Ok this may sound funny; but I am a little like Shrek. I'm not green or abnormally tall (although my ears do stick out a little). But layers. I have many layers. Ogres have layers. I have layers. Nothing is ever as it seems. Shrek had a lot more heart than anyone thought. Not quite the big, dumb ogre that everyone thought he was. Usually people aren't as shallow as we first think. At least they aren't once we've given them a chance to see more. And aren't we glad too?
Let me make a leap now. I often advise my clients to spend some time in front of their mirrors experimenting with their hair. Go back to when we were like 12yrs old and just beginning to care what we looked like. For the first time, we cared what other people saw. I know I had clipped many Teen Beat pictures of Farrah Fawcett and the rest of Charlie's Angels. They were so beautiful and of course their hair was 90% of it. I was positive if my wings did like theirs then I would be on my way to stardom, for sure! Apparently this wasn't true. But that didn't stop me from spending hours in front of the mirror playing with my hair. I found lots of ways to style my hair. Some pretty and some.....well, not so pretty. But I did find new looks that I felt good in. At least as good as Jacklyn Smith who was one step above Kate Jackson. But sadly, still one step below Farrah. I was very in tune with the Charlie's Angels order. After all, my friends and I had many a fuss over who would play who in our backyard episodes that we made up.
A lot has changed since I was that little girl searching for "my look". I can remember a time of huge frustration in trying to determine exactly who I was. Who was Jenny? What did I believe? As I questioned if there was a God, He was at work. Every time I messed up, I would crumble. I would have to start over on this quest. "Who are you, really??" I would ask myself. God was drawing me near. All those questions that I'd looked in the mirror asking myself came to a close one night.
After months & months of seeking God, praying, asking questions & reading the red letters in the New Testament over & over again - it finally hit me. One night, I found myself on my knees thanking Jesus for dieing for me. I said it over & over & over again sobbing. Boy-WOW It clicked, although I'd known the answers all my life. I was accepting the grace and mercy of God. He reached down and touched my life with an unconditional love that I had always kept at arms distance.
And do this, knowing the time, that NOW it is HIGH time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:11,12
I looked in the mirror that night and I KNEW who I was AND where I was headed. I'm a child of God on the road to trying to be Christ-like. Of course I hit all the pot holes on the way, but hey, those are just part of my many layers!
I still spend time in front of the mirror every now and then to experiment and find something fun to do with my hair. And although I'll never look as good as Farrah,
hopefully I'm one notch above Shrek.
P*E*A*C*E
Jesus loves you peeps!!!
Thanks Farrah!... uh, Jenny Leigh! Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteFarrah loves you Pam!
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