.  And sometimes we need teammates to help with the rebound.  Just saying.

And how exactly is this resilience connected to …exfoliation?  (Good question, ha!) Well, am thinking that those who are resilient are good at getting rid of the old. Resilient folks forgive. They move beyond. They rebound. They recognize the beauty of the steps and process rather than wanting to be at the journey’s (or lesson’s) end yesterday. Am thinking that resilient folks know there’s strength for the journey of the day…but not when you’re weighed down by the past. That slows the journey. So does fear of the future. Resilience lives in the now and controls what it can by responding with strength and grace to what comes its way. Resilience makes way for the new, and recognizes that there’s a process of the new rising to the surface, coming to light.

Yes,  being resilient is kind of like having skin cells that replicate and rise to the surface. It takes time. But we can help speed up the process by being strategic and intentional about getting rid of the old…by a little ‘exfoliation.’  Yes, there are great benefits to “ex-foliation” of the heart, the mind, and …the skin. Even more than benefits, there’s beauty that comes from within, the kind that’s there when you go below the surface.  Ask my husband… or better yet, ask Christy Brinkley.  I hear she knows a thing or two about exfoliating.

Blessings to  you and yours~

Heather

p.s.   “He makes all things new”….and that’s the most beautiful thing of all.  As we do what we can, He does what we can’t. Love that.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Brand new. Clean. Righteous. Free. Beautiful.  Love that.

p.p.s.  “Beauty is only skin deep.”  But the cool thing is, that as we tend our hearts and minds and souls…well, may the  beauty rise from the deeps and come to the surface. Getting older gracefully isn’t easy as I thought it’d be when looking at things from a concrete perspective. But on a deeper level,  prayers that what rises to the surface in us is what others are drawn to. Not the temporal stuff. But the eternal. Oil of Olay can’t touch that.

p.p.p.s.  A good reminder.  “The beauty seen is partly in him who sees it.”  Christian Nevell Bovee.  Sometimes people see what they look for. Just saying . And with that, I am signing off with no further post scripts, I promise!