Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hair-y Situation

Katie Couric has lamented that she can give the most important news of the decade and all viewers comment about is her hair. One of my colleagues at FamilyNet television has consoled me with similar sentiments.

She was trying to make me feel better because I was upset at my boy-length hair. The powers that be wanted me to get a new hairdo, and the stylist cut much more off than I expected. The new style came at the end of a hard transition to a new city and new job, and in retrospect, it was the straw that broke my back. I admit I overreacted. But I hated my hair so much, that for two weeks, I only went to work and back because I didn't want anyone to see me! Isn't that ridiculous? At least I had hair! I ran into an old friend, a TV Consultant, at the National Religious Broadcasters convention, and she said for women in television who are constantly told to fix this or that, hair length is a control issue. She's probably right. I've been told to get my hair permed, colored, straightened, styled, highlighted, smoothed and gelled. I've been told to lose weight, wear different clothes, lower my voice, lose my accent, smile more, not smile as much, wear more makeup and so on.

So it goes back to the prayer I said last year that changed my life: "Lord, I surrender my agenda, my career, my plans to you." And after I finally realized that my hair was growing out, I understood that I needed to surrender it, too. So what if the boss didn't like it long? He's paying me. Last year, when I wasn't getting paid, I wore a pony tail and running gear to the radio station every day. I'd rather get paid! Now, I'm waiting for them to tell me to lose weight, because with all this consternation about my hair, I've been eating a lot of chocolate!




Sunday, March 16, 2008

Atlanta Twister

So many friends and family members have called or emailed in the last 48 hours to see if we are OK. We sure do appreciate your love and concern. We were actually visiting North Carolina and didn't even know Atlanta had a deadly storm until Mark's dad started calling early Saturday--and he never calls early on Saturday!

Our prayers go out to those who have been affected by the weather in the southeast and to those impacted by the crane collapse in Manhattan. We may never know this side of Heaven why some suffer more than others. We do know that our Saviour offers comfort and hope.