A Whim Before the Wedding

Donna 

Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is s nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath. Selah. - Psalm 39:4-5 NIV

With my wedding less than two weeks away, I decided to do something different with my hair. A beauty shop had moved into town, and I’d heard rave reviews of one particular beautician, Carla. I cut a picture out of a magazine of my ideal style, and made my appointment.

When I arrived, I showed Carla my clipping. “Oh, no problem. That will look very pretty on you.”

She spun me around in the chair with my face away from the mirror, whipped out a cape, and wrapped it around my shoulders with a flourish. For the next twenty minutes, we made small talk about my upcoming wedding and current events, with the snip, snip of the scissors keeping an erratic beat.

“All done!” Carla spun me around in the chair and I stared into the mirror.

My hair, once flowing in long layers around my shoulders, now barely came past my chin, which began to quiver.

“You don’t like it?” Carla’s eyes grew wide as she saw my obvious distress.

“It’s fine. I’m sure it’s fine.” I needed to get out of there before I dissolved into a sobbing mess. I paid her, even adding a tip, ran to my car, and bawled all the way home.

I cried on the phone to my fiancé, “My hair is gone. There no time for it to grow back.” In my eyes, I looked nothing like the girl in the picture I’d shown Carla. Once my hair was cut off, it lay in piles on the floor. There would be no putting it back.

Have you ever thought about time like that? Hair grows back, but time, once wasted, is gone. I couldn’t pick the hair up off the floor and add it back, and we cannot re-live yesterday or add days to our lives. Each day is a precious gift from God. Let’s aim to make the most out of every single one.

Once I got over the shock, I decided to make the most of my new look. Regret would only be a waste of time. Two weeks later, I managed to get my hair to look somewhat presentable, and you know what? My veil covered up most of it anyway.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the very breath you give me. I pray I will be faithful with the use of my time each day. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.