The Season of the Mullet
What if I made choices based on what I liked? And not what the media told me I liked.
What if I wore my hair the way I liked? And not the way the current superstars are wearing their hair.
What if I wore the clothes I wanted? And not the ones that covered the pages of magazines and are showcased on tv.
What if I made my decisions without any outside influence. Just me and God. No media, no history, nothing.
I wonder what I would like?
Right now you’re probably thinking I’m some weak-willed, trend-following, low self-esteem woman, but I’m not. I’m strong willed (to a fault, mine), opinionated (just ask my husband), rule breaking girl (and yes, I do use that term ‘girl’ very loosely).
But we all make choices based on popular culture – seriously, is there any other reason for parachute pants and those horrible 1980s rompers — and the skort, lest we forget that fashion wonder.
Also, what about the bi-level hair cut, aka the Mullet. At one point did any one of us look at that and think – wow, that’s really cute. No. We succumbed to media pressure. I don’t know where that unfortunate trend started but EWW!
I’ve made lots of bad choices in my life – some of them fashion, others much more long lasting. Some were based on popular culture and others were based on bad decisions.
Many years of my life I lived WAY outside of God’s grace, but what I love about Jesus is He never stops pursuing us. And He never stopped pursuing me. All those years I walked in and out of bad choices, He was in constant pursuit of my heart. I love that about Him!
And all those bad choices? All I can say is every bad choice can be used for His glory and no sin can keep me from His grace. Praise the Lord!
Sadly, I did spend two years in the season of the bi-level (or, if you must, the Mullet) .
What about you – any bad choices fashion or otherwise?
What is Authentic?
I’ve tossed around the word authentic a lot lately — I want to be authentic. I want authenticity in my friendships. I want an authentic ministry.
It hit me last night…. what do I mean? What am I saying? Am I just tossing around a word that sounds good. And yes, I’ve done a lot of that in my past.
Authentic means real, true, not a fake. But truly, what does that mean?
How do I live authentic?
Does it mean I have to tell you ALL about me? Oh, for your sake, I hope not. It’s 65 parts boring and the rest you don’t want to know about.
To be authentic, I have to trust that God is God and He alone rules my heart and my life. I have to keep my eyes on Him, the author and finisher of my faith.
To be authentic, I have to live life daily in the way the Lord has laid out for me. This means I don’t manipulate situations to my benefit or enjoyment. This means that some days are just stinking HARD. It also means God has a plan for my life each and EVERY day of it.
To be authentic, I have to trust God’s plan for my life and accept the sins of my past. I have to look to God to use all things (even the yucky, icky stuff) for His great GLORY.
To be authentic, I CANNOT look to people to increase my position, my standing, my popularity — as an authentic girl I will trust God to bring the right people into my life and I will trust God’s plan for my life.
To live an authentic life, I have to grasp that God’s plan for my life is much greater than my plan and I have to walk in that plan even when it is FAR different than what I’d thought.
To live an authentic life, I will serve where God places my feet and I will rejoice in the knowledge that He is God.
I’m truly blessed to be where I am today. I’m stunned that God would allow me to minister to His girls through gIRL: Girlfriends in Real Life and through speaking. I don’t understand why He gives me this, but I accept His incredible grace and pray that all I do will glorify Him.
What you believe it means to be authentic?
The Christmas Cat or am I the Crazy Cat Lady
It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas around here…. okay, no it’s not, but I did get some fun pictures of the cat and some ribbon.
Wait, what’s happened to me? There was a time when I took cute pictures of my girls in adorable velvet dresses and big red bows in their hair. Now, I take pictures of the cat in Christmas boxes.
Have I reached a “certain” age? Never understood what ‘certain’ means, but I know I’m at an age where my daughters aren’t remotely interested in putting on velvet jumpers and big red bows and posing for pictures in front of the Christmas tree.
So I take pictures of my cat
And more pictures
Poor kitty — he looks slightly bored.
And here comes the dog… he’s curious and appears slightly depressed but that’s the way he looks most of the time. We’re considering counseling.
Kitty is now done with his role as cat model… he’s ready to move on to something more meaningful and fulfilling like mousehunter or lizard killer. He has goals.
