A Quick Nose-Dive!
Rev. Sudha Mehta©
Big Nose Photo from NYPost
Disclaimer: This post is not intended to offend anyone. It is intended to make you smile and to celebrate “Noses” of all shapes and sizes everywhere in the world, in a self-deprecating style! Smile!!
Time for confession today! I am told it is good for the soul.
James 5: 16 Therefore confess the sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man being made effective prevails much. (BLB)
If there is one thing I have not liked about my physical appearance it has been my nose. I come from a family of big noses on my daddy’s side. Mommy had a beautiful nose, however, I felt I might end up inheriting daddy’s genes for this one part on my face. Growing up in India as a young teenager, I was as conscious of my appearance as every other teen. Every teen feels self conscious for they think everyone else is critiquing him/her. I was no exception.
It was the one thing on my face that got sun-burnt. It was the one feature I dreamed of someday getting fixed by a plastic surgeon. No one else thought so, and all my parents efforts to comfort me were of naught for the mirror spoke differently to me. I saw what no one else saw. Parents have different eyes, they see their children as perfectly formed. So I thought as I dismissed their opinion. They just wanted me to feel good about myself and failed to see all my imperfections . . .
Like the time when I decided I had put on some weight! Since mommy thought I would lose my “rosy cheeks” and daddy disagreed that I needed to go on a diet, he tried to make me feel better, but struggled finding the right words and said, “Baby, you are not fat, you are just . . . nicely plump!”
I was supposed to feel good about being “nicely plump???!!”
So, I worked on losing the few extra pounds, but alas, nothing could be done about my nose!!
When I became a Christian and came to appreciate the works of God, I understood that He made me special, the same as He made you. I understood that each one us is unique and uniquely made by God. I also realized that complaining about His workmanship was not a good thing. So, I repented and asked His help to accept my proboscis. Some days were easier than others . . .
Psalm 139: 13 For You formed my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvelous are Your works,
and I know this very well.(BSB)
The first time I had my nose broken was when my daughter was seven. I bent down to kiss her, and she leaped at the same time to hug me. My nose and her head met in the middle. I know the sound, the pain and the instant discoloration, and . . . yes, the pain. This was another miracle of healing in my life. Twenty minutes is all it took. I prayed, the Lord heard and all the swelling left, the discoloration was gone. No pain, and no one knew. Trust me, I had broken it . . . the new bump on my nose was ample evidence. This bumpy nose was now mine to keep.
Big Nose 2. tumblr photo from GramUnion
After a move to another state, I took a job for a few months teaching preschoolers age 4-5. One day I got to school a bit earlier than usual, so I was working at a leisurely pace to set up my classroom, when little Emma burst on to the scene. She had been dropped at school a little early by her dad.
Little Emma was an effervescent blue eyed blonde cutie that had very much warmed her way into my heart. I was to find out this morning that she was also very fond of me.
“MISS SUE!! . . . ” she squealed in delight and ran toward me from across the hall. I braced myself for impact and wham, she was in my arms hugging me tight. Then as quick as a whirlwind, she pulled back just a bit, and still being held in my arms, she grabbed a hold of my schnoz and cried aloud, “HONK!”
I had to work hard on regaining composure, but I managed and instructed her, “Emma, You must never do that to Miss Sue again!”
“Why? My daddy lets me do it!” . . . that’s how I knew I was special to Emma. This “HONK” was something reserved for the special people in her life.
But, I did also remember her daddy did taxidermy for a hobby, he probably liked a lot of things I didn’t. So, I had to tell her, “You may do it to your daddy, but you must never do it to Miss Sue!”
“Okay,” she said and skipped away. We never had to speak of it again. But my wounded pride once again said, “I wish my nose was different.”
At one point I even spoke to a Plastic Surgeon about the possibility of redoing my nose. “Yes, we do Rhinoplasty here,” he said. “Rhino . . .! . . . “ I got stuck on that. My nose was not to my liking, but calling it “RHINO” left a very bad picture in my mind, so I did not pursue it.
Proverbs 16: 18 Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall.(BSB)
Well, years went my, and I had learned to live with my nose . . . until a couple of weeks ago.
In a hurry to get to my car parked outside the garage with a wet towel in hand to wipe a small mess from the seat, I decided to take a very fast nosedive to the garage floor. Cement and nose! I think I saw stars, and this time there was blood all over. The sound was the same as many years ago, but the damage was greater in that I had a cut on my forehead as well and my new glasses were scratched.
