Which do you follow?

                                     Age Gracefully, Not Youthfully 
                                         ( title from WWNH)

This is  the title taken from an email sent by What Women Never Hear.  Please read the article for  information.   I thought it was pertinent to today's cultural attitude towards "looking forever youthful."  It has a lot to do with designers trying to help women of all ages appear youthful.  One of Satan's schemes is to make us feel old and unattractive after we reach the age where the face starts to show a few wrinkles, our bodies show signs of mothering, and the calendar reminds us the years are passing quickly.  God never designed us to live in the same "condition" for all our earthly life.  Ever since Adam and Eve had sinned against God, we have a built-in deterioration mode. 

We cannot compare ourselves with others as no one is the same.  We may have similarities, but our desire should be to model the years that God has given us to His glory  and not to seek those ideals held by the world.  These ideals are put out by the variety of media that bombards us daily.  The less we have of it coming into our life, the more we are able to think Godward.  Simplify your life by eliminating those messages that come into your home, i.e. cut off the magazine subscriptions that are depicting worldly lifestyles and ideals, eliminate the TV or restrict it, don't keep up on the latest movies,  go window shopping, etc..

There is a more pleasing way to live than trying to keep up with the youth.  Seek ways that show the women around you that it is wonderful to grow older in the Lord and still look and act beautiful  by enhancing those traits that are Godly. Don't draw attention to yourself by trying to look like a teen or a twenty-something.

"Flee youthful lusts:  but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart."  2 Timothy 2:22

Use colors that look good on you, wear dresses and tops that aren't body revealing  (otherwise people can tell what size underwear you wear, how many lumps and bumps and where), use feminine touches of rufles and lace once in a while,  wear a swishy skirt,  wear a long denim skirt with a plaid blouse,  wear shoes that look good on your feet-- stilts aren't for most people (how many have had bad accidents with those shoes-they may be good for fending off an attacker)--practical low-heeled boots are good for winter.  Always consider the checks for modesty and fit. 

Wear a smile as that is the most beautiful attribute you have!