I had an absolute blast at the ladies Bible conference I attended at First Baptist Church of Sauk Village, Illinois! Those people were so warm and welcoming that I almost just stayed there and sent for the family! 😉 I was privileged to get to speak three times. One session was called “The Christian Lady’s Survival Kit: How to have Joy in Turbulent Times”. I originally had planned to present it to the teen girls, but the Lord changed things for me and I ended up presenting it to the whole group. I thought I’d pass it along, in the hopes it would be a blessing to you. It surely blessed me as I was preparing it.

This “survival kit” of sorts contains items that we all possess. I’m hoping that these things will serve as reminders of what we need to make in the Christian life.

First of all, you need a good mirror. Big, little, medium, it doesn’t matter. We can’t keep ourselves up to par if we can’t see ourselves. Our mirror in the Christian life is God’s Word. The Bible says in James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  We can’t begin a day without looking into the mirror at ourselves, nor should we! Likewise, we should not begin a day without looking into the mirror of God’s Word.

Next, you need your foundation, or base, makeup. Foundation covers the wrinkles, scars, blemishes, freckles and anything else we want covered up. Apply liberally and smooth in! It works wonders! Foundation which covers over our past reminds me of how love covers up so much. The Bible says in Prov.10:12  Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. God’s love covered up all of my sins when he demonstrated it from Calvary. Oh how I need to cover up the sins of others by loving them!

Okay, time for blush…now, we use blush to highlight our cheekbones and keep us from looking so washed out. But, when you think of the word “blush”, you think of embarrassment, shame or humility. Wow! Do we need to be humble! The Bible says it’s better to be “lowly” (Prov. 3:34, Prov. 11:2) What are we to do as Christian women? Well, Micah 6:8 says He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? We are to remain humble, and isn’t that easy to do when we remember just how sinful we are and how perfect HE is?

Next is mascara! I think mascara is such a nice touch. My best friend used to say she looked “dead” without it. A bit of exaggeration, but the truth is, it’s a nice touch that brings out the eyes. This serves as a reminder to keep our eyes on the Lord! It’s so easy to turn to the left or right or even down! But Psalm 25:15 says  Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. If we are careful to keep our eyes on the right things, the Lord will take care of our feet! Also, our eyes affect our hearts, (Lam.3:51) so it’s good to keep our eyes on the right things: those who encourage us to do right, the needy whom we can help, and our Bibles! The Bible also warns us not to set “wicked things” before our eyes. (Ps.101:3)

Now it’s time for my favorite: LIPSTICK! Oh yes, I love a good color on my lips! Not too bright, not too dull, but something in the neutral range. I also coat on some good ol’ Blistex to keep my lips moist. Lipstick makes me think of…yep, lips, and lips makes me think of words! I use a lot of words. The average woman uses about 20,000 words a day. I probably triple that! Naturally, with the use words comes a risk: are they the right kind of words? Our lipstick can remind us to speak words of:

• Prayer
• Praise 
• Love 
• Truth

Our perfume gently spritzed on as we head out the door reminds us that our lives should be a sweet smelling savor unto the Lord. Just as Mary offered the alabaster box of ointment to Jesus, (Mark 14:1-9) so should our lives be sweet smelling and pure. It doesn’t mean your background should be spotless! No one’s is, for one thing. We are all sinners! (Rom. 3:23) But it means we can begin today to live for the Lord and offer up a pure life for His use. How to remain pure? Well, it starts on the inside and comes to the outside. (Do NOT get the order reversed! Begin putting in the right things, and you will automatically (with little effort) get the right things on the outside.)

I always carry clear nail polish when I travel. I use it to stop runs in my hose! I know, hosiery is becoming a thing of the past, so call me old fashioned! But I can’t count how many times the velcro on my kids’ shoes has caused a tiny spot which grows into a huge runner in no time! Clear nail polish stops those runners in their tracks! That made me think of bitterness. It starts so small, but quickly grows and takes root around our hearts. Before we know it, we’re choking from it! We must stop bitterness in its tracks! How? By forgiving! Eph. 4:32 tells us that Christ forgave us, so we should forgive others. Sometimes, it takes a while to forgive. But how ever long it takes to rid yourself of that bitterness, start taking action. Remember, bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting on the other person to die. It just doesn’t work the way we think it will.

Lastly, I carry tissues with me. There will be tears in this journey called life. Some will be tears of sorrow, some tears of joy, some tears of hormones gone wild. But whatever causes those tears, just let them out. Ps. 56:8 says Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? The Lord cares about our tears, He keeps them, so just let them out. Cry out to Him! I like to think of it like this, if we bottle them up, then He can’t! He knows we are just dust (Ps. 103:14), and He understands us better than anyone!