A Hair-Raising Rant

(Trust me, it's a pun!)

I am tired of women and girls telling me "I wish I could rock short hair like you do." I understand that it's a compliment, and I take it as such. Having short hair is awesome. But I wish I could tell all of them: YOU CAN.

Too often the underlying wistfulness is the fact that many women still think that the opinion of others about their hair matters. I've heard many say that their boyfriends/husbands prefer them to have long hair. News Flash: your significant other doesn't have to DEAL with your long hair. If you like your long hair, by all means, keep it. If you don't, by all means, chop it off! Let other people think you're a punk or a rebel - maybe that's part of your personality you've never let breathe before! There are plenty of conservative short cuts as well that don't make you look like a granny.

Another reason for not having short hair is "There's not as much I can do with it." That used to be my reason. Until I realized that, unless it was a super special occasion, all I did was throw it up in a bun or ponytail to get it out of my way. But there's loads you can do with short hair! You just have to get creative, which is scary to some women. You can't rely on age-old ponytail holders and clips. Braid little braids, use a headband with a bow, straighten it, curl it, go crazy!

(The "go crazy" bit also applies to those who enjoy their long hair!)

Back to my point, I get a lot of "You just have the right face for short hair." as well. Trust me, it did not come easy. My Mom and I searched for upwards of two hours for celebrities with my face shape with short hair (nearly every celebrity with every face shape has a short hair picture - go find one for yourself!). Plus, even though we found lookalikes, no one celebrity EXACTLY matched my face. My face is not the reason I can rock short hair. Talented people like Holly Moore at Imagine Hair Art in Rome, Georgia, Chelsea Ivey at Kerry Mac in Columbus, Georgia, and Carla Overby at Salon NG in Columbus, Georgia are the artists behind my hair. I just told them I want it short, I want to keep it short, and maybe could we put a bit of red in it? Those three women made it rock, I just attempt to represent their awesomeness when I get ready in the mornings.

If you REALLY want your hair short, go for it. You can find a cut that you can make work. Don't let opinions, fears, or even your face get in the way of using your hair to express yourself. If you REALLY want to rock short hair, do it. If not, please restrain your comments to "Wow, your hair looks great!"

Super awesome amazing happiness

So this weekend the craziest things have happened.

First, as part of a summer internship I’ve been at a Living history museum, reenacting battles, getting tomahawked and shot. I already warned my friends and family beforehand that, starting Friday morning, I would have ZERO cell phone service (thank AT&T for not having service at Historic Westville) and extremely limited wi-fi from my phone, so I would have basically no contact with the outside world. I’m feeling pretty good about this as I trailer my horse 30 miles to the park and begin setting stuff up.

Then, because I technically work for Westville, I receive a walky-talky to keep in touch with other staff members. I’m setting up, feeling pretty good about myself, and then suddenly I hear this over the radio.

“Becca flipped her truck. I’m on my way to go get her. She’s scared, but she called me.”

Finding out that your BEST FRIEND was just in a car accident that FLIPPED HER TRUCK OVER via walky-talky was a bit much. Now I’m the kind of person that when I hear traumatic news, I remain calm until it’s completely processed, which can take a while. It’s a defense mechanism that allows me to keep everyone else who might be around from freaking out. However, when it is clear that others are under control and I’ve processed it, I freak out. And, since my phone wasn’t functional, I had none of my closest friends or family there to talk to so that I could deal with it.

Needless to say, I burst into tears.

Becca’s family is Mormon, and in the habit of “adopting” missionaries who are far from home and giving them a family and friends. Since Becca’s family also adopted me, this means I have a lot of brothers and sisters. There were two missionaries on site, and upon seeing me start to cry, they called for a group prayer. We all knelt and they led us in prayer for Becca’s safety, and for the safety of her dog, Haze.

Most people wouldn’t think the dog was a huge issue. But I believe animals are gifts from God, and they are irreplaceable. Not on the same scale as humans, perhaps, but I would probably punch someone who told me my horse Trigger was replaceable. Becca is liable to seriously maim someone who told her that about Haze. Haze has gotten her through some serious issues in her life, and sometimes the dog is all that keeps her sane. We NEEDED the dog to be alive.

