"Hold out your hands to feel the luxury of the sunbeams."
Helen Keller

My hands. They reflect the easy - blessed - life I have. They are not rough, scarred or blistered from hard manual labor. They are not boney from starvation. They are not discolored by disease.

But rather, they are soft from age and, frankly, from years of moisturizer. They are used to love, to create, to take care of myself, to express myself while speaking, to communicate with pen or keyboard. The nails are short on one hand and long on the other because I play the guitar every week in church.

Today, they were clasped in prayer, used to eat a meal my husband prepared, applied makeup to my face, held the pen that I used to do a crossword, gave an encouraging pat on the back to more than one person, helped to hug my son in a sweet, grateful, loving embrace, felt the soft fur of my kitty.

I don't think my hands are too fat, or need makeup or liposuction or plastic surgery. I don't feel the need to hide them with oversized clothing or to enhance them with jewels or nail color. (Not that there's anything wrong with that - you should see my toes!). My hands are just their natural selves, doing what I need them to do every day. I really like them. What would I do without them? Thanks, God, for my hands.