I lose track of how many makeover shows there are, but I just know there are many. This just goes to show how many women are so consumed with trying to look beautiful on the outside, which all these shows promise to do for you. What these women don’t realize is that ten years from now they would again be looking for other ways to give themselves a makeover. They then resort to what technology now has to offer. Then they do it the next year again….and the year after that. I have to say, more and more people really are looking better and better on the outside, and I am amazed at how it’s getting harder and harder to tell a woman’s age now based on how she looks. If I had the money, oh wow I’m sure I’ll be tempted to try all these creams and facials!!

WAIT. This isn’t the kind of beautiful I wanted to talk about now. I actually wanted to introduce you to one beautiful woman I know and who is very dear to me…

Meet Sister Claire.

I went to visit this grand-aunt of mine today, who I grew up calling “Lola Madre” (the nickname because that’s what she is…my lola and a nun). She is a dentist by profession, but she chose to dedicate her life to God and the church. It’s been quite some time since we last got to visit her, and so upon entering her room and seeing her, I felt the tinge of reality of how quickly time passes. The last time I saw her, she wasn’t this…..old yet (and I say it with no negative connotation to the term whatsoever). I was surprised to see how her hair has now gotten all gray. Her crowning glory has always been a dark color….but then again that was probably because her hair was always covered! Hehe. She was always up and about every time we visited her in the past, but this time she was lying on her bed unable to move because she just got a hip fracture that warranted surgical procedures.

So yes, my dear Lola Madre looks so much different now, but you know what I kept thinking the whole time we were there chatting with her?  I was thinking of how beautiful she has gotten through the years. And then I was thinking of how I really shouldn’t worry so much about looking good on the outside as much as I should be concerned with making sure I have the right heart, cultivating the beauty that comes from within and that can only grow more beautiful with time.

My Lola Madre has devoted her life to mentoring hundreds of young women who have had difficult experiences. She has blessed so many with her life, showing care and compassion to those who needed it. She is content with life, and has chosen not to waste her years going after material gain or whatever this world would consider a measure of success. She has a relationship with God, which gives her peace and joy that transcends human understanding…and that peace can be seen in her eyes.

This Lola of mine is one beautiful woman and I thank her for reminding me of what beauty really is even without saying a word. I left her  room praying that I too, will age gracefully and beautifully. I left her room praying that I will always remember to pour my heart and my time not on the temporal things of this world– things that can be gone with just one swipe of a credit card or that will fade away with the help of the forces of gravity– but to pour out my life investing in things that really matter.

If I were to ask her for her top three tips on how to stay beautiful or how to become more beautiful with age, I doubt that she will know anything about the most effective moisturizers or slimming treatments. There might not even be any mention of any product. She would most likely give me the following tips:

1. Cultivate your relationship with God. He is the one who can give you joy and peace and love like no other, and that’s really what will give your face that irresistible glow.

2. Invest in and develop healthy relationships. There’s nothing like being surrounded with people who genuinely love you and who will sincerely rejoice with you in times of triumph, and stand with you in times of testing.

3. Stop thinking less of yourself, but think of yourself, less. (I heard this from someone else…was it Rick Warren?? Please correct me if I’m mistaken)

Okay, I’m just assuming that these will be her answers, but I’m pretty sure my made-up answers are not so far off from what she’d tell me. I’ll probably ask her when I visit her again, then I’ll compare her answers with my assumptions.

* I wrote this last January 16, 2011, but I just realized I never got to post it. Oops!

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