BY DAWN REED
Our daughter, Jessica, shaved her head a few weeks ago. I know. I was surprised, too. She wasn’t having some kind of breakdown, praise the Lord. She was just tired of her hair falling out in handfuls due to health issues and medicine.
We FaceTime before bed, and every night – for as long as I can remember – she has been massaging her scalp with a plastic thing, oiling her hair with something I can’t pronounce, and tying it up in a t-shirt to let it steep. Every night.
She has talked about shaving her head for a while, but it was radical. She wanted a re-start, hoping it would grow back thicker and healthier. But…What would people say? What would they think? Finally, she had had enough. Out came the shears and the locks were gone. She donated her hair to a charity that makes wigs for kids.
The thought of cutting off her hair sounded dramatic to me. But I hadn’t been struggling with losing fistfuls of hair day in and day out. I realized it was only hair and would grow back. It wasn’t for me to decide anyway.
Jessica letting go of her hair has made me ponder other things we hold on to for too long. Guilt, shame, regret, grudges, and fear can hold us back, weighing us down daily.
Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.” A new thing can be exciting. A new thing can also be scary.
Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13-14, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” Lot’s wife could share insight on forgetting what is behind.
John 20 Chapters 10-18 have long been favorites, but verse 17 has always puzzled me. Jesus had just risen from the dead and was standing by the empty tomb. He told Mary Magdalene, “Don’t hold on to me…” Of course, we need to hold on to Jesus. I couldn’t make it through an hour without holding on to Him!
Though I haven’t been to preacher’s wife school, I’m wondering…Did Jesus mean “don’t hold on to the way life had been”? Was He saying that things were going to be different going forward?
I’m not telling you to shave your head, but I feel compelled to ask: Is it time for you to let go of something that has been holding you back? A relationship, a position, a ministry even. Do you need to start a new chapter? The Lord can show you clearly what to do.
I have marveled at how beautiful our girl is with a buzz cut. Her smile is bigger; her eyes are brighter. She feels freer, if that makes sense. A weight has been lifted. Yes, she has to answer questions. Yes, she gets an occasional funny look. Ultimately, she knows she needed to let go to go forward.