His Reflection?

As I was getting ready for work this morning, after taking a shower and getting dressed, brushing my teeth and drying my hair, I began to apply my makeup. Although it has been almost two years since my Lasik eye surgery, it is still strange for me to "see" myself without glasses when I look in the mirror. Since I have had to wear glasses from a very young age, I had grown accustomed to having to get REALLY close to the mirror in order to see myself. When I was in early high school, I remember having lash marks on the mirror because I had to get so close to the mirror to see my eyes without my glasses on. I soon learned how to apply ALL of my makeup with the use of a mirror (still can if in a pinch). ;) Anyway, so this brings me back to the story about today.

As I was somewhere in the process this morning of applying my eye shadow, a little blush, some eye liner and maybe some mascara (hadn't decided yet if I want to go to that hassle or not), I realized that I was standing at a normal distance from the mirror and how that still amazes me that I can actually see myself from that distance. I decided that today was indeed a mascara kinda day, so as I was putting some on my right eye, I caught a glimpse of my left side in the mirror because we have a tri-fold mirror and the mirror on the left was slightly ajar after I took my mascara out of its place. I should note here that it indeed WAS in it's proper place which means that my 16 year old daughter has managed to hang on to HER mascara for over three weeks straight now! Impressive. So continuing with the story..... it occurred to me that I read once that the two sides of your face are not the same/symmetrical. If you don't believe me, put your hand on the tip of your nose and "divide" your face. Look in the mirror at each half of your face and you will see a similar but very different view of your features. Not that I am one to go around looking at my face from all angles, but really, try it! It actually freaks me out a bit when I have done this before!

Back to my revelation....so there I was, applying my mascara to the lashes on my right eye, when I caught a glimpse of the left side of my face in the mirrored door that was ajar. I began to ask the Lord, "So do you think I have to put foundation on EVERY day now?" Ugh....I felt like I was looking into the eyes of a stranger. I stood there for a moment sizing myself up and began to think...."If I were someone else looking at me, would I appear to be a reflection of Him?" "Would I cast a good reflection of Him or a bad one?" Let me say that while in my bathroom this morning, I was feeling like I looked like an OK reflection of Him. I had a slight smile (after all it is funny to think that I was pondering being someone else looking at myself and what I might have thought of me), and my eye looked pleasant and trustworthy. I glanced at the clock and realized I had better hit the road. It was already 6:15 and I still needed to throw in a load of laundry and start the coffee for Dale before I left.

Later on, after arriving to work in the nick of time, I was presented with a slight challenge. You know how you learn something from the Lord or from his Word and then comes the putting it into practice? Well, yep....it was one of those moments for me this morning. A lady and her daughter had come in and were looking at color. The lady was choosing paint colors for her living-room, dining room and kitchen plus all ceilings and trim boards. After I had finished greeting her, she stated that they were going to look at color chips and would let me know when they were ready to discuss sheens and paint quality, etc.

In the meantime another lady had come in and upon my greeting, "Hello. What may I help you with today?" She stated abruptly, "I know what I want....just give me a minute and I will find it!" With that said, she headed over to the color chip section. I had many things that I wanted to say in response, but have worked in customer service related jobs long enough to know that when you open your mouth, you have already lost and just get yourself further into the hole you have dug for yourself if they retaliate with a comment you don't like. So, although I had plenty to say......I said nothing. The lady and her daughter asked, "Should we use semi-gloss on the ceiling?" "You can if you like", I stated, "But most people use flat because it shows less imperfections and won't show roller marks as easily on the ceiling as a semi-gloss will."

"Do you have a really washable flat? Because this is going to go in a kitchen." I proceeded to tell them about our washable flat that has the washability of a semi-gloss without the shine and it is also low VOC and low odor....when who chimes in? Yep...the other lady! And it wasn't a polity "chiming in"...nope it went more like this, "Oh," (as she nudges me out of the way with her elbow)...what color are you looking at for your walls?" The lady and her daughter look at her a bit puzzled as they didn't know if she worked there or not and after a few glances back and forth...first looking at me..then her...then me ....then her...the lady states, "Well, I am only asking because I am an interior designer and I KNOW my color!"

