OK,

So, I’m not really the New (Calendar) Year Resolution kind of gal. Personally, I’m always wondering what makes that one day any different from the rest. Like I recently said in one of my devotionals, I think people treat January 1 like the “promiscuously dishonest” person does on the day of their wedding. All of a sudden a 30-minute ceremony is gonna break a long-term habit?!? A wedding is just a public affirmation of a personal resolve. One that should have been taken care of long before a white (white?!?-LOL) dress and wedding cake.

And so, if you’re really serious about changing your life, January 1 isn’t gonna do that for you. *Start the moment you decide to do it.* Whatever day that falls on.

That said, for me, one particular goal that I’m setting for myself actually started last month. I’m going to *attempt*, with all of my might, to not cut my hair for a year. Simply because I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone a year…without cutting my hair. A part of reason it’s such a struggle for me is that I can cut my own, which makes me a bit of a control freak. I never really just “let it be”. That’s a part of the problem/issue/challenge.

Well, actually, it goes a bit deeper than that.

For the fellas that are “peeking in”, there is nothing like a *good compliment*. Meaning, not a statement on our body parts but something that shows that you *really see us.* Last year, I got one from this random guy in a mall. He said, “Thanks for remembering what you look like.”

Some of you might not catch that right away and so I’ll expound. I rarely wear make-up other than mascara and lip gloss. Sidebar: Now I *love me some lip gloss* and so if anyone wants to send me some to commemorate my “Yay (or yea)! I made it FOUR WHOLE YEARS WITHOUT GETTING ANY” Day (January 9), shoot me an email. *I’m dead serious.* (LOL) Anyway, I used to be someone who rocked a face full of foundation…to hide my acne scars. Little did I know—or acknowledge—but the make-up wasn’t really *helping*…just *masking*. And so, I actually did some online research, discovered that hexane-free castor oil has *a ton* of antioxidants in it and started using it on my face. And now, I don’t wear foundation. I don’t need foundation. My skin needed a cure. Not a cover-up.

Also, at the time that the complimenter saw me, my hair was natural. Meaning there was no perm or color in it. There’s still no color in it. There has been a bit of a perm, though. I cut it all out last month. A clean slate. Cause, you see, I dig what that guy said to me. It’s like the “remix” to Psalm 139:14. The truth makes one free (John 8:32) and the truth is, I *am* fearfully and wonderfully made. Just the way Boreh (Hebrew for “Creator”) made me. From the womb (Psalm 139:13). AND SO ARE YOU. Sometimes we’re so busy covering ourselves up, that we don’t let our real beauty shine through. Hmph. Shoot, some of us have been “covering up” for so long, that we don’t even know what our real beauty looks like.

In high school, we used to take quite a few road trips. There were girls on the bus who would go to bed (well, to sleep) with a full face of make-up and wake up in the wee hours of the morning to reapply. That just seemed like a lot of work… and fear…to me. Had they gotten so used to their “made-up face” that they no longer were at peace with what an ex of mine once wrote a song about: their “Wake-Up Face”?

That makes me think of I Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV): “Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”

I’m big on parables. *Just as Christ was* (Matthew 13:13). And, to me, a parable form of this Scripture is actually a Halle Berry “Cover Girl” commercial (click here). OK, sure, it’s a commercial for foundation, which may sound a bit contradictory, but hear me out. In the spiritual sense, it makes a lot of sense. I love that part where the commentator says, “Our exclusive formula bends and reflects light to difuse every flaw.”

Y’all know I think hard (LOL). To me, when the Word says in James 5:16, “Confess your faults that you might be healed”, that’s a lot like the resolve I came to about my make-up. In being so busy covering my “flaws” up, I was really only making matters worse. Sometimes, in trying to present ourselves as someone we’re not, the same effect takes place. A lot of us pile on weaves, and jewelry and clothes we can’t afford to keep people from seeing the real us when the truth is, if we let the real us show, we could *breathe and heal* and then the Light of God (I John 1:5) would reveal who we were always meant to be. His “exclusive formula…reflects light to diffuse every flaw.” As far as the east is from the west. That’s what the Word says (Psalm 103:12).

And so, I invite you to make 2011 be the Year of the “Remember What You Look Like” Quest. Stop using/abusing something to hide your shame and scars. Confess them. Let it be what it is and allow the Lord’s light to bring you out of your darkness (Psalm 18:28). So the real you, the woman made in the image of Elohim, the Godhead (Genesis 1:26-28), can really and truly, in time, shine through!

Oh, and I will try and post a new avatar up from time-to-time so that you gals (and guys) can hold me accountable on the hair thing. *Accountability is key.* I’m sure you feel me.

Happy New (Calendar) Year.

Make it a free and real one. Full of Light. And enlightenment.

SRW