All excited thinking I'd get some pretty hurr. NOPE.
Ever have something super annoying happen to you, then you reflect back on how ridiculous you were for being THAT annoyed?
I went to go get my hair done two days ago. My regular stylist wasn't there, so I had to use someone else who was supposedly "very skilled in bayalage on blondes."
Lol. L-O-L.
What I wanted (left). What I got (right).
I walked in with the expectation of looking like a Disney princess. However, I walked out looking like Cruella De Vil.
And I'm not kidding, y'all. Highlights and lowlights that were Dalmatian black and white. From top to bottom. All over ma head.
I panicked. I ran out of the salon. I was on the phone with my girlfriends, sisters, and mom for hours afterwards - whining, crying, complaining that there was no hope in fixing such a permanent travesty. That I was so scary-looking that even puppies wouldn't come near me.
(Eye roll). Soooo dramatic.
Whiney sobby selfies I was sending to my friends. "I even look like a referee in a bun" (eye rollllllll)
While their words helped ease my nerves, I also held my Stress Away with a death grip. I swear that bottle was always within arms reach of me for a full on 24 hours. Applying, inhaling, diffusing, the works - using God's plants to ground my emotions and help me act like a rational human being that I totally wasn't at the time.
Wine always makes things better, too.
Finally, though - two separate hair salons, 6 hours of corrective treatment, and 3 stylists later - my Disney villain hair was neutralized to look more like a mixture of Princess Belle and Jane from Tarzan. Still not exactly what I wanted, but bearable.
So now that my former-blonde-now-brunette self had calmed down a bit, I woke up this morning to do my daily devotional.
And whadya know. The words on the page left me speechless.
"Worship Me in the beauty of holiness."
"I created beauty to declare the existence of My holy being. A magnificent rose, a hauntingly glorious sunset, oceanic splendor - all these things were meant to proclaim My presence in the world."
"Most people rush past these proclamations without giving them a second thought. Some people use beauty, especially feminine loveliness, to sell their products."
"How precious are my children who are awed by nature's beauty; this opens them up to My holy presence."
I gasped. How off-balance my thought process was. Putting so much emphasis on stupid hair - and giving ZERO credit to God's beauty that was right in front of me. Nature. Plants. Constituents in a bottle that were helping me emotionally this whole time. Evidence of God's beautiful presence all along that I was definitely using - but definitely not acknowledging.
Outward appearances are so fleeting. So superficial. So warped and twisted to what the idea of "beauty" truly is.
And this morning, I came to realize that beauty isn't hair color, or makeup, or body image, or looks.
Beauty is love, is nature, is glory, is true, is holy, is real - is JESUS.
You were fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who created beauty to begin with. And no matter what happens to you, or what you look like (naturally, purposefully, or accidentally), you are His.
You. are. beautiful.
