The unfading beauty...

...The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight I Peter 3:4

My beauty is certainly fading. I've found wrinkles and sagging in places I didn't know could wrinkle and sag. I used to be concerned about aging and looking older...then I realized that no one cared and that no one was really looking anyway. I also realized that it is true - the most beautiful people are those whose beauty radiates from the inside out.

Though my body is feeling the certain laws of gravity I have more content and more peace in my heart than at any other time in my life. It isn't from lack of trials, struggles or concerns, but rather, from a confidence that God is in control. I've never had the control I thought that I did. None of us do.

I long to desire what God values. If a gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God's sight, then I want to be about that. But what does it look like, in my life, to have a gentle and quiet spirit? It certainly doesn't mean allowing others to walk on me, to never speak, to never have an opinion, or to never use the brain and gifts that God gave me. I believe that it does mean that I should look to God, who really is in control. It does mean that I should HONOR and RESPECT my husband and my children (not only when they "deserve" it). It does mean that I should put others before myself. It does mean that I should spend more time listening than talking. It does mean that I should desire the heart of God - who is a God of compassion. It does mean that I no longer fear that I won't be heard or seen or understood - but rather, I am content, believing that God, indeed, sees me and has my best interest in mind - ALWAYS!

Oh, that God would give me a gentle and quiet spirit - that is his desire, if only I would ask that of him.

What does it look like today, for you, to have a gentle and quiet spirit - one that is of great worth in God's eyes?