If you have followed with me on this journey and have been keeping up with pictures on Facebook, you’ll have noticed my hair has gone through several transformations. There hasn’t really been a rhyme or reason for it; it just kind of happened. I just figured there wouldn’t be another time in my life where I could look as ridiculous as I wanted to without being affected by American society/corporate world.
I set off with the intention of growing my hair out for the whole Race. I’ve never had ponytail length hair before so I wanted to experiment with it. Whenever I’ve tried to grow it out in the past, it gets caught in that awkward length phase (not short, but not long) and I end up backing out because it doesn’t seem as worth it anymore. So for the first half of the Race I made it through without a razor touching my head (or my face for that matter).
However, during Month 5 in Ukraine I began to teeter on whether I wanted to continue my quest or not. My phobia of the awkward length was returning and I couldn’t imagine lasting another 6 months of growth. So during a brief logistics retreat in Kiev, when one of my squad leaders suggested dyeing my hair, I jumped on the idea as it would give me another reason to cut my hair. It was a rash decision in the hair section of the grocery store, and before I knew it we were walking out the door with some bleaching chemicals and red hair dye.
Two days later and my ginger transformation was complete to the applause of no one. (Well actually, there had to be some applause as I ended up going on a “date” with one of the hostel workers. It was supervised of course.) I rocked my red, long hair with full, brown beard for the rest of Ukraine and into our first week in South Africa (praise God I was able to get through customs!).
But as I mentioned before, the hair couldn’t last and I ended up shaving everything (beard and all). For once, I looked like “normal.” It was freeing to have my hair off and feel the cool breeze on my scalp again. I knew it would be awhile before I could do something crazy with my hair, but luckily facial hair grows faster so I was able to make up for it with some moustaches and chinstraps for the following couple months.
In Thailand, I let the boys we worked with give me a similar haircut as them. It was buzzed on the sides with the top and back being left longer. It took a little bit to get used to, but as with the previous hairstyles I quickly adjusted and unashamedly liked it. I didn’t touch it until Malaysia where I decided to finish the Race with a Mohawk.
Now as I said before, there wasn’t a purpose behind any of my appearances other than making the most of the unique time in my life to look ridiculous (something I’ve wanted to do back in America, but lacked the courage). And I wouldn’t be writing a blog about it had it not been for the word I received from an unknown lady at the Penang House of Prayer (PenHOP).
During the worship set, we took some time to meet with the person next to us to pray for one another. This woman came up to me and had a word for me and proceeded to pray blessing over my life. In her word she told me how my haircut was prophetic and symbolized the warrior for Christ He has made me and is continually making me into.
“You’ve prayed for dangerous things. You’ve asked God to use you in powerful and impactful ways. He will lead you through difficult things, but He will always be there. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Always trust in Him. He has set you apart for great things. The spirit of Elijah is in you.”
I was greatly humbled and encouraged. An hour before my friend drew me a picture of the armor of God, reminding me to always be putting it on. And then to hear about being a warrior for Christ made for just a beautiful connection. I’m excited for the things God has for me in this next season of my life! I have high hopes and dreams for being used by God and if there’s one thing I’ve learned on the Race, it’s to dream big and trust in the God who can work in powerful ways through me. I pray my warrior spirit will never die and for the fire He lit in my soul to never burn out.
Thanks for continually fighting with me on this journey. I look forward to seeing you all in a couple days!!
