Natural vs. Relaxed

Having two daughters I am very aware of the "hair wars" that go on in the African American culture. Hair is important, much more important than it is to me or any of my white friends. Heck, I can go a couple days without washing, look greasy as a frying pan, and not care. Throw in a ponytail holder and let's roll. That can't always be done in Jordan and Micah's world. Before leaving the house I always comb and condition Micah's hair. Jordan's hair will get a general straightening up all while I bask in the glow of her smile...or tears if she is particularly tender headed that day. In this time in history, there is a huge movement toward the natural, or not relaxing/straightening/perming black hair. Women all over are shaving off their hair and wearing wigs or braids while letting the hair grow out with its natural kinks and coils; and they love it. They are embracing how God made them! They are free from the chemicals needed to relax and the constant worrying about drying and breaking hair.

While in Target I overheard a conversation between two ladies, one who had gone natural a year or so ago and the other who had just started her journey. The "veteran" was giving her all kinds of tips, products she loves and hates, but most of all, she was welcoming the newcomer to the club. With nothing less than glee she said "WELCOME! You will be so glad you did it." On the way home I got to thinking about our spiritual state. Our pastor once said that God wants to restore us to what is our normal and natural state, that is a right relationship with him. But we fight it. While living in sin apart from God, the idea of shaving off our sin and letting Christ take over doesn't seem all that appeasing. But as God usually works through others, there is someone on the other side saying "You will be so glad you did it." We know there is freedom in Christ. We are free from the worry of sin on our eternal spiritual state, for the price has been paid and our state with God is permenently restored. We are free from filler things that make our life feel we have it together. We are free from trying to change ourselves, instead we allow God to work his magic and change us.

I recently became convicted of how little I have reached out to my neighbors, many who are single moms. I want a minsitry on this street specifically. God has called me to live here for at least another 3 years. I will not hide in my house and keep my God as the best kept secret. So as I pray for the people and tons of kids on my street, one of those kids knocks on our door and asks if they can watch a movie with our kids. They are so bored, and for some reason they have decided we are pretty cool, and they wanted to watch a movie with our kids. Thank you God for being more committed this street than I am. Proof of his commitment is that he consistently brings them to me. Please pray with me that God would restore this street to it's natural state. Straight and relaxed could be seen as the broad road. It is the most socially acceptable and far easier to take care of on a daily basis. But the natural road that God wants us to walk is rough. It takes work, and sometimes it takes more work than we expect. There will be tears when a snag is tugged at. But God is committed to the good work he began.

I imagine that my white readers have no idea what I am talking about. As for my lovely women of color who read my blog, I don't want to start any kind of debates over what is best for hair. Totally not the point to the post. We don't relax and will not relax, but I don't judge those who do. My only reason for writing this was because God taught my heart a little through the hair process this week. I pray that as Micah and Jordan get older, and we are sitting down for the hours of hair fixing, we can talk about how God is purifying us, sanctifying our hearts, so we can be ultimately restored to our natural and normal, God created state.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Now, these are unedited because I am computer illiterate and need a download plug-in thingie for Photoshop to edit. So these are all straight out of the camera. Not even loaded into photoshop at all. But, this is how Jordan and I spent FOUR HOURS of our day on Wednesday. She hated it. We will never do it again, well, not till she is old enough to know she will be sitting in a chair forever. But, she loves her hair. She asks stragers how they like her hair. And yes, it is all her hair. There are no extenstions at all. And no, the hair couldn't be finished. After four hours we cut the trip short (no pun intended) and just put four ponytail braids on the top and called it a day. It is cute as it is. It would have been uber cute if she would have given us just 15 more minutes.