My son Scotty is really a remarkable young man. He is smart, he has a great heart, and above all he is funny. Over the course of his life I have had very few complaints, but one of them that has nagged at me for quite some time is the way he has kept his hair. His hair has been so big that part of it lived in another time zone. And try and try as I have, nothing seemed to ever convince him that a decent haircut might be in order.

Our relationship has always been a good one, and as a priest who started out in youth ministry, I know a kid’s hair is a pretty small concern. It was just so big, and it was always in his way, and quite frankly I think there were quite possibly birds and other small animals living in that tangled mess!

But something happened last week. Scotty said he would entertain going back with me to the barber. We had run into one of our barbers at the Walmart one night and I guess that got the discussion going. What it led to was not just a miracle, but a big transformation…..or better yet a return. Even though I gave him the freedom to grow it out, even though for a couple of years he looked quite different, I still knew it was him and I remembered what he looked like…he just didn’t.

It’s funny now. He looks in the mirror at every chance he gets. He is amazed that he looks so different. All the people he sees say WOW! And he’s got to be TONS COOLER in the 90 degree heat. It’s a neat thing, and for it and for him I am very proud!

I hope you like how he looks now….he says he is pretty resolved never to go back that way again!

Praise God!