Since I broke my neck and have been wearing a cervical collar 24/7, I have had many questions about how I cope—Do you have to wear the collar when you sleep?  Yes.  Can you take it off to shower?  No.  Isn’t it annoying?  Yes.

One of the most difficult things to get accustomed to, though, has been the inability to follow my usual “beauty” regimen.  Makeup and hair care have become nearly impossible.  Even shampooing is a three-person process:  I wash my hair in the shower wearing the collar.  Then I lie down on the bed for daughter-in-law Kandee to very carefully remove the wet collar.  Daughter-in-law Heather replaces wet pads with dry ones so that Kandee can put back on the dry collar.

Since my neck must remain immobilized at all times, trips to the beauty salon for haircuts and color were pleasures of the past until Kandee and my talented hairdresser, Kathy Tucker,  figured out how to help bedraggled looking me.  Friday morning, December 1, Kandee held my neck in place while Kathy quickly cut and colored my hair and sent me home for a final shampoo and rinse in my own shower.  Different—but effective.  I felt like a new person!

As I awkwardly dried and curled my hair and prepared to go to an afternoon funeral, though, I still saw a chipmunk staring back at me in the mirror—squished-up jaws, new wrinkles emerging above the tight collar encasing my neck, and no makeup except lipstick because it would get on the collar.  Not a very attractive picture—but one I needed to accept.

Dressed in one of few outfits that would fit over the collar and with my new hairdo in place, I climbed in the back of the car with Jon and Kandee and headed for the funeral of 93-year old Cleo Rosella Mullis Cloninger (Boots), grandmother to my daughter-in-law Stephanie, and a long-time friend of our entire family.

As we entered the church, I could not help but notice the almost packed sanctuary full of people there to honor and remember Boots and comfort her husband Bob and the rest of her loved ones. Rev. Noel Sweezy, the first minister to speak, stood, prayed, then asked the congregation to call out words to describe Mama Boots.  “Sweet, kind, caring, compassionate, fun loving, always smiling, gentle, humble, soft spoken, lover of children” echoed across the audience.  Then he read 1 Corinthians 13 and asked us to think of the many ways Boots emulated that passage. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”  (1 Cor. 13:4-6 NLT)  Yes, that was the Boots I remembered.

The second minister, Rev. Sonny Reavis, Boot’s nephew, shared memories of how Mama Boots had taken him and his sister into her own home for a year when he was eight years old and lavished love and attention on them in ways that transformed their lives.  He credited Boots with preparing his heart for his call to ministry as she had demonstrated the love of Christ to him in his young life.

As the beautiful service concluded, I could not help but dab damp eyes when Lauren Luckadoo, Boots’ great granddaughter and my own precious granddaughter, lifted glorious praises to our Creator as she sang How Great Thou Art.  Lauren was probably the last child Mama Boots had lovingly cared for in her declining years before dementia robbed her of precious memories.

What a tremendous testimony to a life well lived in service to King Jesus!

As we followed the casket out of the service for transport to the cemetery, my mind drifted to the Proverbs 31 woman, a wonderful role model for any Christian woman:

“Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.” Prov. 31:28-30

Such was Cleo Rosella “Boots” Mullis Cloninger.  She was a beautiful woman physically—but much more so spiritually.  What a legacy she left!  What an example for younger women following behind.

This morning as I read today’s devotional thoughts from Daily Guideposts, I thought once again of Mama Boots.  The focal passages were 1 Sam. 16:7 (NIV), “People look at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,” and 1 Peter 3: 3-5 (NLT) “Don’t be concerned about outward beauty.  . . clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.  This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God.”

A moment of conviction pierced my heart.  Even though I might look like a chipmunk in my own eyes, I am a part of “God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  (Eph.  2:10 NLT)

That Still Small Voice seemed to whisper that He made me and He was there “as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.”   (Psalm 139:15 NLT)

Further, He will do some repair work and weave my broken bones back together.  While I wait, I just need to concentrate on developing that inward beauty that shone forth in Mama Boots rather than fret too much about looking like a chipmunk.  After all, chipmunks are cute, too!