Scarves

“Mrs. Hutton, does this look ok?” she asks as her index finger outlines her face.

I’m not sure to what she is referring and I am certain she knows this by the confused expression on my face.

“Does what look ok?”  I reply.

“This.  My scarf.”

Oh, yes, the scarf, the hijab.  Daily she obediently wears her scarf covering every lock and wisp of hair, her ears, and all of her neck. 

I am not quite sure how to answer this question.   I don’t know exactly what she is asking.

“Well, your scarf is beautiful.  You always wear the most beautiful scarves.” And she does.

She smiles a bit and proceeds, “Thank you, but does it look ok?  Do you like it this way?”

“What way?”  I am still a bit confused.

“This way or do does this way look better?” 

She begins to unwrap the scarf from her neck and half her head, but she is careful not to reveal her hair and to unwrap too much in public.  She then drapes the hijab around her neck in a different way, but to the untrained eye, such as mine, I do not notice a difference.

“I think the scarf looks great both ways.  You always look so nice.”

A big grin.

“Mrs. Hutton, do you want to see my hair?”

“Well of course I do.”

She gets out her phone and excitedly shows me selfies.  She loves selfies.  I only get to see her hair through pictures because while there are no males in the classroom at that moment, what if one walks in.  What if?  I do not know the consequence for a boy seeing a Muslim’s girl’s hair in public, but apparently it is not worth risking an unveiling.

Her sister pipes in, “I’ll show you my hair.”

Out comes another cell phone and you would think we were in a hair salon with all the talk of cutting, coloring, and styling.  Giggles fill the room as the sisters share stories of bad hair decisions and great hair days.  I smile and reminisce about my own middle and high school days spent with my girlfriends styling our hair, mostly trying to get the bang poof higher and higher. 

Underneath the scarves are girls who cherish their hair, just like any other girl or woman.  Underneath the scarves are girls who want to hear and know they are beautiful, just like any other girl or woman.

Hair matters.  Beauty matters.

They matter because God created both hair and beauty.  He didn’t just create hair to keep us warm and keep germs and bacteria from entering our bodies, he created it to be beautiful because he creates beautiful things.  Beauty matters because we are created in the beautiful Creator’s image, therefore we reflect his beauty in various forms.  Beauty matters because we are fearfully and wonderfully made and this we must know full well.

These girls may not yet know the Creator, who formed them and knit them together, but they do feel the desire to know they are beautiful, and ultimately, loved. 

And so I am reminded that under the veils are hearts longing to be told they are beautiful and fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am reminded that I know this full well and my words can breathe life and joy into their thirsty souls.  I also know that there are others wearing metaphorical veils who need to hear you are beautiful and wonderfully created. 

Perhaps, you are in need of these words today.  Perhaps you need God’s word to quench your thirst.  Then please, allow these words to satisfy you today.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
 and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  Psalm 139:13-14

Perhaps you know your beauty in Christ full well, then may I encourage you today to tell others they are beautiful.  Tell them you like their scarf.