Recently, in light of [1] Carmon’s post on negative homeschooling press, I have been thinking of all the things that make a woman look haggard.

Working 8 hour days and coming home to take care of a family

Nursing a baby

[2] Early pregnancy. I bet she feels like Amy, the Haggard these days.

Late pregnancy

Having 1 toddler

The flu

Cancer

Auto-immune disease. I know someone who lost all of her hair along with her vanity.

Having 2 toddlers

Carrying a baby to church

Sitting with a toddler in church

Having twins

Taking care of the sick

Taking meals to the needy

Reading too late at night

Rising also while it is still night

Some husbands

Having 3 toddlers

Cleaning the house

Planning a wedding

Gardening

Feeling alone

Being disconnected from the head

Talking to teenagers until the wee hours (Hey, folks, its got to be done.)

Bad genes

Bad jeans

Talking to teenagers in the wee hours of the night and then waking up early to nurse the baby

Low iron

Straying children

Straying husbands

Laundry

Unit studies

Diapers

Sick children

Conflict

Life

Can you think of anything else?

Seriously though, I certainly don’t think looking haggard should be a goal but I also know that sometimes faithful women don’t look good. Even one baby can wreck havoc on a mom’s rest. I frequently joke that 10 years of my life were a blur. I lost all my earrings during those years and never had time to purchase more. I stopped wearing make-up at 29 and began again at 40. There is a season of life called “haggard.” You don’t have to wallow in it but you probably can’t avoid it.

I Samuel 16:7
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”