Mascara for Church

This may seem like a silly post to some, but it was DEFINITELY a test of my faith and a little, daily miracle in my life.

Last Sunday I was driving all the kids to church and doing my make-up at the stoplights along the way.

All of a sudden I realized my mascara was not in my make-up bag!  I looked at my face and grumbled. I remembered not putting it back into my bag when I was done with it the last time, but I couldn't remember where I had haphazardly placed it... where could it be??

I could have gone without any other portion of my make-up… but not my mascara!!

We live 30 minutes from the church, and we were already running late.  It would have taken too long to return to the house.  This was a dilemma… It was not life-threatening, but it was definitely a difficult choice for me.

I have always been taught not to buy things on Sunday unless it is an emergency.  One of those reasons for not buying things on Sunday is that when we do we cause others to work for us on the Lord's Sabbath day.  (To me, it felt like a true emergency to not have to go to church looking like a zombie. My eyelashes are pretty blonde, so when I don't have mascara people look at me strangely and as politely as possible express how "different" I look.  It never fails- everyone notices.  I was also functioning on 3 hours of sleep, so I needed all the help I could get from the make-up department.)

I studied my face for a moment and told my children, "Don't judge me guys, but I have to stop by the store to buy some mascara!"

Immediately my children started shouting from the back of our van, "No you don't Mom! You look beautiful just the way you are!!  Don't buy it!!  You don't need it!!"

I sat silently for a while longer while we drove… I looked in the mirror at my barren eyes… I smiled extra big to see if it would draw attention away from my eyes.  Nothing worked- I still looked like a zombie.  I honestly did not want all kinds of attention drawn to me for how "different" I looked.

I pondered some more about the things I had been taught, and I thought about my cute children in the back; I mustered up my courage and said a prayer.

I said, "Heavenly Father, this is hard, but I am NOT going to stop at the store to buy the mascara… but will you PLEASE make me look as good as you can without it?"

Immediately after I said that prayer I felt something poking me on my seat.  I reached underneath me, and my mascara was right there!  I had been sitting on it the whole time!!

Would God still have loved me and thought I was a wonderful daughter of HIS even if I would have decided to buy the mascara on Sunday?  OF COURSE!

Would my kids have eventually understood their mother's weakness and forgiven me?  OF COURSE!!

However, I can't deny the fact that I had been looking for my mascara in the car for about 15 minutes while I drove, and it wasn't until AFTER I promised God that I would make a better choice to not buy new mascara on Sunday that it "suddenly" appeared. :-)

Was that a miracle?  ABSOLUTELY!

God could have shown me the mascara right at my moment of panic and at times HE does, but the divine timing of finding my mascara just after I had prayed with faith was a beautiful moment for me… I felt God's presence and concern over my simple decisions.

I believe HE wanted me to know that I had made a good choice… and what a BONUS!!!  I didn't even have to endure the experience of going to church without the mascara like I promised HIM I would if need be.

My children were thrilled to experience the little miracle on the way to church, and I felt much happier I was able to set an example for them even though their faith is what strengthened me.  The Lord loves us and is ready to be a part of every last detail of our lives!!  This I KNOW to be true!!!