Now I See Clearly -- A Guest Post by Shelley Pierce

Today it's my pleasure to welcome a new friend to Hungry for God ... Starving for Time. I met Shelley Pierce at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. She's a pastor's wife, author, and doting grandma. Please leave her a kind word in the comments today to welcome her.

Now I See Clearly 

As a blessed empty nester, I’m happy to announce—I finally have my own bathroom! I no longer have to wait my turn for a shower, and no one gets into my make-up. 

It was an exciting day when I realized the last Pierce child was married and total control belonged to me. 


I polished the counter top. I bought new towels. I arranged two cute little baskets to the left of the sink that could neatly hold my cosmetics. I lined up my hairbrushes and curling iron to the right. Then I stood back and smiled as I turned on my Scentsy and dropped in a few lavender scented wax cubes. 

Life as an empty nester with my own organized bathroom counter tops was good. 

For a while, life went on as usual. Work. Grandma time. Writing. 

Lather. 

Rinse. 

Repeat. 

Then one day, my husband stepped into my “Necessary Room.” 

“Wow, how can you even see in here?” 

“What’s the problem? I see just fine.” 

“Half of your vanity lights are out,” he said. 

I shrugged and scurried off to work without another thought of my low-lit mirror. 

That evening I began my nightly attempt at beauty control and flipped on the light. 

Oh. My. 

My sweet husband had replaced the burned out bulbs while I was away. Now I could see what I’d been missing: 

Laugh lines and spots. 

Wrinkles and puffs. 

And my sparkly clean counter top? Speckled with toothpaste and make up. 

Oh. My. 

Those sneaky round bulbs had burned out slowly and strategically. One by one. So slowly, in fact, I hadn’t even noticed my world had gotten dimmer. 

I hadn’t noticed a line here and a crease there on my empty nester face. Oh, and my neck. Let’s not even talk about my neck. 

The next morning I faced the well-lit mirror again. It was still quite shocking. 

As I drove to work that day, I thought about the woman in the mirror. So many changes in such a short amount of time. 

Then God whispered in my unsuspecting ear. “You’re just like your bathroom.” 

“Excuse me? What?” 

“Yes. You are. You see, just like you didn’t notice the lights that burned out one by one, you also don’t seem to notice how often you start your day without me.” 

My heart sank at the truth of His words. 

“Without time with me, you cannot see clearly. You think everything is just fine. But it is not.” 

Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. 

“Without time with me, you misunderstand others. You have thoughts you shouldn’t. You don’t talk about me with your friends. You forget me.” 

Remorse filled my heart. 

“I’m sorry, Lord. I’m so sorry.” 

“I love you and long for time with you. Sit with me awhile.” 

Realizing my pitiful condition reminded me of 1 John 1:5-7 and the importance of walking in His light. Can I honestly say I have fellowship with God if I choose the darkness of busyness over the light of spending time in his truth? 


I opened my Bible to the passage and read the familiar words again. "God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we are lying and we are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (HCSB).

Conviction ran through me as I faced the truth of my early morning choices in recent weeks. Choosing to tackle the list of “things to do” instead of making fellowship with my Jesus a priority had taken its toll.

In view of God’s revealing words to me, I’ve been quite tempted to reach up and give a few of those truth-telling bulbs a twist to hush them up. 

But you know what? I think I’ll leave them alone. I’ll face the truth each morning. I’ll not hide from the creases and lines they reveal. 

As they show me what’s on the outside, I’ll also let them remind me of what’s most important—the Truth that tells me to “Come. Sit awhile with me.” 

Thank you, Lord, for showing me the disarray of my heart when I neglect my time with you.


Now, where did I put that Crepe Erase? 

Shelley is a Director of Preschool and Children’s Ministries and a grandma. She’s the author of The Crumberry Chronicles, a middle grade speculative fiction series which includes The Wish I Wished Last Night and Battle Buddies. Shelley’s first nonfiction book, Sweet Moments, Insight and Encouragement for the Pastor’s Wife, released March 2019. Her first children’s picture book, I Know What Grandma Does While I’m Napping, released June, 2019. Shelley’s work in progress is Volume 3 in the Crumberry series.

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