Hair Care 101; My Hair Story Part 7

We left off in Part 6, where I had gotten my first perm in 2005. My hair was still full and lovely UNTIL we moved from Alaska to Washington. In WA, we lived in a place that had well water (nothing wrong with that) BUT the water had very high levels of iron, it was even orange and would stain our toilet, sink and tub within a day. My daughter's hair even got an orange tint. My hair became very, very thin and so did my daughter's. At first I had thought it was my health because I had some severe health issues with my heart and liver in Alaska and upon arriving in WA that caused my hair to fall out in the front a little, as you can see below in the photo the bare patch in the front. However, seeing what it did to my daughter's hair too and reading about how heavy iron levels in your water damages your hair and its irreversible.....made me scared! So I started to wash my hair with distilled water and that was a task! I ended up going back to the shower head to wash my hair and watched my hair just get worse and worse and break off dramatically.

Now, my hair was already porous (after having a perm) so maybe had it been unprocessed, it would not have been effected as bad as it was. Nevertheless, we moved to another location that did not have high iron levels in the water! It seems like my hair would not grow at all even, my perm was about 2 years old but my growth was barely a few inches!



However, the damage had been done and I had lost SO MUCH length. My hair went from near my knees up to my backside (that's a lot of inches lost!) So what did I do? Stupid me, figured all was lost, so might as well get another perm. <---STUPID!!! I got this perm in March 2007. The perm was great and I didn't have much breakage at all with the perming process, although my hair really didn't need the extra processing!




You can't see the length fully, but you can tell it isn't as full toward the ends as it used to be before I got a perm and had the "iron water" experience. I started to use Garnier Fructis Color treated/permed Shampoo and Conditioner around this time and also used the Garnier Fructis leave-in conditioner every time!! In the beginning I was using some alcohol-free gels but eventually all I needed was leave-in conditioner and then I let my hair air-dry. NO HEAT!
I began to pray on my hair asking God to help me recover from the damage that I did to it and to make the hair grow in my "bare" spot in the front. And it did!!! I have more hair there now and my hair is getting better.

Here is a photo almost a year after my 2nd perm (I had red eyes in the photo, so I made them black with editing software......they aren't black in real life LOL, they are green lol). You can see that my hair had FINALLY started growing again! I had new growth and it grew in nice and black and lovely and silky just like old times lol.



I've Got My Mind Made Up

This is actually some snippets from a sermon I listened to on the internet, just took some highlights from what the minister had said:

My mind is made up, my face is set.
My gait is fast, my goal is Heaven.
The road is narrow, the way sometimes is rough.
My companions sometimes are few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear!

Then he went on to say as "your Pastor" and as a Christian:

I can not be bought
I will not be compromised
I will not detour
I will not be lured away
I will not be deluded
I will not be delayed
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice because I'm too close to Heaven.

I can't hesitate in the face of adversity
I can't negotiate at the table of the enemy
I can't ponder at the pool of popularity
I can't meander in a maze of mediocrity

I'm not going to GIVE UP
I'm not going to SHUT UP
I'm not going to LET UP
I'm not going to SLOW UP

Until I'm preached up, payed up, prayed up, and stored up
I'm going to stay there until Jesus says COME UP!

I've got my mind made up, I'm going to be saved!

No matter how rough the road may get
No matter how often I may have to kneel and pray
I've got a made up mind and that's my conviction
I'm going to be saved!

Hair Care 101; My Hair Story Part 7

We left off in Part 6, with my hair being at its longest (50 inches) and very healthy. Enter: Stupidity!! I was tired of straight hair, tired of curling it if I wanted curl and yada yada yada. (Wish I could go back in time but I can't!). So I got a perm (2005). I figured it was going to be great, I would have curly hair all the time and could straighten it if I wanted to. It was nice in the beginning and I loved it:



I had a lot of breakage with my perm, especially along the hairline. Although I didn't lose any length (yet), it was coming as I soon found out. Here is another photo a few months after I had gotten my perm and still loving it:



It was easy to fix, I would just wash and gel and let it air dry. I still did not use a blow dryer.