Yep....there was the test. See, I am part of a new Beth Moore Bible study being conducted by my ladies group. Our first meeting was last week and the over all theme of the study for our homework is this thought: It is hard being a woman in another woman's shadow. As I remembered the theme for the week, I immediately, I thought "Ah-ha!" this is a classic case of that statement....this interior designer was in my shadow and she was going to do whatever she could to be number one on my "turf". She was telling the other lady, "You want to use flat on the ceiling, satin on the walls and a semi-gloss on trim and cabinet work. Now, what color are you planning on painting the ceiling?" The lady said, "Oh...we probably will paint it the same color as the walls." The interior designer states, "Oh...you don't want to do that. Just have them tint the ceiling paint at 1/8Th of the formula as the wall color. Then you will have cohesiveness within the space. My thought was: "What you will have is olive green walls and a mint colored ceiling." The daughter says, "Oh mom. That might look nice." I am screaming inside ..........no!!!!! The mom says...well lets ask the paint lady. Mind you we are ALL standing within about 2 feet from one another. "What do you think?", she asks me....the interior designer looking on with a "crusty face"as we called it as kids.

Never to be one to lie about a color (right or wrong....I'll tell you straight up if you have a good color or not....sorry) I tell her that I cannot cut the color she is planning on using on the walls and get a lighter shade of that color for the ceiling because it is in a deep base and the extra white base has more white pigment in it and will make the lighter color not only lighter, but much more gray than the color on the wall. The interior designer, once again elbowed me (!) and says, "Well, just ask one of the MEN to do it. I'm sure they can figure it out for you. They won't be difficult at all." Then she looks at me, brushes past me and smiles...one of those smiles that says "I am smiling....but not really!"

At this moment, I was about ready to say, "Would you appreciate it if I started talking with your client about how to arrange their furniture in a space? Would that be acceptable to you? I think not!" No sooner than the thoughts hit my mind than she says, "We all know that ANYONE can work in a paint store but it takes someone with a great eye for color to visualize it in a space. That's where I come in! I am here on vacation, but my daughter works up at (mentions a local design center) and she has a great eye for color. Here is her card. You can talk with her. She's great. You would have to purchase your paint at the (competitor) paint store as that is what she will recommend, but they can match any Sherwin-Williams color...no problem. That's what I am doing. I love Sherwin-Williams colors but I will just get them matched over there because my son-in-law is a painter and he buys ALL of his paint there." Then she looks at me and puts me on the spot by saying to me, "Hope you don't mind if I send someone to your competitor for the paint....but I just LOVE your guy's colors!" Again, she brushes past me with that same little smile.

Now I am fuming inside. I think to myself, "How dare she! That is the rudest thing I have heard in a while. Send MY customer to a designer, send her to my competitor to get MY color matched in THEIR paint...all while discussing this in MY store!!!!" She didn't so much as even try to be discrete! Crazy! I thought...."It sure is hard to be a woman in another woman's shadow isn't it, Honey?" The Lord quickly reminded me that I was the one getting upset....that maybe I am the one having to live in the shadow (even if it was a self-made shadow). At this point, I hadn't said a word in defense. I listened and even at one point I walked away a bit as to NOT say something. Then just as quickly as she came into the store, she leaves with a handful of paint chips. I am left with the lady and her daughter and I am now at a loss for words. I ask them if they have any questions. The lady states, "Yep a few. Does that lady work here?" "No she doesn't. I am so sorry about that whole thing. I'm not quite sure what happened there." She goes on to say that she thought it was so rude of her to say any of that and that she thought it sounded as though she had a personal grudge against me.

Now she wants to order the paint for her project. I begin to discuss sheen and she says, "By the way...is your name Yvonne?" I tell her it is Yvette and she says, "Yep. You are the lady that Home Depot over in Albany recommended. I told them that I lived in Newport and they said that you are THE lady to see when it comes to color. Do you know Bill? From Home Depot in Albany?" I have no clue who he is but I think I owe him a thank you! The lady orders her paint once we decide on a sheen and quality and she decides to paint the ceiling and wall the same color...per her original plan. I handed her my business card and told her that if she had any questions (this is her first ever painting project) that she can reach me any day but Sundays or Mondays.

Just before closing, she called me up to let me know that my painting advice was great and that the color look AWESOME in her house. She will be back in for the living and dining rooms when she completes the kitchen. Then she added, "You handled that situation today very well. I don't think I would have been able to hold back like you did. I could tell you were getting upset and that she was in your space and trying to take over, but I wanted you to know that you did an awesome job today."

The Lord reminded me as I went about performing my closing duties that if I had reacted to the interior designers slams and rudeness today, that nobody would have been able to see Him shine through. If I ad gotten outwardly upset about the fact that my turf was being invaded, I would have lost this battle. For the Word says that we battle not against flesh and blood (interior designers) but against rulers and powers of the enemy (my paraphrase of course). Now, as far as the battle that rages within......the Lord is the one that will overcoming ALL of my battles...whether inward or outward battles. I think that today I look a bit more like my Father than I did this morning. The challenge is to do it again tomorrow when faced with another moment of testing of the spirit.