Later in the day, I was able to call Becca, and hearing her voice made me cry again. We jokingly say that we’re married to each other, because of how close our friendship is. So just imagine hearing your significant other’s voice after worrying about them all day. It was a lot. But SHE calmed ME down and I was able to get the details of the accident – something in her car had malfunctioned, causing it to jerk, and she overcompensated, caught the gravel on the side of the road, flipped the truck, and skidded (WITH THE VEHICLE UPSIDE DOWN) more than ten feet. Her seatbelt quite literally saved her life, and it is miraculous that she sustained no injuries other than a scratch and a couple of bruises, including a pretty impressive black eye.

With my own car accident that left me in the hospital for three days last year, I was able to relate with Becca probably the most. I knew exactly how she felt as she described her fear of driving and how she was dealing with the trauma, and that she was probably in shock.

 

However, the next day she came to the Living History event, and I started to run towards her to hug her as hard as I could because I was so thankful she was okay, but thankfully checked myself and stopped and hugged her very gently. And then, because I am a very outwardly emotional person, I started to cry again.

There was still no sign of Haze. So after a day that I spent on horseback or reenacting a battle (getting tomahawked and shot to death) I took Becca home, on the way stopping by a nearby country store and putting up a “Lost Dog” sign. I was praying the whole time, envisioning Haze having miraculously found her way home and running up to us as we pulled into the drive way. God decided to one-up me. We passed the crash site on the way back, and there was Haze, waiting for us. Becca saw her first, pointed and yelled “STOPSTOPSTOP!!!” I hit the brakes and yelled “SHITSHITSHIT!!!!”

A more joyous reunion there has never been!

This picture was taken when we got home, because I was driving at the time, but it immediately went on facebook as the happiest moment of 2013. And Becca and I are currently having an ice cream party to celebrate.

Aside from all of the craziness, God has definitely used this incident to teach ME. He taught me that I can’t always rely on my friends to help me get through things – HE has to be the one to rely on, as I discovered through prayer. I also learned that he cares about the little things – like a dog that means so much to Becca, even one-upping me in my prayer. I can almost hear his voice: “See? Not only do I take care of you, I can do better than you could ever imagine. Just trust me on this.”

'To Love Another Person is to See the Face of God'

Yes, I am well aware that the title of this piece is from the musical Les Miserables. And I'm going to be a hipster for a moment and reassure you that I loved the musical way before I'd heard there was going to be a movie (I'm a Theatre Major, after all - by definition I almost have to have an unhealthy love for the show). And then I'm going to be a real hipster and say that I also love the movie that came out in 1998 starring Liam Neeson as Valjean and Geoffrey Rush as Javert (based on the book, not the musical. It also has Uma Thurman, Clare Danes, and Hans Matheson - it's really got a spectacular cast.)

All my hipster-ness is beside the point. The point is, the line "to love another person is to see the face of God" has really stuck out to me lately. Yesterday we listened to the soundtrack (of the movie, which is not my favorite. My favorite is the 10th anniversary version, with Colm Wilkinson as Valjean and Lea Salonga as Eponine. [ultra-hispter momen: I watched it on VHS] But I digress.) and then in small group later that night, the lesson didn't have anything to do with Les Mis, but one of the points we covered basically restated the line.

My small group is going through Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg, and last night we watched the first video in the series for group discussion. The biggest point she made in the introductory video was that Jesus wants to meet us, reveal himself to us, and surprise us. One example that she used to illustrate this hit me hard when she stated "Jesus reveals himself in our relationships."

"To love another person is to see the face of God."

Okay, so there are differences in the statements. But one certainly serves to remind us (or at least me) of the other.

For sure, there are many different kinds of love. In the musical, the spirit of Fantine sings the line, so she could be speaking of the parental love between herself and Cosette, or Valjean and Cosette, the romantic love between Cosette and Marius, the protective love between herself and Valjean, Eponine's sacrificial love for Marius, etc. But what if, in this line, we used the word "love" the way Jesus does when he commands us to "love your neighbor"? In this case, when we love others by serving them or being kind to them because God first loved us, we experience the kind of love that God has for his people. Not only that, but the face of God shines through us for other people to see.

I think all that I've discovered and discussed in this post has changed how I view that particular line of Les Mis. The entire musical is already a wonderful allegory of the dichotomy of Grace vs. Legalism. But a single line that I've always just brushed off now echoes in my heart and reveals the wonder of God to me. Isn't it incredible that God can use such artwork in this way?