Haircuts and Glasses of Milk...I Can Handel This! -Grace

 

Hey ya'll!  I got news to share!  :)

So this was my hair on August 2nd, 2015.

My dad needed a trim about a week later, and Mom reminded me that it had been about a year since my last cut.  My ends were seriously uneven and I really needed a trim.  I decided to go for a cut that I had been considering all summer -- just below my collarbone with layers.

I let that grow out for a ways and was pretty happy with it.  But it started getting long again, and I got restless again.  I had my first haircut at age five, and since then I've had one every year.  My hair has been chin-length ever since, until this summer when it grew to be almost to my elbow (not quite, but I don't know how else to explain it.  ;) ).  So, I had no clue what to do with my locks and wore them down every day.

Finally I decided to go for a shoulder-length cut with layers.  Tons of people told me they LOVED it, and a day afterwards I still LOVE it, which is saying something for me!  It's my first time having side bangs and I've never had layers at this length, and I love how wild and bushy and tom-boyish I look.  :)  Not that I'm a tomboy!  :)

So this is me.  And I love me now.  :)

Do what makes you happy, 'cause that's awesome (just don't go wild and crazy.  Remember that you are beautiful the way God made you.  Yeah, a little mascara and a new haircut are great, but don't hide your God-given beauty.  And even if no one tells you you're beautiful, and even if people tell you you're ugly....God knows you're beautiful, and His opinion is the only one that matters).

So yesterday was a day of happiness, joy, and spoiling myself.  Because when I got home from the salon I worked on school (oh, the blissfulness of homeschooling!) and drank a glass of milk.  I don't do it often, so it was a real treat (I'm writing this over another glass of milk in one of those awesome jar-mug things).

After I'd finished my schoolwork (and my glass of milk), my dad came home from work and the three of us picked up a friend.  We then drove into Kansas City and to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (it's so beautiful...a real work of architectural beauty!).  We were able to see a dress rehearsal of George Friedrich Handel's The Messiah.  It was performed by the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony Chorus (hope that's right!) and the Independence Messiah Choir (I think that's it as well).

If you want to talk about spectacular.....

I started tearing up when they sang my favorite number, "For Unto Us a Child Is Born."  I've always loved it because it states some of the names of Jesus.  "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."   He is SOOO amazing...

Then of course they sang the Hallelujah Chorus.  This, too made me cry, as I stood there with my eyes closed, just drinking in the beauty of those sounds.

It raced across my mind that San Bernardino had been attacked that day.  I have friends who mourn for the dead and wounded, and I have friends who believe it was all a hoax to get more gun control (I'm pro-gun, if you're curious...#sorrynotsorry).
Either way, the evil in this country grows by the day, and I do believe the end is not far.  You see, Promise and I hold the belief that in the end, evil will become great and there will be great trials for us.  The Lord God will return with Zion, a city where the people lived in perfect harmony and beautiful unity.  Promise and I believe that if we remain faithful to God until the end, we will be able to take part in that city of Zion.  It is my greatest dream, to be there.

So my thoughts came across the great trials that I believe are coming, as I heard this chorus and orchestra sing and play Handel's Messiah.  And just as I thought that, the chorus sang these words:

"For the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth...Hallelujah!"

Tears started flowing, and I all I could do was mutter, "Oh, God..." as I marveled at His beauty and absolute sovereignty.  And then the choir sang this:

"And He shall reign forever and ever!"

All I can say is WOW.  And...since then I am not afraid.  Because if God be for us, who can stand against us?

No one.  Not sin, not Hell, not death itself.  Not even Satan.

God is so much more powerful than that.

~ Grace