I Thank God for my "Once in a Lifetime" Trip to Minnesota School of Cosmetology

⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
   Even if they call to the Most High,
   he will by no means exalt them.

 ⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
   How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
   How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is changed within me;
   all my compassion is aroused.
⁹ I will not carry out my fierce anger,
   nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
   the Holy One among you.
   I will not come in wrath.
¹⁰ They will follow the LORD;
   he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
   his children will come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come trembling
   like birds from Egypt,
   like doves from Assyria.
I will settle them in their homes,”
   declares the LORD.Hosea 11

Today after work I went to the Minnesota School of Cosmetology. Why did I go? 


Three reasons:


1. Mom told me last year that they offer hair cuts by the students there. The students practice on the customers' hair in return for a small fee ($5.99).

2. I never go to salons, etc. I have been letting my hair stay long and intend to let it grow indefinitely long. Though these mortal bodies are perishing, I know that God created all things good and I would not want to remove one of God's blessings to women. I pray that I never idolize hair (or any other physical thing). But in the process of growing long hair, I have dealt with split-ends from humid or freezing weather conditions because my hair is not too resilient. Thus, I have had to trim the ends every few months to remove these split-ends. I am not very adept at this process and would not want to belabor my father or mother with this task. So I thought yesterday that perhaps I could go to a salon and pay $10 (I do not know how much such procedures cost because I never go to salons) to have someone with experience do this. I remembered mom telling me about this place as I was driving to Fantastic Sams and decided to go to MSC instead.

3. I felt a Spiritual inclination to go...

My Experience

      God taught me some things through the Spiritual climate of this place. Almost all of the students/hair dressers were depressed and living in severe darkness. Was this a Cosmetology school or a depression treatment center? Some students seemed like they had anorexia. Most of them were wearing a thick layer of eye liner and had their hair straightened. As I realized that these people were hopeless I felt tears coming to my eyes (but thankfully not out of them). I looked deep into the faces of students and instructors and my soul became solemn. I came here partly because I thought it may be "fun" to have students remove my split-ends, but in this God place opened my eyes to new and more types of darkness. God opened my eyes to these thingswithin the 5 minutes that I had to wait for a student to call me to her station.

     In an earthly sense, this place smelled like burnt hair and the hair of everyone in this place looked kind of dry and heat-damaged: overworked. I made sure to tell the student not to use any chemicals or "machines" on my hair and that I wanted my hair kept as long as possible while removing the split ends. In the next hour an instructor, this student, and several other watching students worked on my hair and I think they did it right by God's grace. The instructor told the student to give me a "180 degree cut" so that all the split-ends from each length of hair could be trimmed (I had my hair layered years ago). The students and instructor kept complimenting my hair. I wanted to tell them about my virgin hair routine and how God had restored my hair from almost nonexistence during my illness, but I guess their school might not exist if ... I pray that God gives me and others boldness in His good time to share with them the Gospel of Christ.

     As I left I told the student "God bless you and thank you" and she said "God bless you too". I have this place in my heart now. I need to pray for people here and keep it in mind for a witnessing location. 

Nurtured Strands

But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.(I Cor 11:15)


Growing hair long without the use of harmful chemicals, irons, blow-dryers, straighteners, or visiting a salon (i.e. virgin hair) can be done using natural food items and products. Below is described my hair routine cycle which may seem complicated but ends up not consuming much time at all when learned. This method is not fool proof, but by God's grace has worked well for the last few years to restore my hair. Virgin hair can be unpredictable and there is no day-to-day cure for strange hair days, but in the long run I think it proves beneficial. My hair in particular is easily damaged and ranges from very straight and shiny to rough textured and curly depending on the weather, what cycle day I am in, how well I washed the coconut  oil out, etc. I remember that our bodies are tents and someday we will put them aside and that we ought to set our minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, rather than on earthly things


The Cycle:


Day 1: Before bed coat hair evenly with extra-virgin coconut oil (about 2 tablespoons). This is a common practice in India. Coconut oil medium chain fatty acids pass through the membranes of hair cells to nourish and protect them from damage.

Day 2: In the morning wash with a nickle sized quantity of Burt's Bees Super Shiny Shampoo. This shampoo is expensive (~$8 for 12 oz), but you only need to use a small amount so the bottle lasts a long time. 

 Apply about 1 tablespoon of Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner evenly throughout hair. Comb with fingers and wait for 2 minutes before washing out. After showering gently comb hair starting from ends and braid for protection (I have to do this because of delicate hair, but you may not need to). After about 5 hours my hair is pretty dry. Before bed unbraid hair and apply about 1/2 tsp of jojoba/olive oil to the ends and put in a low positioned bun in a location that will not bother you in your common sleeping position.

Repeat Cycle. Remember to use a shower cap when showering on the days you are not washing your hair.