As for me and my pictures of my cat. I don’t think it qualifies me as the crazy cat lady, after all it’s only one cat.
What are you taking pictures of this Christmas season?
Hello Autumn, So Glad to See you
I just love the Fall or Autumn… whichever you chose to call it. I love the cooler temperatures, the falling leaves that crunch under my feet, and I love the fall holidays… okay, mostly I just love Thanksgiving. It has the best food.
It seems strange that November is here. Didn’t we just get this year rolling a couple of months ago. And on that note, we are heading into 2010. How do you say it?
Is it Two thousand and ten or Two thousand ten or just Twenty-Ten? I’m going with Twenty Ten. I like that – short, sweet and not much to toss out.
I never did get the 0s down — like Two thousand nine or Two thousand eight. I really have missed the nineteens these past many years. They were easy to say – Nineteen Eighty-One. No worries, no concerns, no alternatives. Well, I guess you could have said One thousand nine hundred eighty-one… but that would have sounded…. well just strange.
So now that we’ve muddled through the random that is my brain. Welcome to a tiny bit of my world and the things that perplex me.
What is your favorite part of Fall … oh, and how do you say 2010?
Why is it?
As a nod to the summer reruns, this post originally ran Sept 2008
Do you ever just wonder why? I do and some of the things I wonder about make me wonder about me. Make any sense?
Here are a few of the things I wonder about.
I wonder why …
– it never rains when I’m having a super bad hair day.
– there are only only two magazines in the doctor’s office::
Prevention – and doesn’t this seem like an oxymoron — reading Prevention magazine in the doctor’s office? If I read and followed this magazine, couldn’t I prevent most of the junk that sends me to the doctor. Hmm? What is my doctor trying to tell me?
High Lights — which was great fun when I was 10. But that great sense of accomplishment that came from from finding the hidden pitchfork in the picture just doesn’t happen today. It’s better than reading Prevention, though.
– all the credit card swipe-y machines are NOT all alike. The pressure is just so huge to answer all the questions. Debit or Credit? Cash? How Much? Now, some stores have added questions to keep you busy while the cashier rings up your outrageously priced items– is the store clean? did the cashier greet you? Now, those are not just yes or no questions, think about it. I want to respond with complete thoughts.
Did your cashier greet you today? No, she didn’t greet me but I think it’s because I was head -first in my buggy trying to retrieve a rogue eye pencil that wedged itself between the fold down seat and the back. So, I think if she’d greeted me, she would have said hello to my hind end.
Or my other favorite question — Is your store clean today? No, it’s not, when’ s the last time you were in this place.
–the older I get the faster the birthdays come?
– there’s a cream, serum. lotion for every aging ailment? We have the wrinkle cream, the firming serum, the moisturizing lotion, and should I buy all of them? And what is a fixative? Aren’t they all fixatives? Do I want fewer wrinkles, firmer skin, newer looking skin? The pressure is so huge in this aging thing. Can I just get a bottle of look-like-you-did-before-life-happened-to-your-face? I don’t want to look 20 or even 30 — I’d just like mid to late 30s. Seems like 40 hit — and it hit me in the face.
–I can’t think of anything else. oh wait here’s one:
I wonder why is it I can sing every word to ‘Dust in the Wind.’ ‘Stairway to Heaven,‘ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’and hundreds of other 70s and 80s songs but I struggle to memorize a scripture verse?
I wonder why
–it seemed like my daughters would never grow up and now it seems like it just flew by? (and my baby is 15 — which once seemed old, but now seems so young).
– when I was 18, I wondered what old people — like people over 30 – looked forward to in life. Of course, now I wonder what people 18 look forward to,
– I still don’t feel like a grown-up most days.
So, these are just a few of the things that make me wonder why? And you thought I would tell you I wonder about the meaning of life or something equally deep. Nope, not me. I try focus on the important things in life, like hair, wrinkles, and shoes …. but I didn’t mention anything about shoes in this post did I? Oh, it’s coming up. Stay tuned.
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Mary Snyder is a published author, freelance writer and engaging speaker. Her ability to deliver truth wrapped in humor enables Mary to connect to women on a personal level.-
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