Locks of dread...

Keelin's hair is very long and flows prettily down her back. Being six-and-a-half, she doesn't quite understand how to brush all of it yet. When she was quite little, she'd just brush the front that she could see and thought she'd done it all. Now, she brushes till she hits something and then takes the brush out and goes somewhere else with it. Of course, she tells you that yes, she's just brushed her hair, but you can see from above the messy lumps she avoided. Does she want help? No, of course not. She repeats this for days. Actually, if she could avoid brushing it altogether, that would be her first choice. She hides her tangles for a while by keeping her hair up in a pony tail. Eventually, routinely, she finally concedes defeat, and hands a parent a brush.

Tangles, being tangles, don't work themselves out on their own. At least, I've never seen it happen. They can't be avoided and overlooked in hopes they go away. When they're neglected, they go from a little problem to a big mess in a hurry. They need help. They need a good hairbrush, some detangling conditioner, and some time to work them out.

Keelin dreads this part. Conceding. Admitting defeat. Surrendering to the hairbrusher. First, she has to admit that she's left a mess go way too long. Secondly, she can't fix it herself, and she hates that. Third, she knows that fixing it hurts.

We used to have her sit on a stool facing away from me or her daddy in front of the TV for distraction while she had her tangles worked out, but we found it didn't work very well. She would pull away the second it started hurting, making things much worse for herself. What Keelin's figured out is that when she sits on a stool facing me, she can put her arms around me, and put her head on my shoulder while I work the brush through. When it hurts, she can hug me tighter, and she can know I am hurting her in love. Once it's done, though, she loves it. She can run her fingers through it, let it swing around, and leave it long.

Sometimes we don't know when we've made a mess, because we can't quite see that we have, how it all started, or know how we got there. Other times, we've knowingly let something go and let it get messier and messier till it's obvious the big rat's nest has to go. I know that when I've made something a mess, it's definitely hard to hand a brush over.

Handing a brush to God, sitting down and assuming a spot before Him, letting Him work in us is a choice we have to make. After all, He knows what's there. He can see from above the mess we've tried to hide and avoid dealing with. It's much easier when we face Him, hold Him tight, and let Him know when we're hurting as He lovingly works it all out for good. It's also less painful when we do this often and early on, and not let things get messy. When they do, I think sometimes that I'd rather have Him use scissors instead of a brush. And He could! But He so often chooses not to, knowing that a gaping hole would be left in its place. He chooses a hairbrush of grace, softened with un"conditioning" (hehehee) love, to work it through with me, that I would be whole instead, and beautiful on the other side of it.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:10-13