Embrace Growth

What they say is true.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Maybe even a million words.  When I left work, I felt pulled to look at old pictures.  Google Photos is my friend.  It allowed me to peruse my life and recall different moments in time.  An added bonus to my trip down memory lane is that my cousin found an old jump drive.  She started sending pictures from ten years ago.  Back to the time that I cut off all my relaxed hair and embraced my natural hair.

Baby, let me tell you.  I thank God for growth.  Super short hair was not my friend, but I was determined to make it work.  I didn’t have much hair.  But I worked my hair over.  The hairstyles were endless.  I would twist the front and let the back explode in curls.  I twisted it all over.  Ya’ll the little bit of hair that I had was probably tired of me messing with it.  Every night, I did something different to prep my hair for the next day.

It wasn’t just the styling that was excessive.  In the olden days (ten years ago), there was not a wide variety of natural hair care products on the market.  There were, however, lots of recipes for natural hair products.  The spray bottle became my friend.  I was a mixologist.  I tried everything that others said worked for them.  I bought big tubs of shea butter and attempted to whip up my own concoctions.  I was dedicated to having the healthiest looking hair possible.  Failure wasn’t an option.  I didn’t want to present myself to the world looking any kind of way.

As the years have passed, I’ve become way more relaxed about my old hair.  I should get some of that old zeal back and start styling my hair on a regular basis.  The puff is my best friend and constant companion.  At times, I jazz up the old puff with a colorful tie, but I have become complacent.  My hair is good enough.  The natural movement caused many companies to stand up and take notice.  I can’t get on social media without seeing a new product pop up.  I don’t have to make my own concoctions anymore.  I can go into any store and find something that will work for my hair.  If it doesn’t work, there are literally hundreds of other options on the market.

Funny how my hair made me think about my faith.  I remember being a teenager and being so into the Word.  I was invested.  I carried my teen Bible around, and I read that thing.  It had the best info pages in it.  It made me want to study more.  The internet wasn’t a good resource then.  I had to physically go to the library to find books that would answer my questions.  I had to ask for help from my parents or other spiritual leaders.  I had to be focused, and quite often, I was.

Fast forward to now.  I have so much information available at my fingertips, and I’m slow to use it.  I have access to resources now that I didn’t even know existed then.  There are countless Bible studies, devotionals, and commentaries available to aid in my study of God’s word.  And Lord help, I get lazy.  I study enough to accomplish the tasks set before me.  I let my old faithful be enough, and I need to have a zeal that changes the world.

Pray for my hair AND my study time with the Lord.  I gots to do better.  I don’t want to look back at pictures captured during this time and realize that I missed the mark.  I don’t want to miss out on all the great things that He has planned for me.  Let me work this Word over like I did my super short hair.  I want to be presentable to God.   #wepreach