The Effortless Bobby Pin Look

Have you noticed this new hair trend lately? I call it the “Effortless Bobby Pin” look – until I tried it. I found that swooping back just a tiny piece of hair and securing it with one bobby pin isn’t easy! I couldn’t figure out where to put the hair strand and the one bobby pin wouldn’t hold my thick hair. I kept thinking about this mom at my daughter's school who has mastered this look and wondered how she makes it look so effortless!? Wouldn't you know that if you want instructions, you can fine them on Pinterest! And guess what, it's a process!

Why do we try to make difficult things look easy? A friend recently told me that I made having a third baby look easy. She said, “It doesn’t look like you missed a beat!” Oh wow. That couldn’t be more wrong. My beat is so gone that I wonder if I’ll ever get it back. And what an injustice I’m doing if I’m giving any other impression. Again, why do we try to make difficult things look easy?

Do you think it is in our nature to not show our weaknesses? Are we constantly trying to be someone we’re not? Paul talks about human weakness in 2 Cor. 12: “But [Jesus] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

There is a section in a book I’m reading entitled “Authentically Me.” Just those two words bring a little freedom to me. The author reminds the reader of three anchors of Scripture that we all need to claim and hold on to:

1) Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

2) 2 Timothy 2:21, "Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."

3) Ephesians 1:3, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

Boy, if we clung to those truths wouldn't we just ooze authenticity? How could we not if we walked in the confidence that Jesus intends for us to have -- confidence, faith, in Him and who He makes us to be. Like all things Gospel-centered, it is counter-cultural to expose our weaknesses. But if we were more honest and open about our trials, difficulties, and struggles, how much more room in our lives would we have for learning, growing, and encouragement. Sign me up!

And even if the Effortless Bobby Pin is easy for some, it's not easy for all. Such is life. Celebrate each other's strengths and weaknesses for the glory of God. Live an authentic life. Do you.

Rockin' the ponytail!

Simone