Yesterday Maelie and I stopped in at the salon
where I get my hair cut. I needed to change my appointment, and since we were driving by, I figured we’d stop in and say hello.
We had to wait a few minutes before the girl who cuts my hair was free, and we weren’t in a hurry, so we kind of just hung out, chatted a bit…you know, what ENFP’s do best.
While we were there, there was a woman paying for her haircut who lo oke
d pretty close to tears. She had super short hair, but it didn’t look bad, and I would never have thought anything of it if she hadn’t look so devastated.
The lady who had cut her hair said something to the effect of, Don’t feel so bad. I know it’s not what you wanted, but it’s looks good.
Of course, whether I was trying to eavesdrop or not, this totally piques the curiosity. (Especially when this is where I get my hair cut!
:))
I didn’t even have to ask, though.
It turned out, this woman, who’d had pretty long hair, had tried to give herself a haircut she saw and liked…and, um…no.
My first thought was, Duh, who does that
?
And? I was reminded of a time
when I did something similar…and the consequences were costly.
I was a junior in Bible college, and let’s just be blunt here…I’d bend rules wherever possible. And that included bleaching my hair to a very unnatural shade of blonde. Had I actually bleached it the right way, I would have probably been better off.
But, no.
I used Sun-In.
Every day.
For months.
You can only imagine the horrible shape my hair was in by the time I decided it was time to stop and return to the world of brunette glory.
I made an appointment to get it colored…and let’s give Mel a few points for brains here. At least I didn’t try to color it on my own…I knew better by then.
The day arrived, and I went into the salon. The guy colored it, but once he finished…
He knew.
I knew.
We. All. Knew.
This wasn’t good.
My hair took the color fine, but it was SO dry…SO breaking off.
Really…it was bad.
I had one option left…cut it all.
I ended up with the shortest haircut I’ve ever had…I think all of my hair was an inch long or shorter.
Thankfully, I’m cute and can pull it off. 😉 Just kidding.
For someone to go from shoulder-length, super blonde hair…to boy-short, dark brown hair
? That’s a shock to the system.
I couldn’t look in the mirror for a week without thinking I was seeing someone else.
And for a few hours, I wore a hat, hoping that by covering
that costly mistake that it would somehow be erased.
It wasn’t. (Obviously.) And it’s not like I could hide for very long.
I had to sing at church the very next morning and had classes on Monday…no hats allowed.
So, in my mind, my foolish choice was displayed for the world to see.
It was completely humbling.
And I tell you all of that…of course, because I love a good story, but also because there was a lesson to be learned there. Or more than one lesson…
One of the consequences of choosing to do things my own way.
Yet another on what it’s like to face those consequences with others watching.
And still another about the Grace of my Father and how He salvaged the wreck I had created.
I made a poor decision, and there was a costly consequence…well, at the time. My hair grew back when I actually took the time to grow it out. I ended up loving that haircut and kept it for about a year and half.
Sometimes we mess up… choose to do things our own way and pay for those mistakes.
I am so thankful for a Father Who loves me and extends His mercy and grace to cover those mistakes…and can even make something beautiful out of them.
Yet, while I am thankful for those things, I pray even more that He will keep me from making those foolish choices in the first place.
Amen?
Amen.
P.S. I looked for a good pic of that haircut but couldn’t find one (that’s scanned, anyway). This one was taken after it grew out a bit, but it’s still ok. And you get to see one of my buddies from Peru. Good memories.
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