How far?-

 I've long ago given up on having front hair. The tiring resources and time spent on it seemed to have been in vain. From virgin hair relaxer to damatol. Even gentle touch product. Aargh!

This was my last stop in the salon concerning anything, hair matter. I was just doing this because my cousin's wedding was in a forth night and I wanted to do some Brazilian stunt-hair-thingy.
'Hmmn', the hair stylist sighed. 'Have you tried using olive oil rejuvenating hair product?', she asked expecting a negative reply.
'Yes! Still in my drawer somewhere', I said trying to sound sweet.
She took a good look at me through the mirror while oiling it with some product.
'How often?'
'Ehn?'
'I said how often', she repeated.
‘Ehm, ehm, I think I used it for two weeks or thereabout.'
'See! That’s the problem. You don’t use it long enough!'
'Long enough? I don’t have the time for all that.'
'Well lady, when you decide that you're tired of chop chop hair, you know what to do'
As I left her salon that day, I couldn’t help but wonder all the things I had stopped doing because there wasn’t 'enough time' to continue.
For some of them, there were genuine reasons I allocated to them- I needed more experience, or better people or more resources, but there were no specifics as to when exactly I'd take time to affect those reasons.
For others, I'd sincerely lost interest and needed encouragement. My state reminds me Elijah. He had done the right thing killing all the prophets of Baal, now Jezebel wanted his head (1kings19). It was the logical thing to run away, and gradually lose interest in doing the right thing. But God wasn’t done with him...like He's not done with me.
Today marks day 10 of consistently using my hair product to rejuvenate my seemingly balding hair. I decided to. There’s no point postponing it anymore, besides, I want to use my hair for my wedding!

'Are you utterly broken?'

Are you utterly broken? Do you feel like there is no one to run to and all is seemingly askew? I haven’t been there before but I know someone who has. She had everything she could possibly ask for: a good husband, great in-laws, life in a five year plan. She was flourishing in her business as a designer and C.E.O of an urban clothing line ranging from ages 0- Adult. Things were good. Then one day she comes home from work to meet her mother-in-law in the arms of her husband, who was comforting her. His dad just passed away. For months the elderly man had been complaining of a burning chest pain and was treated for infection. He went into a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning and didn’t wake up.

After the funeral, mother-in-law, ‘Nana’ as she is fondly called by her sons, came to live with Ruth. At first, she felt bitter at not having Mark all to herself and she began to act grumpy. But what stunned her was Nana’s response- love. It was all she could do not to cry at the wonderful mother’s heartfelt tenderness towards her. Why, she even treated her like her own daughter! And there was more- Nana emanated peace and joy beyond comprehension. Ruth would look forward to getting home so she and Nana could prepare dinner while she learnt about the middle-aged woman’s past- her home, her people, the economic meltdown affecting her country, and her God. He was the person Ruth longed to meet. Nana described him as a loving gentle tenderhearted Father who would stop at nothing to see his children saved. But what did Ruth need to be saved from? Ruth had all she wanted and church wasn’t her thing. She just didn’t grow up with it. Her parents believed in satisfying one’s self and looking for inner happiness. Christmas was a happy holiday for them because their Father got to take them to the best kiddies centre.

Years passed on and Ruth couldn’t deny the feeling that something was missing. She couldn’t put a finger on it yet her soul was desperately seeking for more. It wasn’t the fact that she had no children for Mark. In their time, they would come. Her heart was growing weary within her daily. Then the worst happened: Mark and his only brother, Keith died in a car crash on their way back from a business meeting out of town. Eleven years of marriage and she was left a widow.

Are you familiar with this story?

I have a word for you- God has not left you alone. When all seems utterly hopeless and life is death to you, the Father is able to raise you up from the miry clay. Because you see years after, He set Ruth and Nana’s feet on the solid rock- not because she remarried and had a son after a lot of other stuff happened to her but that she followed the One true God even in her state of pain. She learnt that though she had lost everything, the joy that would come when she walked with God was unspeakable. It filled her soul, healed her wounded heart, and filled the emptiness she had for so long! It was more than the things she could see- a home, a husband, children, good job, friends, etc. she allowed God’s grace to save her. She chose life, she chose Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. She heard God calling her, telling her he would give her rest, lighten her burden, ease her yoke, and teach her how to live. She obeyed the call.

There is not a situation God cannot save you from, if He has the power to raise dry bones to life (Ezek.37:1-14), He has the power to save you. And he calls, ‘come to me’. Will you?