The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7b
Most of you know that I buzzed my hair off back in August before I left at the beginning of September for this 11 month Godventure. Those of you women who are reading this understand how important hair is for our beauty… and God wanted me to break that dependence I had, and let me solely rely on him for my identity. So off went my hair.
People at work didn’t recognize me, but then continuously complimented how I could pull this look off, and that they never could. I got this comment a lot. And I continuously replied with my thanks to Jesus for giving me a nicely shaped head (and for giving my heart the correct positioning). It was a great way for me to share the Gospel, and my plans for the next year.
Romania hit, and the Romanians thought I was a little weird for hardly having any hair. I was referred to by a local man as “the tall one with a boy’s hair cut”. I definitely got attention for my sacrifice and commitment to this year. I felt like a little boy with my hair cut. I will never forget the first day I was able to style my hair. The entire house knew it, and we even had some fellowship to go to that night at the church (yeess…).
As we went into Transnistria, I was able to style my hair every day, but the same ski slope got old. I would constantly ask my team to play with a try to style my hair, but they didn’t know what to do with it anymore than I did. Towards the end I was able to rock the faux hawk and the ski slope.
Nepal hits and with showers every third day or so, and my hair continuing to grow longer… my faux hawks grew wilder. My Nepalese brother, Subesh, and I even had a hair high five with our styles, and I loved being able to play with my hair every day. Down was a rarity… because up and wild was totally in.
India happened and as my hair was getting too long for the faux hawk, I started to part it and keep it down. Some days it cooperated and I had something wild going on, but those were special occasions, surrounded with the usual down look.
Once we arrived in Africa… my hair was too long for styling and it has been in the down parted stage every day now. This gets old, and I wonder if it’s even growing some days.
As we just hit the half way point on the race… there has been a lot of reflection on where I have come from and all that I have experienced – into where I am going to go and what I have yet to experience. The first 3-4 months of the race had a massive amount of growth in them, and it was the most visual and tangible for me to grasp. Just like my hair, I had something fun going on every day, and you could tell that my hair and faith were growing. Now in the last few months, it has felt like my growth in the Lord has slowed down, and some days it even feels like it has stopped. But when I look in the mirror and actively pull my hair up, I can tell how long it has gotten, and I can see how confident I am becoming in who Jesus says I am.
My growth is continuing at the same rate with the Lord… and he is still showing me more of his character and my placement in his Kingdom. He is still taking me down more glorious paths, and he is still speaking to me in sweet whispers. It is all just more intimate and personal now.
Even though I still get discouraged that my hair will never be long again, or that I will never have the same God experiences that I had in the first few months…. I know in my heart that those are all false. He is such a powerful and intimate God. He wants so badly to grow me and grow me and grow me and grow our relationship together. It’s neat to see how my hair and Jesus’s love have been growing together.
This is the new me….
And tomorrow, there is another new me.
