You can ask anyone who really knows me from home, I am the pedicure queen in America. It was my way of life to go every two weeks and sometimes more if opportunity allowed while in college. The time and effort put into my personal hygiene was bordering the edge of OCD before the race.
Well month five has come and gone on this mission adventure and many things have been taken out of my control in those regards. I have slept on cement and dirt floors, showered with lizards, gotten lice, and swallowed more bugs than I care to think about. I have worn the same 8 outfits every week, living out of my same backpack I left America with 145 days ago. And NOBODY seems to know what a pedicure is. Needless to say, I feel a little rough.
My Bible says “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” but there is no way this verse can be literal right? Cause I’ll be honest, my feet, and my whole self for that matter, are far from looking their best. My skin covered in bug bites, heat rashes and a constant state of sweat has given me plenty of reason to question the validity of that word, beautiful.
Not feeling presentable has become a way of life, with stained outfits, crazy hair, and bags under my eyes being my daily uniform. However, despite the reality of how my outward appearance is looking this year, this word beautiful has never rung truer to my ears.
For me, the word beautiful has changed from a momentary description of the physical, into a characteristic carried by people filled with love for doing kingdom work. I no longer see imperfections on myself when I catch a rare glance into a mirror, but I see the way that God is transforming my heart to care more about what I am giving than how I am looking.
I am basking in the freedom to not be held down by how I feel I should look, or how others are perceiving me. It is a blessing to dance with my Jesus through this year of complete and utter surrender, un-pedicured feet and all.
Abby- caring less about feet and more about hearts
