Ombre

“It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away.” -Casting Crowns

My husband says I’m obsessed with the ombre fad. He might be right. If I say something like I need a new toothbrush he teases, “Make sure to get an ombre one.” Or “I’d like to get new dishes he’ll say, “Do they make those in ombre? Or “I need new socks” then it’s “You could ombre your own.” You get the drift. Recently I bought two Wet brushes for my daughter’s and my hair. They’re supposed to make it easier to brush through wet hair. I like them well enough. I got a purple one for my 3-year-old daughter and a pink and purple ombre onefor me. Except not. Amelia decided the ombre one was hers. We fought over them. Why am I fighting with a 3-year-old!?  I compromised and said the purple one was for downstairs and the ombre one was for upstairs, so we share.

120 Colors! Strawberry Shortcake is about to have some ombre hair. …Stop and smell the carrots. 

If you’re over the age of fifty you may not know what ombre is. I’m not talking about the old school card game (I only know that because I dictionary.com-ed it). Ombre is a popular color trend where colors fade into lighter shades of the same color or even different colors. It’s most commonly seen on woman’s hair. Typically the roots are darker and they gradually lighten towards the bottom. It’s typically brown to blonde but it can be any variety of colors, or all sorts of rainbow colors (I call it the My Little Pony hair).

This month I painted our master bedroom a light turquoise. Well, at least that’s what color it was supposed to be. Arctic green is what it was labeled. Arctic blue would have been more accurate or even baby blue. Now the bedroom looks like a giant baby boy nursery. It’s growing on me though. It’s better than the boring gray that it was. I told my husband I was considering ombre-ing the walls. I even researched how to do it. You need three shades of the same color:  a light, a medium and a dark. First you paint the whole wall the light color. Then you paint the bottom two feet the darkest color. Next you mix the darkest color with the medium color and paint the next panel. Then just medium. Then mix half medium and half of the lightest shade for the next panel. You blend it in as you go with a dry bush. SEE! I totally could do this! The Hubs put the kibosh on it when he said, “We are not teenagers.” My response was, “Well when I was a teenager when my dad went fishing for a week my mom would paint a room. Didn’t you mention going fishing?” Be prepared to come back to an ombre-d house *insert mischievous laugh. The Hubs suggested I curb my ombre appetite by painting a picture for the wall instead, so I did.

I used shades of turquoise and purple to match the bedroom and bathroom. I slowly blended the colors together and worked from one end of the painting to the other. Gradually one color turned into a completely different color. While mixing different shades of paint the song “Slow Fade,” by Casting Crowns kept playing in my head. I hate this song. It’s so sad. And so true. And so convicting. Who wants to listen to a song that makes them want to cry!? Not me. With each brush stroke I meditated on this song and the truths within it. The song is about . . . well, here. You can just skim through the lyrics:

“Slow Fade”

By: Casting Crowns

Be careful little eyes what you see
It’s the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it’s the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you’re thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what you see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Satan doesn’t just tell you one big lie. He’s not that dumb. He’s so much more sneaky. If you only saw one end of the painting you would say that the painting was turquoise. His trickery is gradual. A little misinformation here. Followed by a tiny compromising thought there. Then an example of how something good came out of something bad which may twist the bad into looking like it was good. Or you find out something about someone that you really respect and don’t dare to disagree with them. Before long turquoise is purple. What a person (or society) clearly saw as wrong now seems completely believable.

As Christians we are called to love people. All people. And really LOVE them, but you don’t have to agree with someone to love them. Amelia always puts her shoes on the wrong feet. Every time. I don’t get it. With two feet mathematically she has a 50/50 shot of getting it it right but she doesn’t. Then I lovingly tell her, “Good job putting your shoes on your feet all by yourself, but you need to switch them. It’s ok we’ll practice.” People have a left and a right foot, but I’m not going to correct somebody else’s kid if they have their shoes on the wrong feet. People are much more open to hearing your opinion if they first know that you love them. 

Society shifts in its thinking on what is and isn’t acceptable. Decades ago open toed shoes would have been scandalous. Can you imagine a flip-flop scandal? Ridiculous right? Society changes but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever,” Hebrews 13:8. The Bible does not evolve. This is a good thing! Imagine if God kept changing His mind. It’d be like playing a game with a toddler who kept changing the rules of the game for his benefit. You’d never know what to expect. You could never win! God’s commandments are the same now as when He created the world, but unlike the selfish toddler He has set rules in place for our benefit.

Our culture’s mentality is that we should be accepting of everyone . . . except people who are not accepting of everyone. Confusing? Yes, because it’s a double standard. More specifically America is becoming more accepting of different religions but not religions that claim to be the only right way. You have a left and a right foot. There is right and wrong. The Bible adds clarity to this phenomenon by saying, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19. That’s a bummer! But with an eternal perspective there’s more important things than being politically correct. Like being spiritually correct.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17. . . . Okay, in that case I don’t “love” ombre. I just really like it. We were created for God’s enjoyment and He created colors for our enjoyment (among many other things). Let the ombre-ing commence!

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” –Romans 12:2

Dear God,  Help me not to conform to belief systems that are not of You. Let my actions be done out of my love for You and not out of concern for being politically correct. Help me to see people how You see them. Help me to love them with Your kind of love.