Hippie Jeans

My family lived in New Orleans in the early 70’s.  As a 6 year old,  I was in awe of the people we would see at Audubon Park.  The girls had long curly hair and beautiful smiles. They wore clothes that reminded me of fairies, blue jeans with colorful patches and, best of all, no shoes.  Daddy called them hippies and I knew that was what I wanted to be.

I dreamed of growing up to do something I loved.  That changed daily but usually oscillated between a zoo-keeper, a teacher, a mom, a dancer, a designer, a preacher and even a private investigator.  But, no matter what I dreamt of doing, I wanted to do it as a hippie.  I’m not sure what that means to you, but to me it meant wearing blue jeans, not wearing shoes, being happy, going hiking, having lots of animals, making people smile, being a little different from everyone else (even as a child I had a thing for rebels…or underdogs…I guess they were one in the same to me), singing, believing in fairy-tales, playing in the park with my friends and giving little girls flower necklaces.

Come to find out, growing up can take the hippie right out of a girl.

 Responsibility, decisions, relationships, bills, disappointments, and even washing clothes can slowly suck the dreams of a child out of the woman.  We tend to focus so much on the people around us that we wake-up one day to find we don’t know who we are.  That special and unique personality that God created to bless the world seems lost.  But it’s never too late to find it.  It’s never too late to play. It’s never too late to dream of being a princess, or the president, or a hippie.

 Jesus himself said that we must “become like little children.”  He wants us to believe and to find joy.  To have the mind of a child is to always see the possibilities, not the impossibilities.  When we are 20, 40 or even 60, the mind of a child believes that God still has a purpose for our lives.  He’s prepared an adventure that only I can have as I hold onto His hand.  To have the mind of a child means that I see the love and joy in my Father’s eyes when He tells me how perfect I am.  It means reading Psalm 139 and knowing it is true. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows that full well.”  A child that has been loved and not wounded simply knows that they are incredible!  They aren’t self-centered, they just believe what their daddy says and their daddy says they can change the world – exactly the way He created them.

He created me a hippie.

I may have lost a bit of my childlike vision, but I am convinced that God is calling me back to it.  I believe He is calling all of us back to it.  He is whispering to the hearts of women.  Can you hear it?

“Remember who I created you to be. Find yourself.  You matter!  You are important!  Your value comes from the fact that I love you.  Not from your looks, your job, your position or your standing. You are valuable because I value you above all else.  My son chose to die so that you could live abundantly. You are my beautiful girl and I adore you.  You bring a smile to my face.  If you would choose to see how beautiful you are and believe in what could be, you would smile and laugh and love again.  It’s time to stop sitting on the sidelines…we have a world to change.”

God has a purpose and He wants to accomplish that purpose by using our different personalities.  Some of us are quiet and others are loud.   Some enjoy Beethoven and others Bon Jovi.  Some of us are Goldie Hawn and others are Audrey Hepburn.  The purpose is the same but God has given us the joy of accomplishing that purpose with a style that is all our own.  Nothing can stop an army of women that have found out who they really are.  Remember you are truly Daddy’s little girl….with a flower in your hair. He’s waiting for you to dance.