Things coming out of my kids’ mouth makes me stop in my tracks. Mostly it’s the, “I love you so much, Mom,” stated matter of factly out of the blue or the awesome one-liners coming out of my five year old’s brain. Every once in awhile, these one liners make me stop in my tracks for all the wrong reasons.
My five year old is rocking his colors, numbers, and letters. School starts today and during our family camping trip last week, we were quizzing Gabriel on his colors for fun. We asked the color of cars and signs. As we’re getting ready for bed, we talk about our families’ hair and eye color. Dad has black hair and brown eyes, so do Gabriel’s brother and sister. When we asked his hair and eye color he said blonde and blue. Finally, it was time for him to answer my hair and eye color.
Thinking I would get the same answer he provided since I thought I also had blonde hair and blue eyes, I wasn’t paying close attention and continued getting him ready for bed. Imagine my surprise when his answer was, “Mom’s hair is gray and her eyes are red.”
I stop putting his feet in his hand-me-down pumpkin pajamas and stared at him. “Did you just say mom has gray hair and red eyes?” I inquired trying to keep the dejected tone for my voice. I must have been unsuccessful in my goal because my husband immediately asked my youngest to apologize. I told Gabriel there was no need to apologize, but my demeanor changed that night in camp. Obviously, my son had no idea his comments took me aback; he was only speaking his observations.
It had been a long week, so as I looked in the mirror I did was blood shot eyes and yes, there is a little more gray reflecting back then I had remembered. Those gray hairs and bloodshot eyes have been well earned, I told myself.
A large swath of my hair became gray after a night spent in the ER and subsequently the hospital, when my second child stopped breathing and the doctors couldn’t figure out why. Then there was the time my daughter was only thought to have strep throat and wound up in the hospital for four days while she received adult level antibiotics pumped into her system three times a day. Or there are the countless times my husband is gone on a fire or a car wreck for hours on end and I’m left at home not knowing how he or his crew is doing.
However, I reasoned with myself, there is a flip side. I want to start looking at my gray hair and bloodshot eyes and a positive light and even see them as a blessing. My red eyes met we had an amazing week of fun and long night making memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. It means I’ve lived an exciting, full life with the scars, gray hair, and bloodshot eyes to prove it. God also sees gray hair as a blessing. In Proverbs 16:31, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life.” NLT.
I’m not sure if I lived a godly life, I’ll leave that up to God, but I’ve decided to look at my gray hair as a “crown of glory,” rather than something to be covered up and hidden away. I plan to take what my youngest said about my hair color and eye color as a complement rather than insult. Is there anything in your life that you need to turn around to the positive instead of seeing it as a negative? Share in the comments to encourage others.