Sunday Stylist

I am so thankful for my Jesus. I share this in hopes of encouraging you. It is not because I feel the need to gain attention, or sympathy. It is because I truly feel it is important to be transparent with our struggles. Life isn’t always perfect and it can be tough sometimes. We all walk through different seasons that can be trying from time to time. I only share this as a reminder that we can take heart in our faith and in our community. We can learn together to trust that through our imperfections the Lord can and will take them and make good come out of it. And maybe that’s the whole point anyway, so that He can use our imperfections to not only grow us but to help grow others too.

I was recently hacked. I lost a lot of money and our social media presence online that we had built for nearly 15 years was completely gone without recovery. We really needed it to help us to promote and to help grow the business. Learning the hard way that the algorithms are tied to the lost. It makes it super difficult and a slow process to rebuild. I have been afraid that people won’t want to work with us and won’t take us serious because we don’t have much of a following anymore. And to add to it we received a couple of bad reviews online that sealed the discouragement and left me questioning how do we even comeback from all of this?

Reading from a devotional this week out of New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp dated September 22nd I found it encouraging because I had also received a few not so nice text messages that really hurt my heart and I am not going to lie. It all stung worse than a sunburn. Like a straight up massive gut punch to my heart that completely sucked every ounce of air out of my sails. Especially when it’s tied to my faith and my heart is to love people well but instead made a mess of things.

It can be easy to lose ourselves along with our self confidence and esteem when we allow our identity to be defined by all the noise of the world. It can sometimes shuffle in louder than the truth and keep us discouraged, distracted and stagnant in our purpose. But It can also be used to get us back to exactly where we should be. But God.

He sends us people to remind us of the truth of God’s word and whose we are because of who Jesus says we are. We are not defined by our mistakes, failures and lies. He gives us safe landing spaces to share about our struggles and the concerns of this life. People that are not afraid to speak truth in love into our lives, who will pray with us and for us. Accountability partners that allow us to be able to take a moral inventory of ourselves without judgement. Safe space to process and to heal as we learn to forgive each other and ourselves.

Sometimes God does allow trivial trials both big and small to enter into our lives to prune us and to shape us, to give us hope in to what He wants for us. Where what seems impossible becomes the possible and it doesn’t always look like what we think it should. The breaking and the rebuilding can be both painful and beautiful all at the same time. It is true that not all is wasted and what looks like failure can actually grow into our biggest blessings in disguise.

Don’t give up because someone somewhere needs what you have to offer. Your friendship, your kindness. Your love and prayers. Your advice. Your safety for others to be able to show up as their true authentic self with. There is so much we get to share out of the abundance of our hearts, gifts of grace and mercy to give and to receive. So keep going and believing and trusting in the only One who can truly make All the difference. Our world is waiting.

On Monday night I decided to break out my new Christmas present. An instant pot. I thought that it would be a great idea to cook 15 bean soup in it. I have cooked this numerous times before on the stove or in a slow cooker but this was our first time having it in an instant pot. I was so excited and noticed that it cooked super fast and tasted different. It tasted so much better. It smelled amazing and had all this flavor. I was so curious and fascinated. I was really amazed at how fast it cooked. I asked my husband because I was so worried that somehow it was changing the molecular structure of our food. Did it work like a microwave etc? My husband explained to me that it was just the heat and pressure that helped it cook. He said, “Catharyn, what do you think happens to things when they get put under pressure?” That got me thinking. Fast forward to later this week. This was the analogy that God used to help me understand. Here we are as God’s people feeling a bit of pressure. Sometimes, it is when we as God’s people are put under pressure that we will release an aroma, a flavor that represents Jesus. God is God. He is on His throne and He is in control. He can do and use anything He chooses. What if this is God’s way of waking up His people to action? What if this is His way of spreading the gospel? We have been given and blessed with this amazing opportunity to participate in the sharing of Jesus, who He is, what He did and His love for all people. Jesus is our only hope. It is not found in anything of this world. Let it be known through our faith, hope, love and action.

5 things that I learned about dry brushing! Why I absolutely love it and why I made it a part of my daily ritual.

1. Exfoliates the skin.
2. Helps our bodies rid itself of toxins.
3. Helps with circulation & Increases energy.
4. Stimulates the lymphatic system.
5. Helps break down cellulite.

Dry brush by using gentle long strokes starting at your feet and working up always brushing toward your heart.

I found this little gem through an amazing movement! A friend introduced me to a tribe of women. Hope Dealers on fire to bring forth goodness for a purpose greater than themselves. I would love to share more with you and introduce you! Please feel free to reach out to me through email, FB or Instagram.

What is the Arrojo American Wave?  An Arrojo American Wave is a hair service that creates natural looking curl patterns using an innovative ionic lotion that that does not damage the cuticle when applied properly by a licensed professional certified stylist.   Using soft tools, it reduces the stress on the hair allowing  frizz control , added texture, created movement with volume.

Last spring I was finally able to slow down long enough to get the Arrojo American Wave for myself.   My hair is super straight and does not curl easy.  I was so impressed and absolutely fell in love with it.  I mean I loved everything about it .  My waves were soft with no damage to my hair.  There was no line of demarcation meaning there was no cuticle blow out and did I mention that I color my hair.  My curls gradually softened as it grew out and only got better with time. It lasted for nine months and would have lasted longer had I not decided to cut my hair.

There is the Arrojo American Wave and The Arrojo American Color Wave.  Both are available through a licensed professional certified stylist.  I highly recommend this service to control frizz, add texture, create movement and add volume.  The Arrojo American Wave allows the stylist the ability to work with clients to create endless possibilities.

This service is available in J. Andrews Salon located in Warner Robins Ga. After learning the science behind this product by attending a class in Sacramento California and becoming Arrojo American Wave certified in 2014.   I felt every stylist at J. Andrews Salon  should have this same opportunity and is now certified.