The first words out of my mouth, I think were the same as those I spoke many years ago, “Father, help me!” There was no one else around. my phone was still in my car. I was a bit dazed, but I made it to the car, called Peter and asked him to come home, just in case I had a concussion, and to take care of our pets as needed.
Long story short, upon his and my children’s insistence I did go to the Emergency room at the hospital, and confirm, it was broken quite badly in many pieces, and also that they couldn’t do anything about it. It would have to heal on it’s own. At the time I didn’t even notice that my left knee was swollen so I did not even mention it.
You may ask, “No miracle this time?”
Actually, “Yes.” The fall I took was very nasty! Yet I had no concussion, no broken bones elsewhere, and the pain had subsided to just a mild discomfort by the time we got to the ER. I felt it was a waste of time going there.
Doctor in ER photo by bryanhealth.com
In fact the nose was not painful, but the doctor injured my pride a lot when he asked my husband sitting beside me, “How is your wife’s . . . ” and tapped his own head!
My husband didn’t need to say anything . . . I was hugely insulted . . .
“Incredulous! You are asking HIM about my brain! . . . I am right here, ask me?! . . . my brain is just fine . . . there is nothing wrong with my brain . . . I tripped over a pole that HE (pointing to my husband) left laying on the floor in the middle of the garage . . . and you are asking him about my MIND??!!”
What would you say if you were in my shoes!!
He apologized and asked what I did, “Right at the moment, I am a writer, a Bible Teacher, a Counselor . . . you want more?! . . . my mind is just fine!!!!!” I think I repeated that several times!
My husband just said, “Well, . . . you heard her!”
I healed very fast, the swelling took a bit of time this round, but the lessons in humility and forgiveness keep coming. First the doctor asking about my “Mind” and then my lovely friend saying I looked like Jimmy Durante.
jimmy-durante-silver-screen photo from Fine Art America
I said that was going too far . . . like Emma saying “Honk!” Then the Lord reminded me how I had just told my grandsons they would know great-grandpa in Heaven by his big nose.
The Lord asked: “Did you not insult your daddy?”
Quick to the defense I stated, “But he is dead! . . . and I was just being funny!!”
“So was your friend!” Came the reply. I got the message.
Two weeks later, my nose is fine, (as is my knee) and I am more humbled. I write and say, “I like my nose, Father. Now it has a more pronounced bump on it, Thank you for giving me a new nose with a shelf to rest my glasses.”
I have no desire to blame God for this, however I do thank Him for the Rhinoplasty, in that despite of breaking into many pieces, my septum did not deviate, and I can breathe just fine.
Someone said, “Be careful what you ask, you just may get it.”
Some Life Lessons learned from The Fall:
A sense of humor is always good! Laughter is a big aid in healing. For all you skeptics this is confirmed even by medical science.
Proverbs 17: 22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.(BSB)
Nehemiah 8:10b Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (BSB)
Here is another bit of learning: You all know how I love to use pictures to tell stories. Sometimes it takes me a lot to find the right pictures. I am totally appreciative to all those marvelous photographers that enrich the internet photo libraries for the benefit of non-gifted-photographers like me. That said, sometimes I see a picture that begs to have a story told, other times I have a story for which I hunt for hours to find the right photo.
So, for this blog, I had to find some good photos. and I made an awesome discovery. I am not alone with a big proboscis. There are so many fellow human beings with the same, and they have learnt to celebrate their noses unlike me! There are BIG NOSE CLUBS! Because they have the right attitude, they see their noses and their faces as beautiful!
Big nose photo from bignoseclub.ph
Even Big Nose Championships!!
big nose photo 4 hans_roest photo from tlelocal.de.
I am working on my attitude toward my own nose . . .
There is even a TWITTER CAMPAIGN encouraging people to show off their big noses with selfies! Amazing! I think I will join this group, this club! . . . Maybe tomorrow! After I have learned to take a selfie I like! It never comes out good you know, my face looks contorted in every selfie I have taken . . . . It shows like an . . . out of proportion . . . NOSE!
Smile!!! We all have our imperfections . . . yet they are perfect in God’s definition of beauty!
Like/Join/Follow us on Facebook/Wordpress/google/Twitter:
One Way Studies 