Moisturize

"Age has given me what I've been looking for my entire life - it has given me, ME. It has provided me with time and experience and failures and triumphs."

My last two years in college I lived in an apartment with a roommate. I met her the year before in the dorms - she lived across the hall. 

She was everything I wasn't, but definitely what I was pretending to be. 

She entered college acutely aware of her strengths and weaknesses. She  already knew her major, and diligently worked toward her end goal. She exuded confidence. 

Basically, she knew who she was. 

And loved herself. 

Last night, as I was applying lotion to our Peanut after her bath, I thought about that last roommate. 

Every night after she showered, she put on a robe, sat on our couch and applied lotion all over her body. It was a diligent routine. 

I can assure you her 19 year old legs did not need moisturizing. But she did it anyway. 

When I teased her about it, she said there would come a time when her body would need it, such as after a sunburn or as she aged, and she'd be ready. She would be in the habit of giving her body what it needed. 

I thought about how often when I come down with something it's because I haven't been giving my body what it needs. I'm not in the habit of nourishing it well when it's not an emergency. Suddenly, when I'm not feeling well, I can find my vitamins, drink some water, prioritize rest. 

I think our souls are similar. 

When we enter a season of challenge, it's like we've walked into the desert. 

We're not moisturized and ready. We aren't in the habit of giving our souls what it needs every day until it's an emergency. 

Then suddenly we are trying to pour out from empty. From dry. 

Sweet Daddy calls this the season of Michele in a joking manner. April is our anniversary and Easter (one of my favorites), May is my birthday and Mother's Day. In husband terms, it's remember to write 3 cards in a span of 6 weeks. 

As I've gotten older, and especially in the last few years as my body and soul have demanded it, I've learned that it always has to be a season of Michele in a sense. 

I always have to recognize what nourishes my body, my mind, my soul, my relationships,my emotions. 

I always have to maintain a level of oil in my lamp. I can no longer operate continually from empty. 

To be the kind of wife, mother, friend, relative that I want to be - I have to lean in to what makes me ME. 

Mama Warriors, as we walk Lent, I challenge you to get in the habit of putting on your lotion every day. 

Nourish your body, your mind, your soul EVERY single day in some small way. 

Not just so you are ready when a time of crisis comes, but so you can be the YOU He created you to be.