speak life

Oh my friends, I have missed you! What are you doing this summer? June was an absolute blur. I was able to see my family, which is rare since they live 14 hours away, but also was difficult since my husband worked 23 days straight and missed Linley's second birthday. I am, however, very glad to see July, as I hope home will be much calmer.

Since it has been crazy lately, not to mention I had surgery on a broken ankle and couldn't walk for 13 weeks, I had not had a haircut in about four months. Needless to say, it looked BAD! I don't have a regular stylist here yet, so I researched to find a legit sounding salon and found one and booked an appointment. No matter how old you are, every girl knows you don't tangle (haha) with peoples' hair! It is a super important part of our looks! I cannot wait for my ends to feel good again and get some shine and shape back. I don't know about you, but when it gets to a certain point, I don't even feel like fixing my hair anymore. I was there.

So, I'm driving over, super excited to be fixing the rat's nest looking thing I called my hair, and Toby Mac's song "Speak Life" comes on the radio. Hang on, because this fact becomes important later on. I sing along and finally arrive at the salon. I can almost hear the Hallelujah Chorus. I practically ran inside, got my hair washed, and waited in the chair for the stylist to come over. I wait, my hair, sopping wet, waiting for skilled fingers to shape it into something great, bouncy, and soft. When she walks over, her first comment was, "Your hair looks bad." I immediately felt my face fall, probably turn red, and I felt my countenance totally change. No, friends, it didn't stop there, either. She continued to mention that it looked "chewed," was frizzy, and should never be thinned. After three to four minutes, she proceeded finally to actually touch my hair in preparation for cutting it. I felt like running out the door or melting into the floor. I mean, seriously, I know it looks bad, which is why I am here! People go to salons to be fixed, right? And, by the way, my hair is not curly. It only looks curly because it hadn't been combed after the wash. Anyway...

Despite the embarassing comments, she did a quality job on my hair, but I left feeling a little deflated. Most people pay for the salon experience, not just a cut, which includes encouraging conversation and ways to improve hair, not just a negative blow! Even though she quit talking about how bad it looked, I became unwilling to listen to much else of what she was saying because I was already turned off to her based on her initial conversation starter. Our words totally matter!

It's a good reminder in Proverbs 18:21 that "life and death are in the power of the tongue." Trust me, I can rip apart someone pretty good. Sarcasm is my go-to whenI am angry. However, it's not right and can seriously hurt people - for how long, we may never know. Even our tone can hurt someone. We must remember that we don't know what peoples' life is like or what they go home to everyday. It's even more difficult sometimes with family members because we're used to them, we see them daily, they can hurt us the most, and we can hurt them the most! I will be remembering to speak life to those around me.

Speak Life!

Love,

Charis