Free Haircuts

Laura and Linda didn't come to Mississippi expecting to build houses. That's not their talent. Laura brags that she has been cutting hair for 26 years, and that it is her ministry to make people feel beautiful. Linda and Laura came from Northern Michigan and spent the whole of last week giving free haircuts. Linda washed and Laura cut and blow-dried. They cut hair for volunteers, they cut hair for people who came to the distribution center to get food and household items, they cut hair for people in the medical clinic. And all the time they worked Linda and Laura heard stories: how people came to be here, how their families are doing since the storm, what they lost and what they learned. They listened while their hands were at work transforming people's appearance. The transformation was amazing. People sat down in the folding chairs with trepidation, some ashamed of their unkempt locks, some skeptical that a free haircut could be any good. And people rose up shining, smiling, and, yes, beautiful.

The real rebuilding that happens here is the rebuilding of hope. Those of us who work here know this is true. But when Laura and Linda came to give free haircuts in our sacristy on Friday, we saw evidence of hopes lifted and joy restored more clearly than anything I have yet experienced. As they packed up their gallon bottles of shampoo and conditioner and put away their scissors they left behind a glowing train of women and men who had been surprised by their own beauty, offered freely as a gift from Laura and Linda, who were the face of God for all of us.

Hey, how do you like my beautiful haircut? It was a gift.