This morning, as I was doing my hair, I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to take my time. I took a moment to take those words in and realized I was indeed rushing through the process of doing my hair. I was hastily taking down my braids and roughly applying the hair products. So I listened, slowed down, and applied the hair products more slowly and gently. 

During my healing journey through cancer, my hair has had a hard time, similar to the rest of my body, due to the harsh chemicals of the various treatments.  I’ve lost all my hair at one point; it has grown back, but it is now shedding tremendously. So I made a decision a few years ago to go completely natural and embrace and love my hair as it goes through its own healing process. 

I used to keep my hair in styles that required pulling, tugging, pinning, and being overly processed with color and/or a relaxer. Now I have chosen to let my gray show and to wear styles with low to no tension. And, to be honest, I am fully embracing being a natural girlie, a soft girlie, and a slow-down-and-trust-the-process girlie. 

This is what happens when you fully surrender to the Lord and learn your true identity in Christ. I am a daddy’s girl, so I have learned how to release the need to harden and be protective of myself, and to allow the holy Spirit to lead me in all God’s truth and to rest in the protection of the Almighty. 

You may be wondering what this has to do with hair and taking my time. Well, here’s the thing. I have spent a lifetime trying to be someone outside of the hurt and broken little girl who was abused and used. So I never got a chance to be myself fully, because I thought I had to keep my guard up and protect myself at all costs. Then I found Christ and a new love unlike any I had ever known. A perfect love that required nothing from me but gave me everything I needed. So when I hear my heavenly Father speak and tell me to slow down, I listen, because in the obedience of listening is the grace of understanding that this is bigger than my hair; it’s about my new identity in Christ, one that does not require me to be someone I am not. 

I do not need to be hard and tough.

I do not need to have it all figured out.

I do need to rush through life.

I can be soft and cared for.

I can trust God to have it all figured out for me.

I do trust God to lead me, protect me, and love me unconditionally.

And in that trust and softness comes the desire to be less rushed and more present.

Love You, Listiner Inspires