The Original Ideal Woman

A few weeks ago I came out of the closet about some of my health issues.  I think I even promised to be more vulnerable in my writing. Well, this could be more than you bargained for...

Four months now I have been inactive.  Not only am I not exercising in any formally recognizable manner, I find myself moving as little as possible in all matters of daily living.  It's just a little less painful that way.  There's a geeky corner of my brain that would like to calculate the precise number of unburned calories this would amount to, but the rest of my brain is currently too doped to quite make sense of the numbers.  Add to that fact, the current disturbance in my pelvis is causing some bloat-like symptoms...and, well, none of my clothes fit.  Except for the stretchy ones, that is.  I've become adept at all kinds of wardrobe disguises, but nothing hides the bare facts.  Bare facts.

Full disclosure:  I also ate a lot of barbeque chips on the way home last night.  More than anyone needs to...however many that is.  They were so good.  Anyway, now that you know that...

More vulnerable means admitting that I looked at an old picture and found myself wishing I was that thin again.  I detest of this kind of thinking!

When I taught English to recent immigrants I learned how absolutely cultural are our concepts of beauty.  My Asian students commented when they thought I was getting "fatter" (ya gotta love the lack of euphemisms in a limited vocabulary!) and my African students thought I was too skinny.  I vowed to remember that beauty is culturally defined, therefore hardly a standard to be too worried about.

Three times this week I had encounters with other women wherein the issues of weight and body image came up.  Sigh.  I look at my beautiful friends and I love them.  I have written posts about how God made us beautiful and I believe it with all my heart.

However, all this excellent head knowledge isn't helping me one bit this week.  You're in luck though--I am going to share a thought that has helped a lot...

I'm about to let you in on a little unscientific and perhaps unorthodox theory I have:  I don't think Eve looked like Megan Fox.  Seriously.

When God created woman...it seems likely that He would create the most beautiful woman possible.  Keeping in mind that he created peacocks and the Himalayas, His ability is obvious.  Yet she probably didn't look a bit like any magazine cover we've seen.

The beauty of this original woman inspired her name.  When Adam saw her he said, "Whoa, man!!" and we've been called "whoa-man" or "woman" ever since.

Have you seen pictures of the oldest human bones that have been discovered?  Apparently, scientists think they're about 7,000 years old (which coincidentally lines up with the general timeline of when Eve would likely have walked the earth).  I sincerely doubt that she was hairy like an ape, but the general shape is pretty clear:

The good news, sisters?  We look more like the original ideal woman than like Paris Hilton.

Just sayin'.

Splendor and beauty mark his craft...

Psalm 111:3a

In His Image

Today I made a new skating dress for my little one.  She needs two for the competition on the weekend.  She was so excited that she could hardly stand it and was willing to do just about anything to help me so I'd be free to work on the dress.  She loaded the washing machine, made tea, passed pins, and cut some of the simpler pieces.


It was so much fun!  It's always fun to make something beautiful--even more fun when it's to delight someone you love.  It made me think of my Papa...and I imagined His pleasure as he flung those northern lights across the sky on Valentine's Day knowing that it would give my heart shivers of wonder.  Did His eyes twinkle when He poked those two dimples in my daughter's cheeks knowing I'd relish them?  And that sunrise this morning...did He smile in anticipation of my pleasure?


When He created us "in his own image," He gave us a drive to create.*  I used to think I wasn't creative because I couldn't paint a picture or write a song...now I recognize "in His image" creativity everywhere.  In my sister who turns a ball of yarn into a beautiful sweater, my friend who cooks and bakes endless delights, one who photographs to capture glory, one who builds a house, one who can't stop doodling, and the one who creates solutions for problems.  Reflections of His creative nature are everywhere.  We have an urge to co-labour with Him in creating.


And so my little one urgently wants to help me.  She cut the straight lines and sewed the simpler curves.  She made a matching scrunchy for her hair.  When all was said and done she declared, "It's beautiful!"  She pirouetted and revelled in the swirl of the skirt.  Said it was fun making the dress with me.


Yes, yes, it was.  My heart lifted praise to my Papa because it's fun creating with Him.  My stitches were lovely, but they became breathtaking when filled with the dancing, swirling life He created.

Every moment that catches our breath is an invitation to worship.

"You are worthy, O Lord our God,

to receive glory and honour and power.

For you created all things,

and they exist because you created what you pleased."

Revelation 4:11

*Genesis 1:27