Anyone who has walked with God for any length of time has figured out that God has a sense of humor. Just look at the platypus. Since I know He has a sense of humor I love to watch for it. Joy is one of the great gifts of God and I think He sometimes does things just to make us laugh.

Take for instance, my hair. Bear with me a minute….. I went to have my hair cut and styled a little over a month ago. Since the texture and curl has changed over the past year I thought it needed a cleanup to make travel easier. Now, you have to understand that I have rarely, I mean RARELY, been happy with the say my hair is cut by someone else. It’s like they don’t hear what I say when I tell them exactly what to cut and what to leave. So this time, not wanting to chance letting a novice touch it, I made an appointment at the local upscale salon/beauty parlor/massage therapist/spa – you get the drift. It was going to be expensive, I knew, but I really couldn’t deal with one more botched haircut.

You don’t sit in front of a mirror in this place when they cut your hair. They are artistes and therefore will reveal their creation when they are finished. I explained what I wanted and sat back to wait for the finished product.

It took over an hour. Snip snip. Spray. Snip snip. (Really?) Mousse. Gel. Blow-dryer. Comb. Brush. (OUCH!) An hour and sixty dollars later I had a beautiful stylish cut that would require a great deal of care and was not what I had asked for – well, technically, I guess it was what I asked for. It was shorter and layered.

I tried to deal with it and have been frustrated by it ever since. I do not have the time or inclination to spend thirty minutes a day styling my hair. Not only that, even when I try it never looks like it did the day it got cut/shaped/styled. This is why when I go to get it done I carefully explain that it has to be a no- to very low- maintenance style. Naturally, I was fed up. I’m about to leave the country again and have another trip in November. I simply cannot be messing with HAIR in the mountains of Guatemala!

With all of that in mind, earlier this week I walked into the local Hair Cuttery and told them I wanted it trimmed and shaped. They told me they needed to put all of my personal information in their computer before they could help me. I told them thanks, but no thanks, and walked away. This morning I drove eight miles to the next little local establishment and tried again. Thanks be to God, the girl said she would cut it. After fifteen minutes in her chair, she charged me thirteen dollars. Thirteen.

My haircut is adorable, if I do say so myself! It is EXACTLY what I wanted. After washing, it takes a minimal amount of finger shaping and it is done. No blow dryer. No curling iron. No flat iron. No hot rollers. Just arrange and go. I love it!

I’m pretty sure God is chuckling right now, because I know I am. I spent so much time and money trying to get something from the ‘experts’ and only got disappointed. Then I spent a little time and a little money with someone who LISTENED to me and got exactly what I wanted! You just gotta laugh!

Of course, there is a lesson in here for some of us. It’s a lesson about speaking what you want clearly and not settling for anything less. It is also a lesson about listening.

People are talking to us all of the time. I sense often that they are rarely listening to me but rather waiting for me to finish speaking so they can talk about whatever else is going on in their heads. How different our lives would be if we really listened to one another. We might hear things that surprise us. We might hear things that delight us. And, we might hear things we don’t necessarily want to hear. The point is, if we listen – REALLY listen – then we are able to help the one who is speaking. If we are not willing to listen to them and hear them we might as well not waste their time. People need to be heard and if we belong to Christ then we need to be the ones listening.

Father, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand.

James 1:19  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath