Is God Enough?

Several friends of mine have been through difficult times.  We have had a few of our own.  This theme has been buzzing in my heart lately, "Is God Enough?"  I was struggling with a certain topic ~ which is actually irrelevant since the theme keeps popping up regardless of the topic ~ and I was literally listing the reasons to God why I believed that MY plan was the best option.  Very clearly, I heard in my heart, "Am I NOT enough???"  It stopped me in my tracks.

On good days, I find myself pretty comfortable in my plans, my ways, my priorities.  So, it is natural for me, when facing a challenge, to try the same approach.  Tough times, hard times, times that stretch me, I look for my plan and use my own priorities to find a light at the end of the tunnel.  All the time, trying to stand it up next to God's plan and then justifying the heck out of it to try to make it match.  I fail every time.  The reality is that tough time or not, I really need to focus myself on His Plan, His Priorities, His Ways.  "His ways are higher than our ways" all the time, not just the tough-to-figure-out ones.  Not just the confusing ones.  In fact, if I spend my efforts looking for His Ways, I will have more time to rest in His hands.  It's like finding out that instead of washing clothes by hand in a river, you discover that there is an all in one washer/dryer that even folds your clothes.  I labor so hard to try to make my way work and all the time, God is saying, "If you will just listen to me, this will go so much more smoothly."

One thing that I find both loving and frustrating about God is that He waits for me to see it.  Loving because he doesn't impose His will on me, frustrating because sometimes I would like Him to put it in an email and send me the directions!  Just tell me what to do!  So, my daily thought is to look for His Plan.

Audra

Princess Hair

Nardos and Beti needed their annual hair trim. The shop I called said it needed to be straightened before coming for the trim. For Beti, not a problem. Thirty minutes and a blow dryer. Done. Nardos...an hour (PLUS!)and kinda straight, and definitely poufy! The trim went really well. Then we went swimming and we are back to curly.

Trouble is brewing: Nardos is already planning for Sunday. Picked out her dress, shoes, and clips for her...yep, you guessed it, straightened hair. I'm sure we will have tears when the Missouri summer humidity ruins her perfect "do".

So then, we got into the plan to prepare for Sunday.  I had read and heard about the Instyler straightener.  So, we bought one.  Beti's hair took about 45 minutes.  Well worth it.  She loves it.  Nardos had gone swimming yesterday with her hair "all down" and not "contained".  Needless-to-say, it was a rat's nest!!!  I have never seen so many knots!  It took SEVERAL hours (I lost track), but she loves it!  We talked about how we would not be doing this every day and that God had made her hair beautifully curly and that we would also take days to show that off!  I am afraid that tomorrow's prediction for rain may very well crush our ideas of straight hair, but one can only wait and see.  Enjoy the pictures!

Beti in progress...

Nardos' nest

Nardos

Nardos

Almost there....

All done!

And, NO, you can't go play outside!  :)