Taking Things Into My Own Hands

A part of me thinks that I came out of the womb taking things into my own hands.  My mom was knocked out when I was born.  She says the first sound she heard when she woke up was me sucking my fingers.  See, even then I had things in my own hands.  Don’t worry guys.  The sucking fingers thing did not last long.  Once I figured out that there was no food coming out, I moved on to more important things.

My hair care is one thing I took into my own hands at an early age.  I cared greatly about the way that my hair was styled.  At five years old, I had standards.  My mom had magic fingers and made sure that I was satisfied with my appearance.  I paid close attention to products that she used in my hair.  I watched her get my hair together whenever I could.   

Since she worked two or three jobs at a time, there were times that I needed a babysitter.  One day, she had my older cousin come over to babysit.  I had to be six or seven years old.  My cousin settled into watching the soap operas and left me to my own devices.  We had not gone out that day, so my hair was not combed.  No problem.  I would take that into my own hands.

I gathered my supplies.  Pink Oil moisturizer, brush, comb, bow bucket that was full of bows and rubber bands.  Yup.  Everything was present and accounted for.  Now on to the easy part.  Styling my hair.  I had watched my mom, great-grandmother, aunts, and cousins style my hair through the years.  Piece of cake.  I removed all the rubber bands from hair.  I poured the Pink Oil moisturizer into my hands and got busy.

Ummm…the first style just did not look right.  My parts were crooked.  The rubber band was not tight enough.  Well, I had nothing but time.  Let me take this from the top.  Remove rubber bands.  Pour more Pink Oil moisturizer into my hands and apply to my hair.  Style.  Nope.  Still not right.  My hair got wetter and greasier.  This looked so easy when everyone else did it!  What was going wrong???

By the time my cousin thought to check on me, the damage was done.  There was enough moisturizer in my head to nourish the heads of ten little black girls and still have plenty left over.  What seemed so simple was proven to be outside of my skill set.  Although I watched so many people excel at styling my hair, I had a skewed understanding of how it should be done.  I was a child.  I thought like a child.  Wanting to take care of myself was not wrong, but I definitely needed guidance.

I needed this reminder.  Too often, I attempt to take everything into my own hands.  I want to do it all.  It seems simple enough.  But my life is not my own.  Yes, God wants me to be self-sufficient, but He also wants me to know that I have limited understanding.  His thoughts are above mine.  He sees the entire plan from beginning to end.  Taking things into my own hands robs me of the ability to experience the fullness of life that He has planned for me.

There is good news.  My hair was washed and styled by mom that night.  I went from a greasy mess to a glamorous girl.  She appreciated my effort but was able to give me some well needed guidance.  In that same vein, God restores me when I end up all greasy and grimy from doing things my way.  He can restore you too.  #wepreach