Glitter Face

Was it just me this past holiday season, or have Christmas cards and cards in general taken on more glitter? Did card manufactures glam up the greetings so we’d be dazzled into buying them?

I’m not sure. But there are some things I am sure about. For one thing, glitter goes everywhere—the floor, your clothes, your hands. And once it’s on your hands, it migrates to your face.

This creates a huge problem for me. I get mesmerized by glitter.

I have no idea how many times during the holiday and afterwards I noticed a shiny speck of glitter on someone’s nose, cheek, or forehead. Instantly, I’m distracted and desperately trying to stay in touch with what the person is saying.

But it’s all rather hopeless because all the while I’m wondering where the glitter came from. A Christmas card on her desk? A stray sparkle from a holiday ornament? A runaway from someone else’s holiday collection?

Then more questions pop into my mind. Do I tell her? Does he want to know he’s got a piece of glitter on his nose? Where can you go for glitter etiquette?

Nowhere.

So what’s a person to do? As glitter begins to fade away until next Christmas, fewer and fewer people are sparkling. (The shiny distractions are likely finding their way to. . . Oh, never mind.) It’s a relief because I have less to consider when speaking with someone and more ability to concentrate on the discussion at hand.

What I decided in the final analysis this past holiday was to let people sparkle without even knowing it. Would she mind if a tiny piece of glitter jazzed up her cheek? Would he care if a shiny bit rode his forehead for a day? Probably not. So I never said anything. Likely they never knew, nor did they know that I knew.

But I did. I knew they sparked when they didn’t know it.

And that reminded me of something spectacular.

In Exodus 34:29-35 we find another shining one. It was Moses whose face shone after he had spent time with God. Then in Acts 4:13 there is a similar incident. Peter and John were bold in their message, but they were unlearned and ignorant men. So how was their boldness possible? They had been with Jesus. It seems so simple, doesn’t it?

Yet we touch glittery Christmas cards, and the glitter rubs off on us. We become like who we hang out with; they influence us. Moses hung out with God, and it affected his appearance. Uneducated men followed the Son of God for three years, and they became bold.

Some years ago I had a good friend—maybe too good of a friend. I talked about my friend often. I shared her ideas with other people, even when she wasn’t around. I’m embarrassed to even remember how much of what she said and thought became a part of me. I wasn’t even aware of how influential she was in my life until my husband pointed it out. I was spending so much time with her that I was becoming like her.

But we aren’t supposed to become like someone on this earth; a child of God is to become like Jesus Christ. In this new year as I have spent more time with the Savior, I find myself changing, perhaps in small ways, but changing nevertheless. It is my hope to change and glitter and be like my sparkly friends—glittering, sparkling and not even knowing. I want to shine because I have spent time with the Savior.

Who are you spending time with? How’s your sparkling coming along? Are we dazzling more and more each day?

Shine on!

P.S. You can let me know if you know about your sparkle etiquette, too, if you would, please.