I snapped this photo for a quick pic to my sister, after returning from the hair cutter. Sorry men to bore you, but the hair is usually a big deal to women. As young children, my sister and I would play dress up and beauty salon. My sister was four years older than me, I sort of became her guinea pig. She had a secret desire to become a hair dresser one day so I was her number one practice mannequin. We still laugh today how she would tease my hair and use almost a can of hair spray on it. Then when it was my turn to do her hair she would quickly say, "oh let's not play this game anymore. I would get so mad as I spent the next hour trying to comb out all the knots in my hair. How gullible I was, but it's okay I caught on as I aged and learned how NOT to play beauty shop anymore with her.
Being the youngest in the family with two older siblings, an older sister and an older brother led me to find myself in some precarious situations. Like the story that leads to the scar on my face. One day my big brother was at the top of the stairs with a trash can acting like Ricky Ricardo banging his bongo from the I Love Lucy Show. As a curious 2 year old I was watching at the bottom of the stairs clapping and laughing. He had the trash can turned upside down banging and beating on the the bottom of this metal trash can. Suddenly, it slipped out of his hand and it came tumbling down the stairs. There was a metal rim on the side of the trash can that had a sharp edge. While I was still looking up at the can it came crashing down on me, striking my lip.
My mother came to my attention quickly scooped me up to take me to the hospital as blood was dripping and I was screaming. As this day would have it, the car wouldn't start! My Mom tried several neighbors, but no one was at home. My Dad was out of town on a sales job. What was she to do? Well, my grandmother was there and said, "She will be fine, let's just use scotch tape!"
The ending of the story? I have a beautiful pencil line of a scar directly above my upper lip. I never let the scar bother me much. Maybe because it's not very prominent. But when I looked at this picture for the first time, I saw the scar. It looked so obvious! What if I had focused on that my whole life? Maybe I would have missed some the joy I get at smiling and laughing with other people because I would be so self-conscious of the scar.
God wants you to know today that our scars do not define who we are. Tragedy does not define us. Life changing events do not have to define who we are as individuals. It is only when we begin to focus on the tragedy and life-changing event that it can become bigger than life. Notice that the body does heal. It may leave a scar, but the skin is repaired. In our emotional scars, time does bring healing, but there can still be a scar. Just accept it. Realize there is a scar and go on with life. When we try and dig up old past emotional wounds that have already healed with a scar, are we trying to possibly fix the unfixable?
Life is messy, stuff happens and with God's love we can move on. Let yourself be okay with the scars and move on. God's love as it meets you will give you the ability to love yourself and others. His love will give you the ability to forgive, maybe not forget the scar, but forgive.
Today I shared Luke 12:7. I challenge you to read it today and sense the presence of an all-knowing, loving God. If he sees a sparrow that falls to the ground, how much more does he love and care for us? Give him your hurts, challenges, and messes. I pray you feel his arms wrapped around you as I have many times. Blessings to you and yours. Kudos to your journey today!
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