She knew something even my parents didn't...

     As I stepped out of the shower, I had one simple thought come to mind. I remember it as clearly as I remember my view when the thought came.

     My view was of the low wall of the shower base I was stepping over as I reached for a towel. My thought was - "I want my hair to be braided. I'll ask Andrea to braid my hair."

     I was 10 years old, and I don't really have much memory of other parts of that night other than my sister, Andrea, sitting on a couch behind me as I sat in front of her and she braided my hair. My parents had left earlier that evening for a prayer group. I think my little brothers were in the same room as my sister and I were. I'm pretty sure the TV was on.

     The next morning I excitedly undid the braid to see how my typically stick-straight hair would look. It was like a magic trick. The overnight change of a left-in hair style was about as "extreme makeover" as it gets for 10 year olds. Or at least the 10 year olds I ran with. Ridiculously unskillful over-application of make-up at sleep overs was probably the only thing that was more extreme. To be honest, I wasn't much into regularly trying either kind of makeover. But for this rare occasion, on this morning, the crimped waves did not disappoint.

     I had to share my excitement so I sashayed into my parents' room to show them. I came to my dad first.

     "Look at my hair. Andrea braided it last night," I said.

     "Huh. Pretty. Can you go show your mom?"

     The thoughtful look on my dad's face as he said this was maybe a little out of place. But for him to think I should show my mom too - that was a pretty satisfying response - so I happily made my way over to my mom around the corner.

     "See, mom? Andrea braided my hair last night!" It was such a fun surprise because they hadn't seen me since before I showered the night before and they'd come home after I was already asleep!

     "That's nice. Honey, did you see this?"

     I made my way back over to "Honey" and he began to fill me in on their strange responses to my hair.

     My dad was sitting on the edge of their bed so we were eye level as he explained, "Last night one of the women praying for us shared some words and pictures she said that she had for our daughter." My dad went on to tell me about those words and pictures and then said, "After that she asked us if we even had a daughter. We said, 'Yes, we have two' and she said, 'Well it's the one with a braid in her hair.' "

     And that, as far back as I can remember, was my first experience with accurate, prophetic words of knowledge. It wouldn't be my last.

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My word for this year is hope. In an effort to keep my eyes on the source of my hope, I’m planning to share one post every month on this blog page that testifies to God’s power, provision, and goodness.