Skip to main content

Well Preserved at Fifty


I laughed when I heard all the hoopla about Barbie turning 50. My daughters had a huge collection of the dolls when they were very young and memories flooded my mind of our living room filled with Barbie going to the beach, Barbie in evening gowns, and Barbie in casual shorts to name just a few. My husband teased about their collection telling me that our living room reminded him of a huge game of Twister with slender legs sticking up in all directions. It was their world and their dolls performed activities that their little imaginations created.


I was amused one day when I listened to the dialogue exchanged between my two girls and a friend’s daughter who was spending the night. The Barbie setting was Christian focused and the back drop was Sunday School Class. Lynda, our pretty pastor’s wife was in the cast as well as Elaine and Judy, both of them Sunday school teachers as well as moms and also good friends of mine in Women’s Ministry at our church. lt was so cute to hear these three “producers” direct their actresses with their make believe story.


I shared at Women’s Bible Study the impact Sunday School teachers had on my girls and how it affected their play time. I thought Lynda, Elaine & Judy would fall off their chairs they were laughing so hard. I wondered if they would ever live down the jokes we made of their new found fame as Barbie Dolls. Here’s the clincher: Lynda, Elaine & Judy were tall, slender, tan and had long, straight hair. They came from California and were true Valley girls converted to Jesus and served him with all their hearts.


It wasn’t long before our Women’s Ministry took a new turn, especially in our Bible studies. The gorgeous pastor’s wife, an excellent teacher and leader, targeted studies with themes that dealt with heart motives and less exterior image. We became women focused on purity rather than outer adornment. Our Lord became our producer and we were living out a new script!


I’ve since moved from that little town on the border of California and Arizona. What I wouldn’t give to see those real live Barbie dolls, umm….well past the age of 50!

Comments

  1. Kathleen March 10, 2009 at 5:27 AM

    Just think, Ken may not have aged quite so well!

    It took me such a long time to get the "inside" beauty thing. Externals were important for far too long. So it saddens me to watch our sex-saturated culture fuel it with far more tinder than Barbie.

    I hope they'll come out with a grey-haired Barbie, or an arthritis Barbie. I'd howl, and probably have to buy one.

    Kathleen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laurie AnnMarch 10, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    What a great post! I love how the Lord directed their play time. Just precious.

    Thank you so very much for the encouragement you gave in your comment this morning. I love that verse from Jeremiah and wanted to say thanks for agreeing with me in prayer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PistolmomMarch 10, 2009 at 10:07 PM

    www.freedoms-fight.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spiritual Sundays ~ Flamboyant Love

I was shopping for a birthday card during my lunch hour last week when I overheard an elderly woman in the card aisle talking to her niece, a woman about my age. Here is what she said: “ I threw out all my cards. They never meant those words anyway .” Lots of laughter followed. How sad I thought to be unable to receive the love sent to her in the sentiments of a card. This incident got me thinking about the love of God and resolving to embrace it when it is offered to me. It doesn’t matter if I think I’m worthy of such extravagant love; He thinks so! In contrast, just a day later I received one of those gorgeous hand-crafted cards in the mail from my friend, Kay, who loves paper crafting. It was so pretty and love and joy just oozed out of it when I opened it. This is a sample of her designs at Creativity is Good. Kay wrote a beautiful note to me in the card reminding me of God’s tender love for me. She ended her thoughts with “The God of the universe loves us more than we can ever f...
25 comments
Read more

Holiday Movie Comes to Life

It’s uncanny when a new holiday movie comes out and resembles your personal life.   I came clean to my husband on that drive to the Harkins in Sedona confessing that the movie got bad ratings.   It isn’t the type of movie that he would choose to see in the first place.   Rotten Tomatoes gave it one star.   My prince charming replied:   “ Let’s see what we think of it and rate it ourselves.”   Yes!   High five to his palm! It started out as a fun afternoon date.   It would have been perfect if the lady directly in front of me didn’t have on super-strength perfume.   Smells can be troublesome when you’re prone to headaches.   I stuck my head in a big bucket of buttered popcorn; you know-- to alleviate her fragrance, because popcorn smell is less offensive.   What else is a girl like me to do? We named the genre “drama with comedy.”   Cast of characters acted like the typical family scene at Christmas tim...
27 comments
Read more

Abba's Lap

I noticed a behavior pattern in little Amy, twenty months old, that I want to imitate.  She moves fast engaging in one toddler activity after another spinning like a whirlwind from one room to another.  Yet, she pauses,  intermittently , long enough to get refreshed.   I want to be like this grandchild of mine because she knows where to go and how to get comforted. Amy moves at record speed, putting more miles on a pedometer in one hour than my accumulated weekly workouts at the gym.  She can build a skyscraper so tall, I wonder why those bright pink Lego’s don’t topple to the ground as she continues to stack just one more piece on top. I learned never to leave the room to get another cup of coffee.  Once, when I returned, I found her climbing past the couch with hands and feet reaching for the living room drapes. She has a consistent habit that I admire.  In the midst of her activities, as she moves robustly from one play...
51 comments
Read more