I left the hair salon in tears. To be honest, it had been a while since I’ve been in for a haircut and I finally went in because no amount of product could hide my damaged ends and I needed to get a trim. Ok, the damage was far beyond what I am actually admitting. I had spent most of the prior two years damaging my hair with styling devices such as blow dryers and flat irons. For a while, those devices made my hair silky smooth and straight (a departure from my normally unruly curls). But after a while, I had used them so much that my hair had lost its ability to curl, and I was left with flat, frayed and damaged locks. So I resigned myself to my fate.
So I was more than a little surprised when I sat in the salon chair and heard, “Oh my! You’re going to have to cut all of this off.”
“No. I just want to cut the ends.” I protested. “I know it’s more than a little damaged, but I don’t want short hair. I’m trying to grow my hair out.”
“Honey,” said my hairdresser. “With damage like this, it’ll just keep breaking off and will never grow out. You need to cut this off.”
Miserable With My Haircut
When they tell you not to get into an argument with your hairdresser, listen. Despite my protesting, I somehow left the salon with an above the shoulder bob haircut. I was miserable. So miserable, in fact, that the next morning, after washing my hair I decided that I wouldn’t even bother styling it. I would just let it air dry. As the moments pass, I noticed something familiar. Instead of my hair drying in a flat frayed mess, curls began to form. By the time I was ready to leave my house, my head was full of the familiar curls that I had resigned never to see again. I felt more like myself than I had felt in a long time!
I saw a tiny glimpse of God in my hairdresser that day. As painful it has been, I have witnessed God removing things from my life that I am attached to, even though they were damaged and unhealthy. So my prayer today is that I allow myself to submit to the process of pruning and living in full trust of the vine and the gardener.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1-2, NIV).
Jael Amador writes from New York, New York.
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