What the Great Commission is NOT

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

The Lord Jesus gave this commission to His disciples after His resurrection and prior to His ascension to the third heaven. The command is to "Preach the gospel." The verb "preach" means to herald the message. It is the same word found in 2 Timothy 4:2--"Preach the Word." In ancient times momentous messages were communicated by a herald. This was the King's personal messenger who would cry out the king's message as the people in the town would assemble together eager to hear the latest news. The herald would not give his own message and he would certainly not give his own views and opinions. He would simply give the King’s message word for word. He would not interpret the message. It made no difference whether the herald liked the message or did not like the message, he had to faithfully deliver it. He did not debate with people. He did not argue with people. He just presented the King's message. Paul once said, "necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." Woe unto me if I fail to faithfully announce the King's message of good news!

Today it seems as if the church is doing everything except the very thing that our Lord told us to do. We substitute our program and programs for God's program. We present our gospel instead of His gospel. Let us briefly consider what God's great commission does not say:

Go ye into all the world and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, build homes for the poor and care for the sick

While we certainly should not be oblivious to the pain and poverty and suffering in the world, yet the social gospel is not what our Lord commanded. The solution is not for each believer to become like Mother Teresa. We may feed their stomachs but what have we done for their souls? We may cure them of a bodily illness, but what has been done about the deadly and incurable disease of sin (Jer. 17:9)? What good does it do if they become rich for a second (in this life) but poor forever (in eternity)? If we clothe their bodies with the finest of garments, how shall it help them if they die without being covered by the robes of Christ's righteousness? What shall it profit them if we build them a wonderful house, but no provision is made for their eternal home in heaven? What ultimate good have we done if we only help them this side of the grave?

The Salvation Army is today almost exclusively devoted to a social gospel, with little emphasis upon the salvation of souls. It is very interesting to hear what William Booth had to say years ago: I recall hearing William Booth, the first general of the Salvation Army, say, when explaining his "Darkest England" scheme, that its real objective was, not just the amelioration of social conditions, but first and foremost the bringing of men to repentance that their souls might be saved. I can recall the flash in his eye, and the noble bearing of his commanding figure as he exclaimed, "Take a man from the filth and squalor of the slums, exchange his rags for decent clothing, move him from the stifling stench of the city tenement to a neat little cottage in the pure air of the country, put him on his feet economically where he can make a decent living for himself and his family, and then let him die in his sins, unsaved, and be lost forever at last—really it is not worth while, and I, for one, would not attempt it." (Cited by Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent, pages 181-182).

"If every person in the world had adequate food, housing, income; If all men were equal; If every possible social evil and injustice were done away with, Men would still need one thing—CHRIST! --J.W. Hyde

The Advantages of Pleasing God Rather than Men

1. If you seek first to please God and are satisfied therein, you have but one to please instead of multitudes; and a multitude of masters are hardlier pleased than one.

2. And it is one that putteth upon you nothing that is unreasonable, for quantity or quality.

3. And one that is perfectly wise and good, not liable to misunderstand your case and actions.

4. And one that is most holy, and is not pleased in iniquity or dishonesty.

5. And he is one that is impartial and most just, and is no respecter of persons, Acts x. 34.

6. And he is one that is a competent judge, that hath fitness and authority, and is acquainted with your hearts, and every circumstance and reason of your actions.

7. And he is one that perfectly agreeth with himself, and putteth you not upon contradictions or impossibilities.

8. And he is one that is constant and unchangeable; and is not pleased with one thing to-day, and another contrary to-morrow; nor with one person this year, whom he will be weary of the next.

9. And he is one that is merciful, and requireth you not to hurt yourselves to please him: nay, he is pleased with nothing of thine but that which tendeth to thy happiness, and displeased with nothing but that which hurts thyself or others, as a father that is displeased with his children when they defile or hurt themselves.

10. He is gentle, though just, in his censures of thee; judging truly, but not with unjust rigour, nor making your actions worse than they are.

11. He is one that is not subject to the passions of men, which blind their minds, and carry them to injustice.

12. He is one that will not be moved by tale-bearers, whisperers, or false accusers, nor can be perverted by any misinformation.


Richard Baxter 1615-1691