Quickly Recovering

I told my fellow discerners at phatmass about my 'hair trauma' yesterday and one fine phamily member came back with this:

But what I wanted to share was: it's all right to be upset. Even if you don't (over-)symbolise stuff like I do, six inches is a lot of hair to lose in one fell snip, and it will take a while to get used to. If you like, you could see it as a step in your discernment - you've discovered something new with the Sisters of the Renewal and it marks the beginning of a fresh step and direction in your journey towards God.

I don't know what your time-frame is or if you even have one - but hair can grow one heck of a few inches in a few years. Concentrate on God and He'll give you a superb investiture!

It definitely eased my nerves. It makes it a lot easier to handle when I think of it as a new beginning. I can start fresh with growing my hair out. Now, if I do end up entering the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, what I give up at investiture will in fact be hair I have grown specifically for that reason. And another thought that was presented, by stlmom, was this:

Don't ever lose sight of the fact that God wants your heart so much more than your hair.....

How glad I am that God does indeed want my heart WAY more than He wants my hair. I think, though, that in some sense it seems like less of a gift. But whatever gift I give, I give it out of love. And that, I think, is just the right kind of gift.

Sooo.. while it's still a little hard to look in the mirror and see my hair missing, or run my fingers through it and have it end way too soon, I'm not crying anymore and I think I can be over it now. At least it's soft, clean and healthy, right? RIGHT.

St. Maria Goretti, purest patron of mine, pray for us! St. Thomas Aquinas, my beloved dumb ox, pray for us! Sts. Francis and Clare, generous and loving, pray for us! St. Maximillian, my saint for the year, pray for us! All you holy angels and saints, pray for us!! -- Be holy.