A Crown of Glory

After taking the pictures of Mary’s wild hair and putting them in my prior post, it got me to thinking about my hair. When I was in my early thirties a few gray hairs began to creep into my forehead area. My first attack was to pluck them out and then I had to stop or I would be getting bald. My next step was to dye my bangs with a semi permanent dye and then that progressed into dying all of my hair. I didn’t make a lot of money working for the church, so I would dye my own hair and what a chore! No matter how hard I tried I usually got dye on something I didn’t want to and I usually got one or more of my finger nails dyed! But I kept up my vigil because I thought that men thought gray hair was unattractive and I was waiting for my prince charming and certainly did not want to drive him away with my gray hair! Then my prince charming came on the scene and he had a crown of glory! The first time I met him I thought he was about 10 years older than he was, but as I began to get to know him, the gray hair did not matter. He had a heart of gold and I soon learned that he began graying in his early thirties and was not the age I thought he was. When we started dating I continued to dye my hair and then one day he said,”You know Elena, I just love gray hair, if you want, you can just let your hair go natural! I was so happy to hear those words. I am pretty much a natural girl, loving the outdoors and being simple in my dress. So, I let my hair go gray. At first young kids thought it was cool because I had a gray streak in the front and they thought I dyed it that way on purpose. I was perfectly content with my hair until I had Mary. Then the thoughts began to creep into my mind, “Maybe I should dye my hair, to look younger.” I would think this when I would go out into public with Mary. I had fears of people looking at me, like what is that old lady doing with a baby? Is that her grandchild? As I contemplated dying my hair, the Holy Spirit spoke to me so gently and said, your hair is a testimony. It is a testimony of God not forgetting His promises. He promised me a husband and a family when I was young and he did not forget. We may think God is too late, but he is always right on time. So, now if someone asks if Mary is my granddaughter, I say, “No, actually she is mine. “I thought I might not have kids, but I was blessed in my later years with her.” I always get a smile from people and they think that it is wonderful.

A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31