Jillian's been growing out her hair for a long time. Oh, we trim it once in a while to get rid of the dry ends, but she has wanted really loooooong hair for a really loooooong time. Every once in a while, she asks me to measure it and see how long it is. She likes to swing it back and forth and look in the full-length mirror to see how long it is.
You can do a lot of fun things with long hair, and she's enjoyed having long hair. Most of the time.
But some days, she gets tired of all the static, the tangles, and her hair getting in the way. I don't know how many times her hair needed washed after eating a sucker. Sticky wet suckers don't mix well with ponytails.
But all that changed for Jillian yesterday.
She willingly donated her 10" ponytail to Locks Of Love. (#1105)
We've been talking about it for several months. At first, she was quite attached to her long locks and didn't like the sound of cutting it all off. But the more we talked about it, the more she liked the idea of giving up her hair so a wig can be made for a little girl who lost her hair to cancer. I'm so proud of her!
To make the donation, her clean hair (no sucker globs allowed) had to be a minimum of 10 inches long in a ponytail. And did you know that it takes 6-10 ponytails to make just 1 wig?
Last night before bed, we prayed for the little girl who will receive Jillian's hair. That she will feel special because of Jillian's gift.
Jillian LOVES her new bouncy hair-do, and she was anxious to see if any of her friends would recognize her today at school.
Good Job, Jillie!
There are times . . . many times . . . when I catch myself saying, "I don't have time (or the energy) for this right now." Or "I don't want to deal with this right now (or ever)." Or "I want everything to run smoothly." Or "why does this have to happen to me?"
Can you relate?
Like when you are running late and you realize you have a flat tire . . . Or when there's a foot of snow and you go outside to start the snow blower and realize it's not gonna start, no matter how hard you kick it . . . Or when you sit in a doctor's office with a sick child, waiting and waiting and waiting, when you have a million other things you could be doing . . . Or when you back into the mailbox . . . or the garage door, thinking you had already pushed the button to raise it . . . Or when one of your child's friends is diagnosed with an agressive form of cancer . . . Or when someone you love has hurt you . . . and the list goes on.
Why do some things in our life have to be so hard?
Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be moved."
When we feel like our world is being shaken, and we don't quite know how we are going to get through it, we can ask God to hold onto our hearts. He is near us, He will sustain us, and He will steady our hearts. (Blessing #1104) We can choose to hold on to the One who is faithful.
