It’s Wednesday night! I just walked in the door of my house after a great rehearsal at church with the band. I am greeted at the door by my daughter Kensley. She has a big smile on her face and a bath towel wrapped around her head. I can tell she is up to something just by the way she is looking at me. Suddenly she whips the towel off her head and tada! Bright pink hair. Yep. I think back to when I saw her 6 hours ago. Beautiful blonde locks resting on her shoulder and draping the side of her face. Last month it was bangs. Bangs were a fine choice. Something different and not like everyone else. Tonight, those bangs were pink. Definitely not like everyone else. They are undoubtedly…different. It isn’t the kind of different you think of when someone wears white after Labor Day or a bikini top that looks like the USA flag. It’s the kind of different that gets attention, makes assumptions, and doesn’t look great in a family photo. Did I mention the family photo? The one we’re taking just three days from now? You know, the one you send out at Christmas to show family and friends how much your kids have grown? The family photo you’ve planned for months? Yes, that’s the one. Not just our family of five either. The entire family. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles… You get the picture. You see, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the pink hair. (The second was the look on my brother’s face when we walk in the door for the picture). I was trying to imagine what pink hair might look like with a seasonal backdrop, hay bales, jack-o-lanterns and the new hay trailer my Dad bought just for the occasion. This is going to be the family photo of all family photos. The nieces and nephews are all finally old enough to know how to sit still for 5 minutes and smile with confidence while all looking in the same basic vicinity. Everyone will be strategically placed, coordinated and matching, and my daughter will have, pink hair.
As this was all going through my mind Kensley interrupted my thoughts and in response to the look on my face said with confidence “It’s not that bad Mom and anyway, I don’t care what other people think. I’m me!” It took me a few minutes to process it, but what she said less than an hour ago has stuck with me. I relish that thought and I must admit that I envy anyone who can say such a thing about themselves. I am not one of those people. I admittedly care way too much about what others think of me and sometimes it is painfully debilitating. A friend and I were sharing some struggles over lunch a month ago and she shared a document she found that she is committing to memory. It is a collection of over 90 statements that describe “Who I Am In Christ”. Each statement is taken from scripture and every time I read through them, I think less about my insecurities and flaws and more about who I really am. When I read those statements, I can say much like Kensley did “I don’t care what others think of me (or even what I think of me) “I AM ME!” I am salt, light, righteous, victorious, anointed, loved and chosen. My God says I am capable, strong, blameless and that I belong. The Bible tells me I am God’s handiwork, created for a purpose, royal, holy, fearfully and wonderfully made, and free. I am these things and so much more.
My prayer for you today is that you embrace the real you. Don’t let what others think or the insecurities that have set in because of past failures, what you see in the mirror, your job title, your physical limitations, or how you feel about yourself on a particular day replace who God says you are. When we know who we are and more importantly Whose we are, we can say with confidence “I am me.” Pink hair and all!
God Bless You,
Wendy Huizinga Music Minister/Worship Arts Director Orchard Hill Church
Many thanks to Kensley Huizinga and Allyssa Thompson for inspiring me to write this. Here is the link for the Statements of Scripture for “Who I Am In Christ”. http://www.perkinsperspectives.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Who-I-Am-In-Christ.pdf
