Masks

I had a good time looking through some old pictures tonight.  I must have loved to dress up as a child, because I came across a TON of photos of me in costume.  For your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd embarrass myself and show you a few.

Yes, that really is me under that bed sheet with eye holes.  For added effect, I think my parents sacrificed their sheers off one of the windows to give me that ghostly, flowing affect.

I always knew I'd be a mom.  So one year, I dressed up as the "Statue of Motherhood."  Look closely and you'll see that I'm holding a rolling pin as my torch, I have curlers in my hair, Noxema on my face, a cabbage patch doll under one arm, a mu-mu nightgown, and fluffy slippers. This was one of my more "creative" get-ups.

This year, I crossed gender barriers and was an old man.  This was obviously waaaaay before cross-dressing was cool.

Okay, now you're in for a real treat.  You may want to sit down for this one.  

....wait for it....

....wait for it....

...wait for it.....

C'mon!!  You have to agree that I TOTALLY ROCKED the cat suit!  

Okay, okay, YES, maybe I was 16 years old and waaaaaay too old to be trick-or-treating.  And, NO, I wasn't wearing pants.... but STILL, you have to admit that this is pretty awesome. Should win some kind of award of something. 

Truth be told, I still sometimes wear masks.  No, not old man masks or plastic kitty noses, but more invisible kinds of masks.  Sometimes, especially in public places, I put on the "I'm the most patient, loving mom" mask and hope that my children put on their "well behaved and polite" masks.  Other times, especially when we have company over to our house, I like to wear my "Betty Crocker and Martha Stewart all rolled into one" mask, and just hope that no one opens any closed doors.  And possibly the most scandalous one of all...when I'm at church, I sometimes put on the "holy and righteous" mask.  All of these masks are simply a facade to hide what I know to be true about myself:  I'm NOT the greatest mom.  I'm NOT the greatest housewife.  And I'm NOT the perfect Christian.  You see, somewhere along the way, I've heeded to that lying voice of the enemy that hisses, "don't let everyone around you get close enough to expose you as a fraud."

Have you ever felt this way?  It's a problem that is common to man.  In fact, it's a problem that has been around practically since the beginning of time.  In the Garden of Eden, before Eve ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were uncovered, naked, nothing hidden from the sight of God and each other.  However, when that choice was made to disobey God....it all changed.  Adam and Eve became aware of their nakedness.  So, "they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."  (Genesis 3:7)  The first costume came from Adam and Eve believing the lying voice of the enemy saying "you need to cover yourselves."

However, because truly nothing is hidden from God's sight, and because God loved them...

1. God exposes their SIN.  He asked Eve, “What is this you have done?”.  Even though He already knows the answer, He gives her an opportunity to confess her sin.

2.  God gives consequences.  For the woman--labor pains in childbirth.  For the man--labor pains in working the ground for food.  And then they were both separated from God forever, because sin can not be tolerated.

3.  But then, most beautifully, God said, "I've got you covered."  To cover them, an innocent animal must die. "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21).  Innocent blood was shed to cover the nakedness of man and woman.  This is a picture of Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, whose blood was shed to cover our sins. 

So, because of this, I should live my life knowing that "God's got me covered."  Under His grace, I'm free to be me, imperfections and all.  I don't need to hide it.  I don't need to fake it.  I can stop pretending to be perfect, because as the scriptures say, there is "none righteous, no not one."  I can rest in knowing that God is still molding me into the person He wants me to be.  I haven't yet "arrived".  I'm still a work in progress.  And I can lean into His holiness and not try to manufacture my own.  That's waaaaay better than trying to keep up with all the masks.  

And by ALL means, I've learned my lesson.  You'll never catch me in faux fur ever, ever again.