My 40yo Face

Well played, face! For 40 years, my face has smiled and frowned, curled and furled, shined and sallowed, tanned and burned, pimpled and paled, gasped and gaped, smoothed and wrinkled, been picked, prodded, peeled, and painted. So, it is only appropriate that the face that oohed and aahed over Italian fare and the Hamilton affair should wake up needing attention on the day of my 40th birthday. It straight up boiled over, or close. This is not my first rodeo with an abscess on my face, but I feel it oozing delight that my other “beauty mark” is keeping me humble.
 
So, I sat in the doctor’s office waiting to be seen for possible drainage, where I needed to make an appointment anyway before heading to Guatemala on Saturday for a mission trip. ;)
 
My face smirks with irony. Good news! No need for lancing just yet.
Just warm compress and antibiotics. Plus, I got a tetanus shot.

Faces are funny things, that grow and change with life and age. I am grateful for the one I’ve got. As Sandy Sasso wrote in God’s Echo: Exploring Scripture with Midrash, ​

“Since human beings are created in the image of God and no one looks like another, it is required to look in the faces of all people to catch a glimpse of the vastness of the divine. So individuals, from the very young to the very old, provide different insights into the divine Word.”
​

So, if you see me with a washcloth on my face, remember that God’s face is diverse and interesting and wonderful. And no matter if your face is wearing a smile or a scowl, ​I will see the Divine in you, too