Perfect Imperfections

My friend, Scasmflop, came to me a little while back and asked me to employ my creative jewelry making abilities to help her with a gift for some new friends she was going to meet for the first time.  You see, they were a group of mothers who had something in common, a difficulty not many women (or men) are called upon to deal with.  They're all parents to a child with Spina Bifida and they've been supporting one another on-line for ..... well  .... quite a while now.  They were meeting for the first time since their separate yet similar journeys began and Scasmflop wanted to make it as special and meaningful as possible.

And that's where I came in.  She told me she wanted a necklace that would represent Spina Bifida, with a Remembrance Ribbon as a dangle attached.  As if God leaned over and whispered in my ear, the name for the necklaces came to mind... Perfect Imperfections.

These women are raising children gifted to them by God, yet they are children a number of people in the world would see as useless or not worth the effort it will take to give them a good life.  During Hitler's reign, these children would have been killed at birth and their mothers told they were stillborn or had died of complications.  They were imperfect humans.  But, that's not how God sees them and He has given these gifts to parents who see what God does. 

The necklaces were long chains with yellow agates to represent the Remembrance Ribbon for Spina Bifida, except for the main bead.  It was red with a discolored stripe through it....  the "Imperfection", if you will.  The ribbon dangles from the end of a bent wire that goes across the face of the stone, representative of the difficulties of their journey through life.  I'm told the ladies loved them, but judge for yourselves!





I did one other thing, I wrote a couple things to go with these necklaces. One, Scasmflop knows about, the other she doesn't.  They're both called "Perfect Imperfections".  Here's the one she knows:

PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS

Man says "They're broken, throw them away."
God says "I can use them, give them to me."
Man says "What can they do? They're useless."
God says "What can't they do? I will use them!"
Man says "Don't bother, they're imperfect!"
God says "for my strength is made perfect in [their imperfections]."
   "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my [imperfections], that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
II Corinthians 12:9

.....  and this is the one Scasmflop doesn't know about, but I hope she'll still like:

Perfect Imperfections

God gave me a gift from His mercy and grace,
A new life to add to this great human race.

But to this great gift He added a string
And when I was told I tho't "What can it mean?

"Why did God ask you this burden to bear?
And why did He think I could handle your care?"

So heavy my heart, so frightened my mind,
The way out of fear I just couldn't find.

For Satan would whisper "Your failure is set.
"The needs of your child will never be met."

I cried out to God for His great healing touch.
"Let my child be whole, I'm not asking too much."

I felt my God's love as He cradled my heart
And He told me my child, in His plan, had a part.

His plan for my child means he comes with a flaw
But others to God, with his life, he will draw.

It's not sin in my life or God's lack of love
That caused imperfection in my gift from above.

God's strength is made great in our weakness of life.
Imperfections made perfect when backed by His might.

He can use for His glory the imperfect and flawed.
All it takes is surrender to the mercy of God.


We are all imperfect sinners in God's sight. Only by His mercy, and acceptance of the Gift of His Son, are we made Perfect, indeed.

Stop The Madness

Okay... I have faced a choice, reached that fork in the road, stood at the edge of that cliff and wondered if I should step off into the unknown....

No, I'm not talking about love.  I have made.... a decision!

I am going to stop coloring my hair, let it grow, and see what God and genetics have bequeathed me!  Yes, my dears, I am growing gray!

Oh, I can hear you now, I've heard much the same already from my mother and Bunso...  "It'll make you look old if you go gray!"  "You're already fair skinned, this'll just make you look more washed out!"  "You won't like it! You'll be begging your hair stylist for an appointment before you grow two inches!"  "You'll never get a guy to look at you twice if you look all gray and old!"

Well, let me answer these attempts to make me "see the light": 1) no, I don't believe it will make me look old, OR washed out. Just because I choose to let my gray/silver/pewter (?) grow out is no guarantee I'll look old.  I found  a web-site where women who have chosen to eschew dye and "go natural" call themselves "Silver Sisters" and encourage one another to explore their natural beauty.  There are tips and ideas for transitioning from color/dyed hair to natural gray and even suggestions for make up and how to keep those lucious locks lush! If you're curious, it's called "Going Gray Looking Great" and you can find it at http://www.goinggraylookinggreat.com/ where you'll find shots of women who are simply beautiful, and even more youthful looking, once they've grown in the gray.

2) I may not like it, but I won't know until I try.  If it just so happens that I don't, my hair dresser has the colors she's used to keep me a red head written down and can whip up a new batch of the Pamela Special in no time flat. The point is, I'm going to do something I happen to see as fun!  I'm going to play with my hair in a new way.  Who knows?  I may have more fun than I can handle, which leads me to - -

3)  So what if I don't get a second look from a guy just because my hair is gray?  I don't get second looks now so why should that "threat" worry me?  You all know from a previous post that I've pretty much come to believe God wants me single (and I believe it's because there isn't a man alive who could handle me, too!) so what do I care if the only reason he looks again is because of the "skunk stripe" of new, silver growth and he can't decide whether to laugh or wait til I'm out of range? (he'd better wait... I may not care if others like it, but I'll still put a hurt on him for laughing!)

So, why am I telling you this?  Well, the GGLG site wants all their newbie grayers to post pics of themselves as they transition.  I don't know if y'all care as much as they do, but I tho't I'd share the journey with you, too.  So, I'll post pics and updates on here, from time to time, to let you know how it's going and whether or not I give up and give in to the dye chair once more. (Mom and Bunso are really hoping I give in... Bunso doesn't like gray hair - she's the "washed out" culprit - and Mom says she's not ready for a gray haired daughter) 

SO!  Here are the beginning photos (hard to take your own pic in your bathroom, forgive the poor job!)  I haven't had any color since (I think) about May.....

Okay, hard to see, but there's a fine line of gray showing in the 1st picture around the hair line (it IS lighter than the rest), you can see the beginning of the "Skunk Line" in the part of the 2nd picture and there are a LOT of silver strands under all that red in the 3rd shot.  Give it a few more weeks, that Skunk Stripe'll be HUGE! (heheheheeheee)