My hair is gray

While shopping for groceries at Wal-Mart the other day I noticed a lady looking at me intently. Now, this is not totally unusual because sometimes people see me peripherally when they come into contact with my husband, the pastor. Whether it is at a regular church worship time or at a funeral or wedding or hospital visit, they meet me but the focus is the pastor so they could recognize him but their recollect of me is fuzzy. That is perfectly okay with me. I have found you get away with more in the margins and in the shadows. (hehehe) I smiled at the middle aged lady and went back to concentrating on which detergent was on sale.
Maneuvering around an end cap into the next aisle I saw the same brown-haired lady coming toward me again with a serious stare pointed straight at me. She was not looking at the many products on the shelves. I looked straight at her face this time and smiled. Travelling down the aisle toward her while putting items in my basket, I thought, "Oh, no! She probably attends church with us and I am suppose to know her!" Her eyes were kind and lightly lined, but drew a blank. Sometimes a person who sees that man up there preaching every Sunday is curious about what his wife looks like or is like. I tried to exude friendliness as my now almost full cart lumbered around another corner.
Ten minutes later, almost finished and the cart so full it is cumbersome to manage I round the frozen foods and head for the fresh fruits and vegetables. Thankfully I am almost done! Suddenly there she is again! She diagonally aimed her basket toward me from the meat case stopping six feet from my bulging basket. I still do not recognize her.
"Excuse me," she says as she leaves the safety of her half empty basket and reaches her hand out toward my head. "How do you do that? How do you get that color?" She almost touches my gray hair, pulling back just 12 inches from my face.
Now, there have been many a conversation between me and my hair dresser about whether we should color my hair. It is...was naturally a very dark brown, but now has grayed considerably around my face. The back has some gray but is in stark contrast to the front. Actually the gray is not gray at all but white. Krista, my wonderful hair counselor, says you cannot get that white out of a bottle.
So, there in Wal-Mart, me and this stranger discussed gray hair and the merits of dying or natural.
Life is strange sometimes.
Prov 16:31 'Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.'(NIV) I can only hope this is true.