Who is this…?
She said it while looking at a photo I brought to our shop to re-frame… a picture taken over thirty years ago…
It was a picture of me and my husband on our wedding day… “the going away” picture…
I’ve known the one who asked… Who is this…? close to fifteen years… We probably know one another better than we know anyone else in the world… at least in some ways…
Jesus has always been at the center of our relationship… first in mentoring… (her to me…) then in business… to teaching Bible study… progressing to writing the studies we teach… even establishing the beginnings of a ministry whose home is based in our shop…
And when Jesus is at the center… there is a lot of truth involved… a lot of stories… sharing of history… both old and ongoing… to see Him in the midst of both wounds and joys… heartaches and temptations… struggles and victories…
So when she asked… Who is this…? I was a bit surprised… because she recognized my husband… but not… me…!
She said… Well… it could be his sister…
I informed her it’s me… and instantly knew it was the color of my hair throwing her off…
I’m ten years older than my friend… so for the years we’ve known one another… I’ve been gray… When I was younger… my hair was very dark brown… some people called it black… but no… it was very dark brown… (in my mind it still is…)
After discussing the color of my hair… she said… I like it better gray…
And you know… so do I…
With the gray has come grace…
Jesus’s grace flowing into me… doing its work… revealing and healing wounds… replacing fear with faith… sorrow with joy…
My gray hair is evidence of life lived… and the last twenty-five years I’ve lived it with the Grace-giver… At this point knowing all He’s done in and through me… with all my past… all my sin… I’m not sure I’d change one moment… that turned every hair that’s turned… gray…
A devotional I read yesterday… gave a prompt to praise God in a spirit of song…
Singing is what people do when they believe in what God has done. It’s the most expressive way in which we make known our faith.
……
Name one way God has made a difference in your life. Now tell the story back to him in the spirit of song.
–Eugene Peterson, Every Step an Arrival
I thought it would be hard… but these words flowed freely…
God, You have turned my darkness to light. My fear to freedom. My sorrow and shame You’ve used for Your glory.
You are the God of Glory, of Freedom, of Light. Amen!
My darkness… He’s turned to light… along with my hair…
Perhaps the color of grace… is gray… when we are willing to receive… all… He… has… to… offer…
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.
Proverbs 16:31 ESV
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