more and less

this afternoon as I got ready to spend some time poolside
I caught my reflection in the mirror
and I had a flashback
to a picture Bill took of me 
on our honeymoon in my brown one piece swim suit
avoiding a wave in the ocean
caption: young and beautiful

I have moved on to two piece suits now,
(a one piece is too hard to wiggle in to)
and my blouson top
combined with my skirted bottom
actually covers more 
than any one piece I tried on 
caption: old and bountiful

I chuckled to myself when those two captions
effortlessly popped into my mind 
and as I sat in a lounge chair 
I pondered them-
young and beautiful,
old and bountiful,
and it occurred to me that if I had to choose one or the other,
I would choose me now because there is more of me to love,
and it doesn't have anything to do with those extra pounds

God has used my life experiences
to whittle away much of who I was at 18
life and death have changed me
experience has refined my definition of beauty
circumstances have caused me to re-evaluate what is important

there is more of me 
because there is less of me 
and more of Jesus 
and in Him 
I am more than I could ever be without Him

because of Jesus living in me I am more
more forgiving
more kind
more compassionate
more thankful
more grateful
more loving
more peaceful
more patient
more joyful
more gentle
more God-fearing
more of the things that have beauty that never fades (or sags)