I remember the first time I got braids; it took me a long time to get into wearing weaves. I was one of those children blessed with long hair, and as an adolescent I wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing a weave. (I remember when wearing weaves were “un-cool”.) So when I had my braids there was one essential thing that I did not know, and that was making sure you combed all of the synthetic hair out before you wash it. For those of you that do not know, when you don’t comb out the synthetic hair all the way, before you wash it, the synthetic hair gets tangled up with your real hair, forming knots so complex that the great escapologist Harry Houdini would not be able to free himself from.
So if you could all just picture this scene. A 5’8” 19 year old young woman looking at half her hair tangled up in five massive knots. After 30 minutes of trying to no avail, I did what any respectable young woman would do in my predicament, I called for my mother. My mother walked into the bathroom, took one look at my hair and replied, “Well I don’t know what you want me to do with that.”
“Mom, help me.” I cried pitifully. (At this point I was fighting back tears.)
My mother sighed and began to hack at one knot with a comb. (My mother was never known for being gentle with a comb and brush.) After about a grand total of two minutes of getting absolutely nowhere, she simply handed me back the comb and shrugged her shoulders and told me it looked as if I was going to cut my hair.
*Cue tears accompanied with hysterical sobbing fit……………NOW*
“CUT MY HAIR?!?”
“It’ll grow back.” She replied.
Cutting my hair would have meant cutting off a good 8 to 10 inches, leaving me about 2 to 3 inches of hair. It was now 1am mom was tired and was going to bed, leaving her grown daughter to fend for herself. I slowly walked out the bathroom utterly defeated. I walked into the TV room to tell my dad that I was going to have to cut my hair off. I could only imagine how pitiful I looked standing there with tears running down my cheeks telling him that I would have to cut off all my precious hair. My dad just sighed turned off the TV, told me sit down, took the comb from my hand and began to do what no one else could or would do, straighten out my mess. I bet it was a sight to see. Me sitting there crying as he gently untangled those knots, one hair at a time, it took him three hours. I can’t tell you what we talked about, I don’t remember him saying one word, and I don’t recall me saying anything. All I remember is my father bent over my head the concentration of a skilled surgeon removing every strand of synthetic hair out of my head. That and the big thankful bear hug I gave him afterward.
Sometimes in life we look at what other people are doing what they have and we want those things just because it’s popular to have. We don’t appreciate the things that God has given us and we look to add material things, synthetic things to our lives, instead of being grateful for the blessings that are in our lives right now. And because we mix man's ideas with God's purpose our lives are in chaos. Oh but the great thing about our Heavenly Father, he can clean any mess, straighten out the crooked path, and mend any broken heart. All you have to do is ask.
(Psa 34:18 KJV) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
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