Looking One's Best!

This past Monday, I fulfilled a wish my wife has had ever since we moved to Lancaster back in 1989. No, I did not give her a diamond necklace, or make plans for a Caribbean vacation. Nope. Much simpler and cheaper than either of those. I took her to the Pennsylvania State Farm Show. She had never been to the Farm Show, and after hearing about it year after year after year on the news, she wanted to go for herself and check it out. Now - you must think I am a rotten husband. "Come on, John! It took you 20 years to drive your wife 48 miles to the State Farm Show Complex? Really!" OK, may I speak in my own defense? Thanks! It is not that we did not try to go in the past. Several times when our kids were younger, we had planned to go - only to have one of them get sick. On a couple of other occasions we had planned to go, only to be stopped by inclement wintry weather. So it is not that I did not try (OK, perhaps I did not try hard enough. After growing up in the city of Harrisburg and attending the Farm Show EVERY year that I was in elementary school - going to the Farm Show was not very high on my agenda!). So all that to say, Sharon finally got to the Farm Show on Monday.

After fighting the crowds and navigating around piles of you-know-what for a few hours, we were more than ready to head for home. While at the Farm Show, we had a good time listening to pigs squeal, checking out numerous displays and sampling lots of different foods. For me, one of the more fascinating activities involved people grooming their cattle for showing (see photo). I was amazed at how painstakingly they approached brushing and trimming the cattle's hair - even going as far as applying some "VERY strong hairspray" (as one person told me when I asked what she was spraying on the animal's coat.). And they made this effort in hopes that their animal would look its best in front of the judges.

Reminds me of how we often go to extremes to look good in front of others (I spend hours trying to get my hair just right!). It is certainly not a bad idea to look good when out among people. But if most of us would spend even half of the time grooming our inner character as we do our outer appearance - we would be better for it! Remember what is really important. Consider what Scripture says, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). So as we spend time polishing up our outer beings - let's not neglect the heart!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj