Read, Write, Love, Repeat

When life doesn’t look like what we ordered, what do we do? Panic? Rage? Hide? Blame? Retreat? Give up? All of the above? I’m guessing you’ve been there right alongside me many times. Since this is a situation in which we find ourselves more often that we want to, handling it is a pretty important life skill, one I’m still working on.

For example, a few months ago I showed my lovely hair stylist a Pinterest picture of my new hair goals: sassy and shaggy, fun and youthful. A change. I was so excited! Until I wasn’t

The shape she gave me was roughly the same, just about 4 inches shorter than intended, the difference between hitting at the bottom of my neck/top of my shoulders (where I wanted it) vs. my earlobes (where it ended up).

I watched, dumbfounded as she kept cropping away at my hair with a razor, wondering if she remembered the picture I showed her since things were not going according to my plan. I left the salon looking quite a bit like Dooley from King of the Hill (12 year old boy chic) rather than the Pinterest pic of the shaggy “lob” (grown adult woman edgy chic) I’d carried in with me.

Panic seeped in around the edges as I drove home, blinking back tears. What in the Wide World of Sports was I going to do with this? A full wardrobe of hats for the next several months? Refusing all social engagements? Shave it all off? Ugh. This was in September, and I continue to remind myself, “it’s just hair, it’ll grow,” as I try to think of finding ways to make it cute until it does.

This hair disaster situation reminded me of the TV ads for fast food- does any burger at McDonald’s or Sonic ever look like the appetizing glory shown in the commercials? Um, no. Never. Ever order something on Amazon? When the cute shirt in the picture arrives at my home, it sometimes looks roughly like a garbage bag made of nearly transparent tissue paper that feels like sand paper against the skin. The same thing. Disappointment, frustration. I know you feel me. Life doesn’t always end up “as advertised”, does it?

When I’m staring down circumstances- bigger than my hair or an Amazon order- that are not what I ordered or expected, what then? Many times in the past year or so I’ve watched as situations have chopped away in the life I love, changing it more than I ever asked for, ending up with something bearing no resemblance to the picture in my head. I’m left with the debris surrounding me like my hair on the salon floor, my day-to-day fundamentally altered.

So I take a deep breath, and again try to find the beauty in what do I have, trusting that, as I wait, I will grow through this season, this circumstance. It will take time and patience to see the result. Trusting that God’s picture is better than mine. Trusting that the changes are part of His picture-perfect plan for me.